Wirral Life March 2018 | Page 46

INTERIOR INSPIRATION BY KATE KINGSTON Kate Kingston, Managing Director of Kingston Shaw, an award winning interior design company with offices on the Wirral, London and Dubai, shares with us the latest trends for creating the perfect home. LET THERE BE LIGHT.. . It was a particularly dark winters day when the phone in the office rang and one of our favourite and discerning clients contacted us. “Kate, I have bought a new property and am declaring war on the lighting in the property and in particular in the impressive hallway. I want something dramatic, something special, something I haven’t seen. I know you will be up for the challenge and I trust you too have it shipped and installed next week!” Not one to shirk from a challenge and always ready to minister to our Clients’ wishes we set about overcoming the obvious challenges of lead times and availability. Bespoke was out, our client a man of distinction, had travelled widely and had seen most things. This was going to be a tough assignment, but donning our design super heroine cloaks (cashmere, natch) we gathered our suppliers close and began our search for the light! On our travels through the world of lighting design far and wide, we came across the most beautiful brightness beacons, which we would like to share with you. Lighting design is an art and light itself is as important to a space as the air we breath, it can set the mood, it can enliven a space, it can help you sleep, eat, shop, study, indeed lighting has been used commercially to affect our moods, our habits and our interactions with each other’s for centuries. Have you ever been in a restaurant, for example, and 46 wirrallife.com FLOS CAN CAN although the food was fine and you are with people you love, the evening was just flat or you felt uncomfortable but you couldn’t quite put your finger on it what was wrong – guaranteed it was the lighting that was wrong for the space, too bright will make you feel fidgety and exposed, too dark it will make you feel soporific. Lumen ratings aside which is a science and an art, the look and feel of a fixture is equally as important as its function. Consider whether you want up lighting, down lighting, flared lighting, even spread, pooled the list goes on, our advice is remember what the space is being used for, make a note of the natural light and enhance. The choice of bulb is also worth considering do you want cool light, warm or even coloured. There are apps that can control the intensity of the light in a room, the time in which they come on, the sequence of the source of luminosity and the amount of energy that is used. Ensure that you use a professional to install any electrical item and ask a lighting expert for their recommendations for illuminating your space if you need to. In the meantime, here are a few of our favourite pendants which are available through our lovely friends at Chattels in Chester. As for our client, we found him the perfect light and installed it exactly a week later, leaving him enlightened and as ever a little impressed! MODOLUCE FLORINDA DESNUDA FATBOY ROCKCOCO