Adding the perfect combination of lighting to your home can take it from an average space to a beautiful transformation. Modern lighting can be used to highlight cosy nooks, help you cook better, let you relax of an evening or even create a showstopping entrance.

How to achieve optimum lighting tends to be overlooked unless you use a home lighting designer, but you can easily make these decisions yourself with a few pointers!

The key is to have layered light in the main living areas, so this means you will have more than one light source in a room. This will cover you when natural light fades later in the day, make sure you can work where you need to and soften the light when you're relaxing.

When looking for specialist lighting shops we found Elesi Lighting. They have a great selection and cover the many different areas of your home.

So what type of lighting should you use and where?

Credit: Elesi Lighting. Glasshouse Brass Clear Glass Schoolhouse Hallway Pendant Light.

Ceiling lights

These are often used for entrances or hallways using modern chandeliers, pendant lights or schoolhouse lighting with a glass globe shade. These all create a wow factor for any guests and give a great impression as people walk in.

Ceiling lights are also usually used to replace the fading daylight, so they are often more bright and may be used over areas where people gather such as a kitchen island or table.

They can also be stunning features in upstairs hallways if you have high ceilings.

Accent lights

These are lights which draw attention to a certain area. This could be above your treasured paintings, next to occasional chairs with coffee tables, where you might stop to read. You could also install these beside a bed on the wall if you like to have a soft light for the evenings.

We love wall lights in living room areas as they create a wonderful atmosphere when everyone is winding down. This is one of our favourites below, available in a variety of colours to suit your decor.

You can also use furniture with built in lighting to set the mood too. Illuminated mirrors for example can make your bathroom look bigger while making it feel more relaxing.

Credit: Elesi Lighting. Argyll Industrial Wall Light Aston Blue.

Pendant lighting

Pendants are wonderful contemporary lighting. There are so many different styles to choose from such as Urban and Industrial, Caged, Dome or Retro.

This type of lighting is often fixed over a dining table and could be in pendant pairs or even more lights together depending on the size of your space.

They section your room into different zones and create a mood in each area. Pendants make the dinin g are a quite intimate and friendly. They also help in open plan homes where all the living areas merge into one.

Credit: Elesi Lighting. Denman Industrial Vintage Brass Caged Teardrop Pendant.

Downlights

Downlights should be used for tasks and are perfect for kitchen lighting. These are to be positioned to help you cook, prepare food, or work. They are useful in laundry or utility rooms, or any place where you need a decent level of light to do detailed tasks.

They are best installed recessed under cupboards, in the ceiling but not where someone stands or into furniture. This is because if you put them directly above where you need to work, your own shadow casts across the space you need to be lit.

Now available in a large variety of finishes, they look stylish and can be a feature in their own right or hidden away to match your colour scheme.

Bulbs on display

Another option to consider is what type of light bulbs to use in your fixtures. In some areas, you will need to choose a particular type. However, where the bulb is on display, there's now a lovely selection of vintage bulbs, in various shapes. These also come with beautiful filaments with honey coloured glass, you will definitely want them to be seen!

Credit: Elesi Lighting. LED Edison Bulbs.

Outdoor lighting

Don't forget the exterior of your home. When you arrive back on dark winter nights having light that illuminates your path or allows you to find your keys at the door is of utmost importance.

These are often available with sensors, which have the added element of security.

You don't need to compromise of style either. With nautical, brass, nickel and glass, you'll find something in keeping with the rest of your home.

Sockets and switches

One of the lighting elements we see the most is our sockets and switches. Although they seem less important, if they don't harmonise with the rest of your home it can be the first thing you notice in a room.

The style and finish of these bring your whole home together as a consistent theme. From copper to black nickel, antique brass or bronze. You can also choose between the modern rocker switch or a victorian style toggle. Lighting a house with a design feel has never been so easy to attain.

We recommend you check which rooms would benefit from dimmer switches. This is so you can control the brightness depending on the time of day. These are a modern light fitting we just can't be without.

We hope this has given you plenty of inspiration for how to find the best interior lighting for your home. Modern lighting is so full of possibilities now and fixtures have to be practical but also look their best.

Start by imagining yourself in each room and what you might use it for. From this, you will get an image of where the light should fall. Now you just have to choose from the beautiful fixtures to fill those spaces!

PR Product: I was gifted some products in return for this post. However, all content is 100% my own choice and opinions.