June 13, 2025 • 51 mins
In this episode of the Interiors Podcast, Tanya Neufeld Flanagan and Jean Koeppel of Visual Comfort delve into the world of lighting design. They discuss the importance of understanding different types of lighting—ambient, task, and accent—and how to effectively incorporate them into home design.
Jean shares insights on common mistakes people make when planning lighting, the significance of aesthetic choices, and the technical aspects of lighting such as Kelvin ratings and dimmers.
The conversation also touches on budgeting for lighting, the importance of material finishes, and the experience of visiting showrooms to see products in person. Overall, the episode serves as a comprehensive guide for anyone looking to enhance their home lighting.
Takeaways:
- Lighting is essential for creating mood and functionality in a space.
- There are three main types of lighting: ambient, task, and accent.
- Common mistakes include not considering lighting early in the design process.
- Aesthetic choices in lighting can enhance the overall design of a room.
- Understanding lighting terminology helps in making informed choices.
- Material finishes in lighting can add character to a space.
- Budgeting for lighting should focus on high-impact areas of the home.
- Functional lighting should not be overlooked in favor of aesthetics.
- Technical aspects like Kelvin ratings and dimmers are crucial for effective lighting.
- Visiting showrooms allows for a better understanding of lighting products.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:23):
Welcome back to another episode of the interiors podcast.
name is Tanya Neufeld Flanagan.
And today I have a very exciting topic.
It's all about lighting.
here with me today is Jean Koeppel of Visual Comfort.
Hi, great to be here.
So for those of you who don't know, Visual Comfort is a brand adored by designersworldwide.
(00:44):
It's an American company, but it's become one of the go-tos here in Ireland, in theindustry, in UK and Europe.
I'm really excited to have Jean here to give us sort of a 101 of what people shouldunderstand about lighting.
What are the mistakes people are making?
How to design all the lighting in your house like you're a designer in case you don't haveone.
(01:05):
But before we get into all of that, Jean, tell us a little bit about yourself and aboutvisual comfort.
Yeah, happy to.
Great to be here.
Bit of background about me.
I'm trained as a designer and architect.
I've worked internationally, the US, primarily sort of New York area, Switzerland and theUK, London.
And that's kind of where my formal training happened amongst those places.
(01:26):
And then I slowly, slowly got into working specifically in the lighting industry, lightingand controls actually.
So I founded a startup called Shimmer and we developed embedded controls with lighting,worked in the industry with many well-known lighting big businesses on the commercial side
and residential side.
yeah, been in the industry a while.
(01:46):
Amazing.
And you've recently joined the visual comfort brand and tell us what is it about visualcomfort that's special.
Well, Visual Comfort Special for a lot of reasons.
mean, you know, before I joined, I knew the business and I knew that they were doingsomething brilliant with decorative lighting, but then expanding to actually offer
(02:07):
everything from architectural lighting, known as technical lighting as well, to landscapelighting, basically offering an entire whole house solution.
And that really appealed to me in line, of course, with the global expansion, is what I'mresponsible for.
Sort of that was kind of winning combination for a company that's really, you know, beenattracting a lot of attention now for the better part of the last, you know, 10, 20 years.
(02:35):
Yeah, so the company's been around for decades and designers have known it for a longtime.
But what's quite exciting is that consumers can also buy and browse and see the prices ona lot of these products.
Yeah, I mean, part of what the business has done so brilliantly is making the brand andthe products accessible.
formally, know, lighting design, a lot of other building products, you'd always have to gothrough a professional or perhaps a rep to purchase products.
(03:03):
But what we've done is we've democratized the whole idea of working with light andbuilding products that allow consumers generally to be able to,
access them themselves, look, touch, feel the products in our showrooms and think aboutwhat they want for their home.
And for the average person listening who might not know about all these different lightingcompanies that exist, how would you describe the style of visual comfort lighting and the
(03:28):
range of products?
that's another thing that makes this business so special because when I was a designermyself, you would tend to have to go to a lot of different high end lighting companies to
find, an assortment that would work for any particular project.
And what VisualComfort has done is it's formed collaborations with many designers,actually 40 different collaborations.
(03:52):
we have designers designing products for us that just has made this brilliant assortment.
We have 9,000 products, 30,000 SKUs in total.
I mean, it's a very broad stretch.
for any one company to be doing that type of range.
And that has great appeal for designers because they can get pretty much everything theycould imagine.
(04:16):
Your projects change, they're not always identical.
