Lighting Accessories

Whether it’s a wall mounted candle style light, a recessed light fitting in the bathroom, a floor lamp designed for the main living space, or a chandelier dangling over your elegant hallway, every light source in the home has its own series of accessories designed to enhance the overall aesthetic appearance and user experience of the light. The fact is, lights aren’t just functional – they are decorative too – with most of the visual pleasure coming from the way that the light fitting is designed to compliment the space that it is in.

Examples of lighting accessories

Some of the most obvious and important lighting accessories include the bulbs, switches, lamp shades or covers, and any stems – specifically relevant with regards to floor lights and table lamps. Of course, the bulb is an integral part of any light and as the power to completely transform its overall appearance, either creating a very white and bright finish, or a much warmer and more comforting finish with a duller bulb. Coloured bulbs are especially popular during the festive period and with children, providing their own unique sense of vibrancy and style.

The next accessory is another important one, and it refers to the wall switch or pull switch which operates the light and enables it to be turned on and off quickly and easily. A large proportion of modern lights now use touch technology to switch the light on and off, though there is still a large call for the traditional inclusion of a switch and complete user control. For the most part, a wall switch is functional rather than decorative, connecting the light to the mains either through a simple on/off switch or a dimmer switch – particularly ideal for creating different ambiences and atmospheres within a specific room or space. Hanging switches however are a little more obvious in their appearance, and thus homeowners generally tend to opt for those styles which best suit their design style – for example a plain rope pull for a rustic home, or a clean white cord with a block handle for a modern home.

Then we move on to the lamp shades – whether they be traditional fabric shades as found on table lamps and ceiling lights, or more modern and innovative styled glass surround shades and crystal chandelier designs. The purpose of a lampshade is not simply to look pretty both when the light is on or off, but also alter and affect the way the light shines as well – with glass and crystal shades in particular creating really interesting and fluid patterns on the walls and ceiling around the light. While these more fragile creations are ideally suited to living spaces and adult bedrooms, we tend to find that fabric shades are best for children’s rooms, and serve the additional purpose of adding to the texture of the room both in their standalone design quality and in the way they reflect and distort the light around the room.

And finally. we come to the stem of a lamp, particularly notable in table lamps and floor lamps. The stem makes up the main body of these lamps and so is the pinnacle part of the design – offering intricate patterning or super simple construction depending on what the space calls for.

In short, lighting accessories are what elevate the visual presence of any light and turn them from functional items into decorative pieces designed to compliment the home. For the widest variety of styles, consider the best retailer for your styling choice and then browse both the mass market stores and designer stylists.