Looking for a lighting revamp? Go bespoke, luxe or smart in Hong Kong

No one can dispute that lighting makes all the difference in an interior. On a practical level, it helps you see better and keeps you safe. At more nuanced levels, it affects your well-being.

Lighting designers face three general layers of thinking in InformeDesign, a resource created to bring the research and practice aspects of the design professions together, writes Delores Ginthner, associate professor in the interior design programme, department of design, housing and apparel at the University of Minnesota in the United States. It all starts with a visual task, such as whether there is enough light to spot a flaw in black silk or to walk safely through a hallway. Then there is the general lighting, or ambient lighting, which is to set a mood or impression. Finally, there is the visual interest, something that adds a touch of magic, or tickles the user’s “joy button”.

It is perhaps the final component that takes the longest to get right. It is not for the lack of choice. Walk down Queen’s Road, East, a lighting shop hub, or visit the websites of interior furnishing specialists Indigo Living and OVO Home and you will find lighting fixtures and accessories of different colours and styles, for a range of budgets. How do you make a decision when you are seeing products in a shop or website, environments that are vastly different from home?

If you are looking for a complete revamp, it is best to involve a lighting specialist from the start. If you are looking to change the mood of a room, or introduce something new to a layout, there are principles to follow.

Kim Brandt-Madsen, general manager of A Matter of Design, which represents Tom Dixon in Hong Kong, recommends glowing, softer light for the bedroom, and more whimsical and textural illuminations in the living or dining room where you may entertain guests from time to time as it can facilitate conversations.

Technology plays a major role. Many luxury hotels have connected room lights to wireless technology and allowed guests to control lighting through a digital tablet, a luxury that once required expensive rewiring. But innovation has come to the rescue, with more companies, many of them start-ups, providing affordable solutions to bring the same luxury to your home.