You wanna go different style ways.
You wanna think about maybe a beachfront property on one project and then maybe somewherein the mountains or a city.
You're going to have very different needs for each of those types of projects.
So we want to build our product selection for all those different types of solutions.
And I think it being an American company offers that range.
(04:40):
The American market is so enormous and so geographically diverse, so stylistically diverseand budgets all over the range.
So it's really great to have a brand that comes from that background because it gives somany varieties to choose from here.
That's right.
And as we expand globally as well, mean, even here in the UK and Ireland and hopefullythroughout the rest of the EU, we're going to look to extend that further, right?
(05:05):
Because you go to different places and there are different preferences.
There are different needs and we want to be able to, as we grow, accommodate those.
For anyone listening, some of the really popular designer ranges within the visual comfortfamily is names you might recognize like Ralph Lauren or Aaron Lauder.
Kelly Weersler's range is obviously hugely popular.
And once you start looking through the website, which I highly recommend you do, you willstart noticing these lights in every design magazine you read.
(05:33):
they really are everywhere, but it doesn't take away from the luxury.
It has the best of mass market and the best of luxury.
Yeah, I would say so.
you have to also remember that those designers are also coming up with new products almostevery year for the collections that they are responsible for.
And we introduce new designers as well that bring their own flavor and their own set.
(05:54):
And that's part of what really makes the offering unique, but there are times when youdon't want it to be unique, right?
From a designer perspective, because
You know, when you're working on projects or even multiple projects and you want to makesure that all the metals are uniform, you want to make sure that the warmth of the light
is uniform in the same home, you want to make sure that there's going to be certainconsistencies, right?
(06:18):
That kind of continuity is something that the bigger business, you know,
thinks about when we're working with all of these different designers so that you don'tget this sort of dog's dinner or clumsy output that is a mismatch when you're actually
looking to build in one space.
you know.
And whether it's your own renovation or your designer juggling a few, it's reallyconvenient to be able to order everything through one place or a lot.
(06:42):
know, think designers will still always like to have a bit of variety.
The consumer, I'm sure, would be happy to order everything from one place if they could.
But it's great to be able to have like a contemporary IP rated bathroom light, but at thesame time be able to order your
exterior lighting and you know, a beautiful pendant for your dining room all from the samecompany but in a wide array of prices and styles.
(07:04):
Yeah, exactly.
And I think, you know, can't stress enough all the other backend stuff that none of uslike to deal with.
And knowing that you can work with someone, you know, an actual like account manager typeperson that's going to help you through all of the ups and downs that any project goes
through.
is something that we take a lot of pride in, in that extra level of service.
(07:25):
And we're hoping to build in even more service on top of that, that can help to buildinspiration through different trends, through different ideas that the designers that make
our collections can provide to the greater industry as a whole.
Yeah, it's quite a unique spot in the market.
So one of things I really want to bring out from the visual comfort expertise and your ownbackground is what do people need to understand as a one-on-one to lighting?
(07:52):
Why does lighting matter in your home?
Yeah.
So, mean, lighting is, it's a funny one, right?
Because when we think about light, there's something ephemeral about it.
You know, we think about the light outside and we always want it to be a certain way, butactually it changes throughout the day.
You know, it's a moving kind of, you know, emotive sort of existence in our lives,wherever we go.
(08:13):
And so, you know, when we think about lighting for the home, there's, there's that,there's the ambient lighting, right?
Which we try to sort of
We try to replicate the general lighting or the ambient lighting from the ceilinggenerally, which is all of your like recessed lighting, that general lighting.
We try to sort of, we want that to really compliment more with the mood that you get maybein a natural world.
(08:34):
But then at the same time, you know, there are times when you really want to make it feelmore amber or you really want to make it feel a little more cooler depending on the
occasion or depending on what you're doing in the space.
So.
Having the flexibility to actually do those, to make those kind of moves with the generallighting in your home adds a sort of emotive quality to the space.
The second area, besides ambient, I would talk about is your task lighting.
(08:58):
So this is all the stuff that's gonna be helping you work, helping you function.
So maybe like in your kitchen, you want some task lighting because you're cooking.
Or maybe when you're working, you need task lighting because you need to focus.
Task lighting doesn't have to be boring.
It doesn't have to be just functional.
We all know the famous tabletop desk lamps and all that sort of drab stuff.
(09:23):
now task lighting can be really beautiful, really inventive, almost like iconic sculpturesin their own right.
