As Designers and suppliers we are often asked to help you tackle the techie side of your next lit interior, starting with the down light.

It is true that lighting is a technical area. Sometimes it is difficult to see through the practical detail in order to remain focused on the creative concept. In cerebral terms, our aim is to focus the right side of your brain on the necessary specifications, whilst freeing the left side of your brain to visualise your design concept.

For this exercise, I would ask you to picture a toolbox. Inside this handy container all the essentials you need to light your next project. If you like, every item in this box is a lighting hero, an essential fixture that features in the majority projects. There are a myriad of choices in the lighting world. Importantly, every product selection has been built into a special reference, so you can utilise the toolbox guide when planning forthcoming projects.

Our first Toolbox hero is the ubiquitous down light. Arguably the bread and butter of interiors over the last 30 years – yet should it be your number one choice – especially in this LED era?

Toolbox Item #1: Down light

It seems the down light is considered as an essential light source for most schemes because spaces are illuminated downwards from above which seems to be the natural choice.

Yet, designers that have a reliance on the fixture are making an error. In fact, an overuse of down lights can be viewed as lazy. For instance, I know a couple of designers whose first question at the planning stage of a project is “how do I avoid using down lights?”

It seems that every job that we supply at Chameleon Designs has a down light component. My advice is to use the fitting thoughtfully with an awareness of alternatives. Down lights cannot be relied upon to answer every question or suit every lighting need. Nevertheless – they are extremely useful!

Where should you use a down light? Effectively, the light is falling and creating a pool of light determined by the beam width. Use this almost too simple principle to decide where…Determine whether you want the general light in a space supplemented with more light. If it is safe to increase the lighting level without over illuminating – use down lights – but consider, do you want to spread the light out wide or create tight beams that define pools of light on the floor?

When does this tool come out the box?

Ambient: to infill spaces where light is required to raise the levels overall and where the light source is intended to be hidden or obscured. A good tip is to use a well-diffused fairly wide beam that isn’t too powerful when fitting a standard height ceiling.

Task: Concentrate light by defining a beam width, although remains open to adjustment to ensure correct positioning on site, so the light is thrown where it needs to go.

Accent: We use down lighting in two main ways as an accent light.

• Utilise a mid-beam width and make sure the room exhibits defined lights and darks. Hence, the beams of down lights do not touch and there is a clear light and dark pattern on the reflected surfaces notably on the floor.
• Locate down lights near a wall to reflect light off the vertical surface and into the room and consider using it’s shape as a feature. The down light should contribute to the lighting scheme by providing light and interest but not in an overpowering way. Act to minimise glare by guarding against light spill – especially overhead.

If the project affords dimming then it’s always good to have some light in reserve to use occasionally whilst the default scheme is dimmed for comfort. This suits an LED chip as it’s like running under power. Akin to a 2.0 litre engine in 6th gear at 50 miles an hour – it purrs it’s way through life.