When we were renovating our home a couple of years ago, it came time to sit with the electrician and plan out our lighting. To me - this was quite possibly, the most critical meeting of the whole build. He lay out his plan - down-lights everywhere -and I balked and said lets start again.

There’s something very grounding about the way animals and birds out in nature live. Wake with the sun and go to sleep with the moon. I mean, how much more natural does it feel - to let the sun and moon dictate our sleep and wake patterns.

I am guilty of sitting on the lounge as the sun sets outside - and not switching on any lights. I love to open my blinds in the morning before its fully light and let the rise of the sun do its thing in waking us up.

But i get it. Life requires us to stay awake beyond 5pm in winter and to wake before sunrise on school days. So lights is it - but at least make them make you feel good.

I don't like down lights - opting instead for wall lights, lamps at different heights and low pendants over dining areas and conversation pits. My grandma was amazing at creating ambience through lighting - and I don't think she even tried. She just knew. As a young girl, I’d go with my family to her home for dinner every Sunday night and as soon as you’d walk into her house, you just felt calm and things slowed down and it was just lovely.

It was her lighting; lamps near couches for reading, pendants over the dining table with a dimmable switch, bedrooms set up for evening with lamps on. It just felt good.

Intentional lighting feels cathartic - it signals intention behind spaces - this seat is for a quiet book, this room is for slow down before bed, this table is for a hearty conversation and dinner. Lights outside your home signal an invitation; this home is lived in, this home is alive.

I’ve taken my grandmas knack for lighting and made it habit at home. All switches have dimmers, power points are cleverly placed so that every area that beckons company has a lamp to signal invitation to sit and relax. Lighting calms the family and tells them its time to wind down, or that its time to share and connect over dinner.

During the day - unless particularly dark and gloomy out, the lights are never on - we let the sun do its thing and ebb and flow through the house - enjoying the dappled light in the mornings to wake us up. Bright light in the middle of the day to encourage productivity. As the sun wanes, we slow down - and start nesting and cooking and connecting with each other again. It feels right.

So I gave my electrician strict instructions: over do it with the power points for lamps, hang the pendant low over the dining table. Put dimmers on wall lights in all bedrooms, keep task lighting to the kitchen area only - but make it aesthetic. For a house to feel like home, it needs to ‘feel’. Lighting does that. So I said no to down lights.

SHOP THE AMBIENCE EDIT