And it's an opportunity to bring that element into that tier of lighting in the home.
And the third area, you know, not to be forgotten, but often is, is the sort of the accentlighting.
So this is the third tier that really accent lighting brings dimension.
(09:46):
It brings a kind of just a very special layer to the space that I would say is almost likethe icing on the cake.
It's the lighting that's going to really allow that beautiful painting to come alive.
It's the light that when you're entertaining that is gonna really make the table thatyou're all sitting and dining at feel like it's alive.
(10:09):
It's the perimeter lighting around a particular room that is just giving it that extradimension.
And that accent lighting doesn't necessarily always have to be a feature.
It can be working with a feature element in the space, but it's that trilogy, the ambient,the task.
and the accent really are kind of the beauty of really layering light in a home.
(10:33):
And I think it's really good for people to start to understand it that way, that there'sthese three categories, because I think it's the sort of thing you notice if there's a
hotel you love and you go into that lobby and you start to dissect, why does this feelamazing?
It's probably the beautiful lamps they have tucked away on these marble consoles.
It's probably, like you said, the picture light over that gorgeous oil painting thatallows the light to dance and you can see the brushstrokes and...
(10:59):
I think it's the difference between a design space and, you know, often a space that thelighting was chosen a bit later because your builder was like, I need to get those in,
order them now.
And that third layer is really what makes that difference.
But you can't tell because it feels so good and so instinctive and natural until it's beenremoved.
And you're like, why doesn't this feel great?
(11:19):
You can think about like maybe there's a time when you've gone into some like, sort ofyou've stayed in a place maybe, you know, like let's just say cheap and cheerful type
environment and the light feels very flat, you know, it just feels super flat.
There's no dimension to the space at all.
But then you go into, as you said, like these wonderful hotel lobbies or into a home wherethere's all this dimension and it adds interest and it adds a kind of third layer to the
(11:45):
space.
And it just, actually literally feels alive, like the space feels alive.
And I think, you know, lighting, it's just, it's that you could have a brilliant design,right?
But if you don't light it well, any good designer will tell you like, yep, I really missedthe boat on this one.
It's that it's, it really is such an important part, which is why.
you know, thinking about it not last in the project cycle, but actually thinking about itmore holistically on the front end can be really important.
(12:13):
Yeah, and I actually wanted to talk about some common mistakes and I think we've kind ofalready addressed two of those.
One is not considering the three different types.
So the ambient lighting from your overhead light, the task lighting perhaps from, youknow, smaller desk lamps or spotlights, and then the accent lighting, which can be a table
lamp, which can be a floor lamp, which can be maybe a decorative wall light that doesn'temit so much light and that create the moods.
(12:38):
Not layering those in, think is one of the common mistakes.
And two, like you just touched on, is not considering the lighting earlier on in theproject, even from a circuit planning point of view, from a lighting plan point of view,
but as well as a budgetary point of view.
So do you have a few thoughts you'd like to share about lighting plans?
Yeah.
Well, I mean, I think, you know, it kind of goes back to the whole plan, right?
(13:02):
Cause a lot of, a lot of general, homeowners, let's just say that maybe they have a newproject or maybe they have a room they want to rethink, you know, and they say, where do I
start?
know, where, where, where is the, what, what do I start doing?
What do I start thinking about?
Do I think about the furniture first?
Do I think about this first?
I mean, I often will say, well, you know, it's really about the holistic image.
(13:22):
So maybe start by just looking at some of your favorite
Like pull out a bunch of books, your favorite books or find some interesting designers andjust page through them.
And you know, what is it that you're reacting to?
What are the things that are calling out to you that you like?
You know, make note of what those environments are and what is it about those spacesthat's calling out to you?
(13:42):
Because, you know, taking a holistic approach to how you think through the whole design,obviously the lighting is a very important fundamental, I would say, and can certainly
the feature elements that come from lighting can be sculptures or like pieces of art intheir own right.
There's nothing wrong with saying, absolutely love that chandelier and I really want thatfor my hall without knowing what your hall's gonna look like.
(14:06):
That's perfectly okay.
But also thinking sometimes about what is the hall gonna look like?
And thinking about what is my color palette?
I always like to start with color palette.
But one thing informs the next, one object informs the next, and sometimes getting theright inspiration can help get you in the right direction from the start.
Yeah, I think that's good idea.
(14:27):
it also sets the tone stylistically.
