16 Ideas for Lighting

The fastest way to makeover a plain old table lamp: Change its shade. Pair a simple base with a shade that’s already pre-printed with a pattern—or stencil one onto a solid shade. Think about how the scale of the pattern works with other prints in the room.

For the bathroom, you’ll find a greater variety of options by shopping for lighting meant for other rooms in the house. In this bathroom, the homeowners bought caged sconces, which are much more in keeping with their country aesthetic than the usual utilitarian bathroom lighting.

In addition to placing table lamps in the most practical spots—like next to your reading chair—use them to add ambiance to the room. In this living room, the table lamp adds a moody glow against the bold wallpaper and oversized artwork.

Pendant lights don’t need to just be relegated to over the dining table. Here, an oversized wood-grain pendant light serves as a modern centerpiece for the living room.

In this kitchen/dining space, a dramatic chandelier adds a glamorous note amid the industrial kitchen cabinets, the rustic table, and the midcentury modern chairs.

Lighting is the perfect vehicle for an accent color—one bold hue that plays off the rest of the room. Here, the bright orange pendants enliven the darker hues of the dining area.

With their clean lines and vintage schoolhouse style, the light fixtures throughout this kitchen are a perfect bridge between modern and traditional.

In a room where space is at a premium—as in this extra-tiny bedroom—mount the lights on the wall, rather than giving up precious floor space.

In this great room, the cluster of glass lights above the kitchen island help set off the space from the living room. But because they’re sophisticated enough to feel at home in a living area, they also bridge the two spaces.

This cabin is all about warm, cozy textures—so why should the lighting be any different? The cluster of gray felt drum shades in organic shapes fit right into the room’s natural aesthetic.

In this living room, a pair of lamps in a very traditional shape look whimsical rather than overwrought, thanks to the bright citron color. The color also ties into the home’s punchy beach house aesthetic.

Two large pendants add a dramatic focal point to this kitchen. The white shades and brass hardware pop also balance out the black cabinetry and tiles.

This frosted-glass ceiling fixture reinforces the master bedroom’s black-and-white color palette, while its geometric shape makes a nod to the pattern in the rug.

In this child’s room, the lighting should be as fun as everything else. Here, the graphic blue patterned lampshade and yellow base stand out even more against the bright orange walls.

On their own, globe-shaped pendants are pretty simple. But lined up in a row, the lights make a modern statement, as on this indoor/outdoor patio.

The right lighting keeps an outdoor party going after dark. This patio glows with the help of candles placed in mason jars and hung from the ramada roof (the homeowner supplements with low-voltage lamps).