Designing Your Interior With Light: Today's Modern Trends July 26, 2017 00:00

Light bulbs have come a long way in their 137 years.

With the simple beginnings of Edison’s humble bulbs all the way to the computationally intensive designs of today, it’s hard to imagine what still lies ahead.

And few industries have benefitted from these advances quite as much as interior design. In fact, clever designers are now using light itself as decoration, similar to how they use other elements like paint.

Below, we take you through just a few ways you can start painting with light just like the pros.

But before that, let’s take a look at the three basic advances modern illumination has brought to the design world.

Color Versatility

One of the biggest factors that separate the light bulbs of today from those of yore are the immensely useful color changing capabilities. Many higher-quality smart bulbs now come with the ability to create light in over 16 million different hues and freely switch between each.

And if you’re restyling your home interior, few design elements are as important as color.

Flexibility

In addition to color, having a flexible lighting setup can truly do wonders for your décor. While this category used to consist solely of the ability to dim lights (which is still invaluable), now light bulbs come with a huge variety of settings.

For example, you can assign settings for brightness, color, and lighting transitions for a group of lights to a custom scheme and return to that scheme whenever you want.

That way if you want to watch a movie, set the stage for a romantic evening, or deck out your home for an unforgettable party, all you have to do is select the appropriate scheme and presto! Perfect lighting.

Accessibility

And finally, the modern lightbulb with all its versatility and flexibility is now more accessible than ever. And while a big part is a constantly dropping price tag, there’s more to it than that.

Modern smart bulbs can now be controlled by any connected device. No more light switches, no more forgetting to turn your lights off, and no more lack of complete control, no matter where on Earth you are. Pretty cool, huh?

With the combination of these three elements of modern lighting comes a whole new world of design possibilities.

Modern lighting in interior design: a few pointers

When it comes to creatively and beautifully lighting your home, there’s practically nothing you can’t do with the modern light bulb. But it all depends on if you know how to mix and match each of these three factors effectively.

All it takes is a bit of imagination and the willingness to try something different.

That’s why we’ve put together just a few tips to get you started.

But remember: getting your home to convey the character and attitude that’s perfect for you isn’t an exact science. As such, take the tips below and try to expand on each and give them your own personal flair.

After all, your home’s design scheme is meant to be an expression of yourself. If you just copy the décor from a magazine, where’s the individuality in that?

Use light to complement other decor

Accent lighting is crucial to draw the eye to a particular design element for two reasons: it illuminates a particular object more than the surrounding décor and it can actually use light to point to that object.

The jar above, for example, is made all the more alluring by the surrounding light reflected by the wall it rests in front of. You instinctually know where to look thanks to this lighting technique.

Or use light alone to fill a space

Rather than just using light to help reveal other design elements, it can also be used by itself to add creative visual appeal to an area by itself.

This bedroom’s accent wall is made all the more interesting by the end table lamps below, the light of which matches the shape and flow of the wallpaper it shines upon.

Take advantage of unique fixture

Some fixtures allow for unique design opportunities simply because of how they spread their light around the room.


The intricate interplay between illumination and shadow can have an infinite number of patterns and, as such, gives you just as many options for sprucing up your home’s décor.

Color is key

We can’t talk about using light to influence interior design without addressing color. And thanks to smart bulbs, changing the hues of a space’s design has never been easier than it is today.

The bold style of the space above, for example, is made all the more impressive by adding a single string of radiant purple light to the room. Nothing says confidence quite like that!

Highlight design elements

And finally, you can use light to accentuate your home’s design by calling attention to them. Think of light as a kind of outline.

This technique is especially effective when it comes to features like cabinetry (as in the picture above) or in stairways, hallways, or even countertops. It works great for long, straight surfaces but a bit of creativity can find a use for it absolutely anywhere.

How have you painted your home with light?

What kinds of insider tricks have you come up with using light to decorate your home? Which of these tips has revolutionized your interior design? Let us know in the comments below and get painting with some of the most creative lights on the market, Flux Smart bulbs.