So if you love this antique chandelier, know that that space is going to start feelingquite classical.
If that's what you want, amazing.
Then maybe you can find some classical, some beautiful, you know, blue and white Chinapainted lamps that'll go with
say, you know what, I really want to do an eclectic thing and I really want to mix these,you know, these really lovely Aaron lights with something that's, you know, much more in
(14:54):
line with like a Waterford that we do that is, you know, much more crystal.
I mean, you can really, mean, you know, being here part of design week this week inDublin, I mean, you get some designers that just do such creative things.
with how they bring different eras of lighting or different eras and styles to one design.
(15:15):
And it can be done very, very well if the right color palettes kind of align those objectstogether.
I mean, I always welcome people to experiment, you know, because I think that's partlywhat visual comfort offers is just the ability to experiment with so many products to be
able to glean ideas from, you know.
Yeah, it's a whole other dimension of style.
(15:38):
So sometimes you'll see some interiors and they're defined by the lighting.
So it might be like a Parisian apartment that has really classical bones, but then they'veused really low profile furniture and like really stark architectural lighting.
it's what creates the look.
It does and that's why looking through and I really do recommend sometimes looking atbooks rather than just looking at things online because we spend so much time online and
(16:02):
there's just such a cornucopia of ideas it can sometimes feel overwhelming but somethingabout the poise of taking out a book a really good designer from a few different eras and
paging through their work
It brings a kind of calm and you can actually look at the rooms and think, you know, Ireally love this about how they did that space and, I want to employ that, you know, in my
(16:25):
own design.
Some books that I love, the Soho Home books are incredible.
Soho House, a lot of their books are really inspirational and they always have storiesbehind the lighting.
And another one that I adore, which I don't think is in print anymore, is a Thomas O'Brienbook called American Modern.
And Thomas O'Brien is one of your...
Our designers, yeah, mean, does beautiful work.
(16:45):
And looking at really any of our designers, know, in our collection, yeah, they will allprovide, you know, the kind of inspiration that I think would really help, you know,
anyone who wants to just take a crack and think about designing their next, you know, roomproject, the next Renault, whatever they're working on.
Absolutely.
So speaking of overwhelm, I'd love it you could break down some of the terminology.
(17:09):
I know we've talked about ambient accent and task lighting, but can we break it down alittle bit more in terms of like what's a sconce versus a wall light?
And a lot of these things is people get confused and then they actually don't even knowwhat to search for, you know, or, or like, you know, if you go on a website and you type,
like, how do I even describe what I'm looking for?
It's helpful.
It is, yeah.
I mean, start by saying, okay, very logical question, where does the light go?
(17:32):
Where is it actually going to get fixed or mounted to?
we all know there's a ceiling, there's a floor, and there are walls, generally speaking.
I mean, there's freestanding areas we think about those as floor.
And, in the industry, call that the application, right?
So where are you going to apply the light?
So general lighting, which we always kind of want to make it disappear, like great ambientlighting is generally the lights that, are not the eyesores, are not the wall warts,
(18:00):
right?
We want them to go away, just be a beautiful natural environment without really showingyour face.
The task lighting and the accent lighting can go either way, this is where we get intomore of the art form, the art object of the space.
And
there was a day back, know, don't know, 80s, 90s, so on, know, lights always had, youknow, a post and a shade, a post and a shade.
(18:21):
Every lamp was like, if you had a child draw it, it was a post and a shade.
But now, you know, they really are so beautiful.
Like they are art forms.
And if they're well selected, they're not just functioning by providing light, they'reactually providing form and dimensionality that's kind of a sculpture in its own right.
So your ambient light, is, know, we're talking about different applications, right?
(18:44):
So the application is really going to help you find what you're looking for online.
So if you're doing a Google search and you're looking for a floor light that, you know,for the floor, something that's freestanding, put freestanding floor light.
In fact, it might even be good to be a bit vague because you're going to see a much biggerassortment than if you write, you know, the specific name.
(19:05):
for
feature lights that are suspenders, so anything suspended from the ceiling, you're gonnaprobably get a lot more elaborate kind of chandelier type fixtures.
For wall mounts, you're gonna get a variety of sconces, you're gonna get library orpicture lights
Generally, those application names are probably the best entry point if you're looking forsomething, you know, where is it going to go?
(19:30):
Amazing.
Okay.
And tell us about finishing materials.
Cause what you were talking about there is lighting has gone beyond having a job to beingsculptural in an art form.
like, even when the lights are off, they should add something to the room with a lot ofthese lights.
