How to Layer Lighting Like an Interior Designer

I’m convinced our most recent room makeover (a bedroom we’re re-doing for our friends) has had the biggest transformation mostly because we were very intentional about the lighting.

Have you ever finished decorating a room and thought, “Okay… why doesn’t this feel as cozy as the rooms I save on Pinterest?”

Most homeowners’ first inclination is to buy another throw pillow to fix it. But most of the time… your best bet is to fix the lighting.

Because one lonely ceiling light trying to illuminate an entire room is doing a LOT of heavy lifting.

Lighting is one of those decorating details that doesn’t seem terribly exciting until you get it right. Then suddenly the room feels warmer, cozier, more expensive, and just… finished.

While working on our friends’ bedroom makeover, I was very intentional about lighting from the beginning. Instead of choosing one pretty ceiling fixture and calling it a day, I planned several different light sources around the room.

And that is the secret: layer your lighting.

The 3 Types of Lighting Every Room Needs

You don’t need to memorize a bunch of complicated interior design rules here. Just think about lighting in three layers:

1. Ambient lighting – the main light that illuminates the entire room.

2. Task lighting – light placed where you actually need to do something, like reading, cooking, working, or getting ready.

3. Accent lighting – the cozy little lights that highlight pretty things and make a room feel warm and inviting.

When you combine all three, THAT is when the magic happens.

Instead of your room having two settings, dark cave or hospital room, you can change the lighting depending on what you’re doing and how you want the space to feel.

Here’s exactly how we did it in this bedroom.

Layer 1: Start With Ambient Lighting

The bedroom already had a ceiling fan, and since our friends definitely wanted to keep the airflow, I started looking for a fandelier, basically a chandelier and ceiling fan rolled into one.

Beauty AND function. My favorite combination.

We originally installed a crystal fandelier that looked beautiful… and then discovered the fan portion didn’t exactly blow us away.

Literally. It moved almost no air. 😂 Don’t buy it. It sucks.

Thankfully, we have this crystal fandelier in our own home that we’ve owned for years and LOVE, so we’re replacing this one with the same model.

The important part is that this fixture provides the ambient lighting for the bedroom. When they need the entire room illuminated, they can flip on the overhead light.

But I don’t want that to be their only option.

That’s where the next layer comes in.

Related: All the Best Rated Fandeliers We Own and Love

Layer 2: Add Task Lighting Where You Actually Need It

Next, think about what you actually do in the room.

In a bedroom, one of the most obvious places for task lighting is beside the bed.

Our friends like to read in bed, so I added swing-arm wall sconces on both sides of the bed. They can pull the light toward them while they’re reading and push it back toward the wall when they’re finished.

We also have table lamps beside the bed, which gives them even more flexibility. (I love that these table lamps we chose have a built-in charging port and 3-way dimming feature.)

Is having sconces AND table lamps beside a bed technically necessary? Nope.

Do I love having options? Absolutely.

The lamps give off a softer glow throughout that side of the room while the sconces can provide more focused light for reading.

That’s the beauty of layered lighting. Every fixture doesn’t have to do the same job.

Related: 32 Favorite Vintage Wall Sconces for All Budgets in Every Room

The Plug-In Sconce Trick

Here’s another reason I love the sconces we used: they’re plug-in sconces.

We didn’t have to hire an electrician to run new wiring through the walls.

Instead, we mounted the sconces exactly where we wanted them, plugged them into the outlets below, and covered the visible cords with inexpensive cord covers.

Once the cord covers blend into the wall, you get almost the same polished look as a hardwired sconce without opening up drywall or paying an electrician.

And there’s another bonus: it’s less permanent.

If our friends decide five years from now that they don’t want sconces there anymore, they can take them down without having to deal with electrical boxes in the wall.

This is one of my favorite decorating tricks for renters, budget makeovers, or anyone who isn’t ready to commit to permanent electrical work.

Layer 3: Use Accent Lighting to Make the Room Feel Cozy

Now we get to my favorite part.

Accent lighting is where a room starts getting that warm, layered, Nancy-Meyers-house-at-8-p.m. feeling.

You don’t necessarily need these lights to see.

You need them because they make everything prettier.

We placed a chinoiserie table lamp on the dresser on one side of the room and a small crystal accent lamp on top of the electric fireplace on the other.

