How to choose a ceiling lamp

If you have a question for Luke about design and stylish living, email him at lukeedward.hall@ft.com. Follow him on Instagram @lukeedwardhall.

I have bought a little Modernist flat in London built in the early 1950s, my first home, which is very exciting. It has a great layout but I’ve struggled with one thing in particular: its relatively low ceilings, (2.4m) and finding ceiling lamps to fit the hallway, bedroom, living room, bathroom. Do you have advice?

I can sympathise with your problem, because my cottage has very low ceilings too; upstairs the height is only 2m. I’ve waxed lyrical in the past about how I much prefer table lamps to ceiling lights in sitting rooms and bedrooms because I don’t particularly care to see myself, other people or my precious things lit from above.

There are exceptions, however: a hallway will often benefit from a good ceiling light (I’m thinking about lanterns), as will dining rooms and kitchens — there is something magical about eating at a table with a lamp (could be a fabulous chandelier, could be a simple enamel pendant) suspended low above, the soft, dim light throwing shadows around the room.

Bathrooms need ceiling lights too because, like kitchens, they are functional rooms. I really despise a too-dark bathroom. Yes, I want to
soak in the bath of an evening with 40 candles lit, a good book and a negroni balancing in a soap dish, but I also need to be able to flick on industrial-strength lighting when required.

I recommend Holloways of Ludlow for bathroom lighting: its range is extensive, it stocks many brands and its website includes a section dedicated to flush ceiling lights, ideal for low ceilings.

I often favour classic globes for bathrooms: see Lefroy Brooks’ well-priced version, which comes in several sizes and has a pleasing, traditional metal fitting (various finishes are available). The Scandilux globe, on the other hand, comes with a porcelain fitting and is more contemporary in feeling.

The ship’s guarded companionway light is an interesting alternative to a globe — I like the idea of going fully maritime and installing one of these in a tongue-and-grooved panelled downstairs loo.

For other functional rooms such as pantries, boot rooms and passageways, I like the Artemide Teti lamp, which is fun in shape, extremely inexpensive and can be used on ceilings as well as walls. (I installed a grid of these on the ceiling of the gym in the Paris hotel for which I did the interior design.)

I am a big fan of America’s Urban Electric Company, whose lighting designs are always playful, colourful and surprising. Take its Capse flush, for example — I love the whimsical shape of this fitting, which looks like it’s comprised of pistachio-green sponge fingers. A line of these down a corridor or hallway would look very smart.

The Crown, with its crenellated cornice and rosette finial, is very charming too — elegant and irreverent at the same time. My other favourites include the Rex and Folie flush mounts. Meanwhile, the company’s Pop Round light features a backplane that can be painted or covered with fabric or wallpaper, meaning customisation opportunities are endless.

The interiors studio And Objects makes a beautiful small fixture, too: the Littleton diffuser. This features a concertina shade, which gives it a smart industrial look.

I enjoy the extraordinary Arts and Crafts designs of William Arthur Smith Benson (1854-1924). Wonderfully, many of Benson’s designs are reproduced by Christopher Vickers, a specialist craftsman-designer, who founded his Somerset studio in 1987. The WAS Benson ceiling light made by Vickers is a beautiful thing: a polished copper and brass flower-formed reflector light fitting with bud-shaped bulb holders.

The issue I often find with flush ceiling lights is that, even when they’re more decorative, like the Benson light, they are usually rather functional in appearance, which is ideal for the functional rooms I have mentioned, but not so suitable for sitting rooms and bedrooms.

London-based Vaughan, however, makes a variety of elegant flush and semi-flush ceiling lights that have an air of 1930s glamour about them: I love its Art Deco-inspired, three-tiered Pershore alabaster ceiling light and its understated and minimal sunburst Belsay flush light. My favourite might just be the Morton ceiling light, the design of which was inspired by an antique cigarette case. This one would work very nicely in a bedroom.

One final note: don’t be tempted to choose too-small furniture for your flat. Cabinets, shelves and wardrobes that reach right up the ceiling, a sofa to fill a wall: these are good things and, besides, I believe that larger pieces in a small space increase the sense of space.

Take a look at the American decorator Nick Olsen’s Millbrook House project: the sitting room is not a big space and the various pieces of furniture are all quite large. They don’t make the room feel small, though. Far from it — it just works. But don’t ask me why.

Luke Edward Hall will discuss the dos and don’ts of interior design at the FT Weekend Digital Festival, March 18-20; go to ftweekendfestival.com

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