And I think one of the big things as a designer is it's an opportunity for anothermaterial, right?
So whether that's in a shade or whether that's the metal finish or, one of the
(19:51):
the pendants in our future house is from Visual Comfort and has the leather wrapped aroundthe pendant.
And for me, I was like, I want to introduce something different here, but I don't want itto be cold like metal.
And I don't want it just to be fabric.
want something in between.
And it's a really good place to add more of that materiality.
So tell us a bit more about like the different finishes and what people should understandabout them.
(20:15):
Yeah, I mean, there's so many different types of finishes and options and, I really thinkthat, when you're thinking about bringing any object into your design, you're thinking
about, okay, there's an opportunity here to create a feature.
So maybe, know, for instance, in your dining room that you kind of have some voids.
(20:38):
Right, you know that there's a space that you want to fill because it needs something.
Well, in the past, you might not think about a light, actually.
You might think about a sculpture, you might think about a painting, or you might thinkabout a kind of art-ist object.
Now there's so many things to choose from that you can actually incorporate it, you canmake it functional, you can make it a light, it can be a chandelier, it can be a sort
(21:01):
of...
in a centerpiece, if you like, for a table or you can have three centerpieces and there'sa kind of light functionality.
The other great thing is we now have mobility, right?
Because we have a whole range of products that don't need to be wired.
And this allows us to move things around and to have a freedom in the space to put thingsin places where in the past maybe we couldn't because you didn't really want a wire
(21:25):
dragging around the room and it would be awkward and it would be a trip hazard and allthose things.
Now we can move stuff.
so, I welcome people to have a look at the range of mobility, movable fixtures in ourproduct assortment because they do both very well.
And in terms of the actual metal finishes, you know, brass, nickel and everything inbetween, how would you advise people to use them?
(21:47):
Should they try to match everything, which obviously buying from your range helps, orshould they mix and match?
Are there any rules for that?
I hate to say there's ever any rules because I don't think there should ever be any rules.
And I think that, you know, designers take a lot of freedom to break rules and often do itvery, very well.
Obviously it's very subjective, but I would say for any newbie that's, not really had anyformal design or architectural training maybe stick to one metal type for your home.
(22:15):
If it's small, certainly if it's a room, stick to one.
type of metal in that room because that finish is going to round out the room better thanif you try to mix and match.
think mixing and matching is great when you have that level of experience and there's tonsof designers who do it really well.
But you know, if you're going to go for a chrome, keep it chrome.
(22:35):
You know, if you're going to go for a yellow metal, if you're going to go for brass, keepit brass.
Now, if you want to mix the brass, mix, you know, the different types, I mean, you couldtry
But generally, the smaller the room, the more you want to kind of keep it uniform and keepit consistent.
The more space you have, all right, maybe you have a little more flexibility to play.
Yeah, and it's a stylistic decision, I think, as well, too.
(22:57):
If you want really contemporary and minimal matter finishes tend to work well.
And the more uniform they are, the better.
Whereas if you prefer a more layered, lived in look, an old period London flat, a bit ofmixing in can look nice, like an antique brass with a polished brass or a nickel with a
brass again.
I mean I have a dining room where I've used a lot of like brass so you know one of myfriends came into the room the other day and like my gosh you've got brass and kind of
(23:26):
very yellow kind of metals in this room but then in your adjacent room which is yourliving space you've gone all like chrome and I said yeah well I did that because that room
has a very dark
finish on the walls and with that, with the yellow metal, it holds its own and keeps,captive in that little space.
But then the other bigger room where it's more airy, I wanted lighter walls with chromeand, the mirror in there has a sort of, brushed chrome type finish.
(23:53):
I've mixed matched some of the white metals in that room.
I think they both work well together.
But if people want to play it safe to your point, choose a single metal that you love andthink about how to play around with that.
Yeah.
And again, that's another thing you have to be careful of when you're sourcing lightingfrom a variety of places is one aged brass is not going to look the same as another aged
(24:14):
brass.
Like they can vary so much.
You can usually get consistency when you're looking at the polished versions ofeverything, but that's not necessarily to everyone's taste.
So it's, important to sometimes look and touch and feel.
And we'll, talk a little bit later about how people can look and touch and feel visualcomfort.
I mean, that's one thing that it does help also again with visual comfort is that we areable to, you know, think about that uniformity through the medals so that when people are
(24:41):
knowing that, is this gonna clash?