The fireplace lamp was especially intentional.

That corner of the bedroom was naturally darker, and we’d just added all of that beautiful architecture with the fireplace and picture frame molding. I didn’t want it disappearing into a dark corner every evening.

So instead of trying to blast more overhead light into the space, I added a small lamp.

Now that little pool of light draws your eye toward the fireplace, highlights the molding, and balances the lighting on the other side of the room.

Small detail. BIG difference.

Spread Your Lighting Around the Room

Here’s another easy trick you can steal from this makeover:

Don’t put all of your lamps on one side of the room.

Stand in the doorway and mentally draw a map of where your light sources are.

If you have two lamps beside the sofa, another lamp right beside them, and one giant dark corner across the room, the lighting is going to feel lopsided.

Instead, try to create little pockets of light throughout the space.

In this bedroom we have:

• The fandelier in the center of the room
• Lamps and sconces around the bed
• A lamp on the dresser
• A small accent lamp at the fireplace

So when you look around the room at night, your eye moves from one warm pool of light to another.

That’s what creates that cozy layered effect.

Mix Different Types of Light Fixtures

You also don’t need every light fixture in a room to match.

Actually, please don’t buy the matching chandelier/sconce/table lamp boxed set. Your room is allowed to have a personality. 😉

Mixing different types of lighting makes a room feel collected instead of copied from a showroom.

Try some combination of:

• Chandeliers or ceiling fixtures
• Wall sconces
• Table lamps
• Floor lamps
• Picture lights
• Pendants
• Small accent lamps

They can coordinate without being identical.

Think cousins, not identical twins.

Don’t Forget Your Light Bulbs

You can buy the prettiest lamp known to mankind and completely ruin the mood with the wrong light bulb. Ask me how I know.

For bedrooms and living spaces, I usually want warm light rather than cool blue-white light. Somewhere around 2700K-3000K generally creates that soft, inviting glow instead of making your bedroom feel like aisle seven of the grocery store. (I love these soft white smart light bulbs because we can set them on a schedule without requiring a hub.)

And pay attention to brightness too.

Every lamp does not need to contain the equivalent of the sun.

Accent lamps can be softer. Reading lamps can be brighter. Your overhead lighting can handle the times when you really need to SEE.

Again, we’re layering.

Related: Best Light Bulbs for Every Room in Your House

Let Your Lighting Highlight the Pretty Stuff

This is probably the decorating tip people forget most often:

Use lighting to tell your eye where to look.

Have a beautiful piece of art? Add a picture light.

A gorgeous bookshelf? Add a small lamp.

Pretty kitchen cabinets? Under-cabinet lighting.

A fireplace you spent hours installing and decorating? For goodness sake, don’t leave that baby sitting in the dark.

Lighting isn’t just functional. It can emphasize the features you want people to notice.

That’s exactly why we added that little accent lamp to our friends’ fireplace.

Related: How to Install a Picture Light Without Hardwiring

3. What parts of this room do I want to highlight or make feel cozier?

Look for dark corners, artwork, bookshelves, fireplaces, architectural details, or little vignettes that could use a glow.

That’s your accent lighting.

You don’t have to add everything at once, either. Start with what you already own and move some lamps around before buying anything new.

You might be surprised how different your room feels just by redistributing the light you already have.

The Cozy Room Trick Might Be Lighting, Not More Decor

I think this is why lighting is one of the most underrated parts of decorating.

When a room doesn’t feel quite right, our first instinct is usually to buy more stuff.

Another pillow. Another basket. Another piece of art.

Sometimes the room doesn’t need more stuff at all. It just needs better lighting.

Try adding a lamp to that dark corner. Put a small light near something beautiful you want to highlight. Add a reading light beside your favorite chair. Turn off the giant overhead light tonight and switch on a few lamps around the room instead.

It’s one of the simplest ways to make a home feel warmer and more intentional without redecorating the entire space.

And if you’ve ever wondered why designer rooms always seem to have approximately 47 lamps in them…

Now you know. 😉

Need more decorating help for your home? Join me in DIY Decorator School.

More Lighting Tips

• All the Best Rated Fandeliers We Own & Love
• The Best Light Bulbs For Every Room In Your House
• DIY Light Fixture Made From A Repurposed Mirror
• Cozy Shower Lamps Are Trending – Here Are The Best Ones To Try

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