5 Ways to Light your Home

21st February 2019

Learn how to light your home from a designer. See tips for hiring an electrician and for finding affordable lighting.

Insider lighting tips that will help you create a wonderfully atmospheric home.

Mirvac Design's Lighting guru Martin Bevz lit everything from Rihanna concerts and Sydney Mardi Gras to the Prime Minister’s private parties, before joining Mirvac as senior lighting designer. He shares four of his top tips for lighting your home.

Living Area
Yarra's Edge Artist's Studio

 

1. Play with affordable add-ons

“You don’t have to spend big to create impact at home. A strip of low-voltage LED lights from the local hardware often comes with sticky backing and can easily be applied to your kitchen, balcony or bathroom to great effect. Alternatively, spike some little lights under an indoor plant and splash some textured light onto your ceiling, or scrunch a string of fairy lights into a vase for a feature light that costs next to the nothing from the $2 shop!”

2. Find a fantastic electrician

“A lighting designer might be beyond the budget, but electricians often dabble in lighting design simply by default, and a great one is worth their weight in gold. An app like Oneflare can link you up with an electrician local to your area – important because some buildings have strange wiring or other idiosyncrasies, and a local electrician is more likely to know about them, potentially saving you thousands.”

3. Get on Pinterest

“I do this all the time! Lighting can have a profound impact on your emotions, often without you noticing it (which is the point). Browse Pinterest for spaces you like, then try to deconstruct why you like them; it’s a great way to get design inspiration and preview the latest in lighting trends, and it’s free.”

4. Save sustainably

“Today’s approach to sustainability involves having light where you need it, as opposed to lighting every corner of the house – so only light what needs to be lit. Consider investing in good quality products, too: that way they’ll last. And of course, turn things off when you’re finished!”

5. Quiz the hardware staff

“Undertaking a simple project and struggling with something? Head to any of the generic big hardware stores, or even your local lighting store. The sales assistants are founts of untapped information – they can give you advice on installation, of course, but they can also tell you what sells… and what gets returned.” For more on the latest lighting trends visit here.

Mirvac acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Owners of the lands and waters of Australia, and we offer our respect to their Elders past and present.  

Artwork: ‘Reimagining Country’, created by Riki Salam (Mualgal, Kaurareg, Kuku Yalanji) of We are 27 Creative.