They don't really have to have that concern because we are thinking about building thoseconsistencies.
But yeah, there's certainly a lot to choose from and we do try within the differentfinishes to always give options.
so that if you really love a fixture but I really wish that was a nickel, you know, itmight well be.
Yeah, absolutely.
(25:01):
And just like you're saying, if somebody's a newbie to play it safe, it's great to,especially in smaller spaces, stick to one metal.
I think these kinds of recommendations from experts are really helpful when people areoverwhelmed by their own renovation and it's something they're doing outside of their busy
lives with work and family.
What are some other kind of winning combinations of mix of lights that you like?
(25:22):
Like, I really like a chandelier with this and that, that people can memorize.
Yeah, when you're thinking of a room, I would say try not to have too many focal points,You wanna try to pick one iconic thing that's the anchor to the room.
That's really gonna help because when you create too many anchor points, you don't knowwhere to look.
(25:44):
and it doesn't draw you into the room as nicely.
So if you're thinking about a really, you know, over the top chandelier, something that'sreally dramatic and a feature to the space, maybe do something more subtle with the other
lights in the room.
they don't have to actually be the ones that are speaking so loud.
People, often think, oh, look.
so attracted to all these different things.
(26:04):
There's just so many great things in your assortment.
I don't know what to do.
well, choose one thing that you really, really love.
could be a really expensive piece, but keep that as your one single anchor.
And then think about just the more subtle things that can complement with that, that willnot draw too much attention to itself, but really just kind of help to round out the room.
Yeah, and I think that goes beyond the lighting, like you said, like choose your hero.
(26:27):
And in one room, the hero might be the marble on your island and maybe the pendant aboveit should just be a linear pendant.
Really simple.
But in others, if you've chosen that the chandelier is going to be your, showstopper, thendon't get, the bright pink sofa, unless that's your vibe, know, then go for it.
But if you, if you aren't a maximalist, like I think most people are somewhere in themiddle,
(26:49):
that's why it's best to consider it, you said, flip through the books and see what'sdrawing your eyes at the giant paper lantern, or is it those gorgeous wall sconces going
up the staircase.
Understand the hierarchy.
Exactly.
And that's really great way of putting it.
And I think that, once you get that balance right, you will find a room or someplace inyour home for everything.
(27:10):
also thinking about, OK, well, maybe not for that room, but I can use it in another room.
yeah.
And finding things that could complement each other.
So if you choose something that has a kind of floral quality to it, well,
Maybe you want to think about how to bring something a little floral quality to the hallor to, you know, bathroom, because then you're carrying a common thread through the space.
(27:32):
And we like to weave threads through the space because it builds continuity in the homeand it just makes sense, doesn't it?
Absolutely.
Yeah.
I think there's one pendant, I can't remember what it's called, but it's got a matte whiteplaster finish and it kind of looks like branches.
Almost that pendant.
Is it from the Lauder collection?
Yeah.
And it just, it almost, they look like almost like, like a silver birch branch and it'sreally organic feeling.
(27:57):
And you can just see that going in someone's home that has like maybe the lime wash wallsor just this sort of like limed oak.
And again,
that approach to the lighting feels continuous.
Yeah, and someone might see a fixture like that and say, you know, I really love somethingabout this fixture, now that sort of leaf-like design is going to play into maybe what I
(28:17):
use for a wall covering, or maybe I want to bring that kind of naturalistic vibe to thespace and I want to complement it with other things that speak to that natural element.
There's just so many ways that you can build that thread, but kind of latching on tosomething to tell a story, I think is always very helpful.
Yeah.
So, okay.
(28:38):
Two tips from Jean there.
The first one is, is know when the lighting is going to be a feature point or not.
And even each room think, if you took a little snapshot in your brain, what's drawing theeye.
And if it is the, lighting feature, then have it be one of the lighting features andeverything else should be the supporting actors.
And secondly,
if there's something you're drawn to, like maybe it's a gorgeous, crystal chandelier.
(29:00):
What's something else that you can play from there?
Or like we talked about that, that pendant that has something that looks like leaves orbranches, then maybe there's there's a wallpaper in your downstairs loo with scenes.
Exactly.
Like one of the things you might also be inspired by is that you know we have a newcollection called Waterford and everybody knows Waterford especially here in Ireland and
(29:22):
you know we've created a quite a bespoke collection that isn't necessarily all thetraditional types of Waterford that you think of when you think of crystal right.
very ethereal.
