Professional interior designers are expertly trained in the use of lighting features to create breathtaking results. In this four-part series which I call â??Colour Me Brightly: Understanding Light in Interior Design,â? I draw on my experience in Londonâ??s interior design community to explain this fascinating subject. This third article talks about how to create patterns using opaque materials.
The second way for an interior designer to create light-based patterns involves opaque surfaces, which reflect light back into a room. This pattern creation process is more sophisticated and can be fine-tuned for stunning interior design effects. Light portrayals impact how we understand a surface and its texture. For example, the â??standardâ? technique often seen in London residences simply involves casting a gentle play of light across a wall. The light brushes the fittings, causing the wall to appear even, flat and two-dimensional. Some top London Interior Designers know that their clients crave more drama and stylistic nuance. In such cases, placing lightwell fillings very close to the wall and angling them downwards can be really striking. Using this technique, interior design consultancies can transform the previous gentle wave into an enunciated designer style, as the photons shave the surface and build to form sturdy optical patterns, including top-level arcs and dramatic textures. A sharper, more laser-like focus will only make the pattern more conspicuous â?? recreating a look that is popular in many trendy London nightclubs.
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Colour Me Brightly! Understanding Light in Interior Design. Part III: Patterns from Opaque Materials
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Tags: breathtaking results, Brightly, Colour, Design., From, Interior, interior design community, light, london nightclubs, Materials, Opaque, Part, pattern creation, Patterns, professional interior designers, Understanding

Professional interior designers are expertly trained in the use of lighting features to create breathtaking results. In this four-part series which I call “Colour Me Brightly: Understanding Light in Interior Design,” I draw on my experience in London’s interior design community to explain this fascinating subject. This first article is about patterns.
Ask a London schoolgirl to imagine natural patterns, and she may talk at length of curvaceous seashells, the undulating edge of waves on the shore, the grooves in a gnarled tree trunk. Interior designers know that patterns are all around us. Patterns profoundly influence all interior design schemes, transforming our appreciation of color and texture, adding fluctuations and drifts or promoting harmony and stillness. London Interior Designers will focus on soft, fluid outlines in order to create relaxing patterns. By contrast, bold graphic statements in a wallpaper stencil can be invigorating for a London discotheque or salon. Pattern is a foundational ingredient of interior design, fragmenting overwhelming shapes and plain surfaces while simultaneously lending personality and profundity to a room.
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Colour Me Brightly! Understanding Light in Interior Design. Part I: Introducing Patterns of Light
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In their training, student interior designers often learn about the history of their profession. This can be a really important way to give context to their subsequent careers. In this article, I will draw on my experience as an interior designer and educator to discuss the history of this exciting field.
The earliest professional interior designers were based in London â?? the British had become intrigued by Egyptian techniques of decorating household objects and wanted the same for themselves. London families became desperate to employ an interior designer to create magical spaces and accessorise their interiors. As interior designers came to be recognised as professionals, they increasingly found a need to draw on history to create fabulous results. This was particularly true when creating designs for historic London mansions or listed buildings â?? they saw historical reflections as a way of preserving the past while also looking to the future.
THE ANCIENT ROMANS
In Ancient Rome, citizens demanded comfort, luxury and wealth. These elements are still important in the work of interior designers across the world today. The lavish decorations, tapestries and iconic stonework today remain as timeless and popular in London as in Tokyo or Sydney. The Ancient Romans adored bespoke furniture and loved quality textiles and expensive fabrics.
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Student Interior Designers Often Learn About The History of Their Profession
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As a professional London Interior Designer, I meet with clients all the time who simply crave more originality and personality in their interior spaces. It is such a delight for the interior designer to be able to transform a house into a home by judicious use of lighting, stencils, photo frames, rugs and frames, to name just a few. Each of the different classes of accessories allows the professional interior designer to lean into a certain style, emotion or personality framework in order to create stunning results. In this article, I will draw on my experience in Londonâ??s design community to suggest a few great options if youâ??re looking to spruce up your home this winter with some interior designer magic.
LIGHTING. If there are nooks and crannies that just donâ??t get enough light, interior designers may recommend low-voltage illumination to make your interiors look larger and more welcoming. This can also boost your mood â?? perfect for the gloomy and overcast London skies that are all too common this time of year. Some professional interior designers will recommend theatrical lighting moods, so that you can flip between settings to choose either relaxed, or atmospheric and edgy, or task-orientated, all according to your needs.
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It is such a delight for the interior designer to be able to transform a house into a home
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Tags: able, art, delight, designer, Exterior, fuzzy glow, home, house, Interior, into, lighting, London, london skies, nooks and crannies, professional interior designer, professional interior designers, such, transform