Yeah, we have Karig, which is just this beautiful chandelier, which I'd put sort of almosthas a Zaha Hadid kind of vibe to it.
(29:42):
Very architectural with the armature and these big carrot, crystals on the ends.
it's just stunning fixture.
You know, combine that with some one of the other, you know, Waterford lines, which mightbe a more traditional sort of lampshade that, also embodies the crystal.
but in a very different form.
It's like a traditional and a contemporary, but because you're holding on to the crystal,i.e.
(30:06):
the common thread, it kind of works together.
And then maybe crystal then becomes this transparent element that you start to integrateit in the glass collection in your cupboard that you feature or...
you the glass that you use in another room in another way, the frame around the mirror,the way that, glass and objects are cut in the home, the table top that's, you know,
(30:28):
beautiful glass table top.
you know, there's just ways to play around with that material.
Yeah.
I think it's good for people to like designers obviously does, each room will have likematerials set out together and how did they all speak to each other?
And you know, maybe you can't always get samples of it yourself, but even getting littlescreenshots and putting it a, Google slides presentation will help you see visually, does
(30:51):
this all work together as something kind of jarring?
What's my missing link here?
And usually it's about repetition.
And if there's a random element, are you anchoring it in some way, or are you
Are you making it random on purpose because you want it to stick out?
What about some combos of like, should every room have a pendant and wall lights and afloor lamp and table lamps?
(31:12):
Or what should a dining room have?
What should a living room have?
Walk us through it.
Yeah.
I mean, again, you know, we do have to remember that, you know, light does have a functionand it is meant to provide light.
And there are going to be places where you just need to have functional light becauseyou're going to be reading there or there is no light.
Maybe there is no ambient light because there's no recessed lighting in the ceiling.
(31:36):
It's an old historic home and you're going to have to get the most out of your light from
the free-standing lights in the space.
So I think first, you know, figuring out functionally, well, where do I need light?
And then once that's determined and you can be strategic about where your furniture is andwhere the light might go, then you can start to have fun because then you can think, okay,
(31:56):
you know, there's a console behind my sofa.
That's a real opportunity to bring two big sort of lamps that have a beautiful base and...
can be a real feature to that room and create a symmetry in that room that I really want.
Or you might say that, you know, in your dining room, it's quite small, there's enough fora table.
I could do a really great sort of chandelier or just, you know, a suspended fixture ormaybe a few pendants, but I'm not gonna really have much room for too much else.
(32:27):
I mean, I might do something...
on the sideboard that is going to give me some extra light at a lower level.
So maybe two interesting table lights there, or maybe two wall lights in that room to giveit another vibe.
But you're probably not going to want to start thinking about too much task lighting in aspace like that.
But I think it's just really common sense, isn't it?
(32:47):
What are you doing in the room?
You're eating, you're dining.
What am I doing in the room?
I'm relaxing, I'm reading.
What am I doing in my bedroom?
I'm sleeping but I need some bedside lighting or I need a floor lamp by the extra armchairin the corner.
I want something on my mantle, you know.
there are no rules but thinking in terms of the function and how you're going to use thespace is a good place to start.
(33:10):
And I think people are often scared of adding those extra ones that are nice to have,especially people, who are like, I'm really contemporary.
I wouldn't have a floor lamp or a table.
a lot of times those lights can be the feature.
You know, there's some, lovely lights that, they just, bring the room together.
They help to actually unite everything So, again, looking at all these things holisticallyreally helps.
(33:32):
and they can be, made of alabaster.
It doesn't all have to be, like you said, like a post with a paper shade.
To somebody who's not necessarily into interiors, but they prefer sleeker interiors.
They might think that it's fussy to add more lighting, but it can be really
I wouldn't really think about it always being about adding more lighting.
I mean, it can be if you need light, but it can really be about adding more dimension thatI, you know, I'm looking actually for an object, something more sculptural to sit on that
(34:00):
table.
Wonderful that it's illuminated object, but really that's what it is.
It's an illuminated piece of art in many respects because
opening your mind to the fact that it's not necessarily just a light, It helps open themind to the possibilities of where we can put lights.
Yeah, it could be replacing where you thought, I might put a painting there someday.
(34:23):
It could replace that.
Like, up the stairs in our house, we're going to put the Arabelle sconces, which are justbrass.
for anyone listening, if you look at them on the visual comfort website, you might belike, well, that's not gonna illuminate the stairwell very much, but that's not the point
of it.
The point of it is it's something funky.
It's brass.
It's establishing, a style for the house in the stairwell.
(34:43):
There's a very traditional chandelier.
in that space and I wanted something to contrast it to show that we're respecting thearchitecture of the home but we're also having some fun with something a little more funky
and youthful.
Yeah, and the beauty of the fact that it is light means it does illuminate itself.
it becomes a kind of feature of itself at night.
And that is a lovely thing to have, I mean, most art doesn't come with a light.
(35:07):
So, it doesn't illuminate at night.
You need to illuminate it.
And, you know, we have plenty of those lights too that can do that, picture lights and soon.
But it's nice that when they're embedded together, it makes the object just all that muchmore enhanced.
Can we talk a little bit about some of the technical elements people should consider thatcan really make your lighting either, you know, be successful or fail?
(35:30):
Like things like Kelvin, IP rating, even dimmers and different circuits.
Give us a few no-nos and yes-yeses.
Yeah, I know.
lighting it can be a heavy lift when you've not ever worked with it before.
And I mean, even people that go into, a hardware shop or, you know, into a home based typestore and they want light, just to get bulbs can be a little overwhelming with all of the
(35:55):
things that the pack says on the package.
I mean, I'd start with the most important thing, which is probably the warmth or coolnessof the light.
Right?
Because how often have you been gone to a space and it's either a mix match of cool andwarm, or it's just way too bright, way too cool.
And it doesn't make you feel comfortable.
You know, it doesn't make you feel relaxed when you're in an environment that feels morelike an operating theater.
(36:21):
So I think starting out with what we call Kelvin, which is how warm or how cool the lightis, is a good place to start.
And
Just to make it more confusing, you would tend to think that a higher Kelvin number wouldprobably be warmer, right?
As temperatures go up, it gets hotter, the number gets higher.
Not the case.
So in Kelvin, the higher the number, the cooler the fixture, the cooler the output of thelight.
(36:45):
And in our case, we tend to like to conform more to the other end of the spectrum, which Iwouldn't quite say is a deep amber.
but is a warmer tone overall.
So you're kind of looking, if you want that type of warmth, a 2700, know, sometimes youcan go a little bit lower if you really want an amber.
We have a few designers in our collection that insist on going even, you know, as low aslike 1800.
(37:08):
It's that super, super amber orange.
But, you know, somewhere around the 2700 is considered, you know, we think kind of theoptimal level of warmth for the home.
If you can pull that off consistently in a space, really will help to make the environmentfeel more comfortable.
um
say the spotlights or task lighting should be the same or can they be a little bit higher?
(37:32):
Well, I would tend to keep most things uniform, but what I would highly suggest is gettingthings on dimmers because the dim ability is going to allow you to make those little
adjustments that give the nuance to the space based on time of day because
We have to remember we've windows in most rooms, right?
And in the day, certainly you're going to get different qualities of light on dark daysthat are rainy.
(37:57):
You're going to want to have a different light in the space than you would maybe on a verybright day or in the evening.
If you're entertaining, you might want to dim it way down, but you might need to have itbrighter in certain areas because people are doing things, playing a game, eating the
meal, cooking.
So I think, getting that flexibility in with building things on dimmers is just going togive that flexibility to the space and how you want it to shift with your lifestyle, you
(38:25):
know.
think that goes back to talking about planning lighting in early.
planning where you're going to have lights and you can even have some of your floor lampsor table lamps also on your circuits so that they don't have to be turned on and off at
the source.
They can be controlled from your switches and then some of the terminology you might hearelectricians use are two-way circuits so that the light at the top of the stairs can be
(38:47):
turned off from downstairs too so that when you're leaving the house in the evening you'renot leaving everything illuminated.
So these are just a few technical know-hows that can be really helpful early on.
when you're hopefully working on a lighting plan with someone.
Yeah, and hopefully it will soon be us because we don't have it yet in the States.
We do offer a full set of technical lighting, architectural lighting.
(39:10):
That's the ambient lighting and general lighting that I was talking about.
But we also offer systems, which is the integrated controllability of those lights.
And that will all be coming to Ireland, be coming to the EU soon.
So we're really looking forward to be able to bring that.
And then we can really,
almost put together the whole house offering, which I think will really help bothconsumers as well as designers alike that really don't want to be thinking about all the
(39:37):
technical lighting planning that often goes into a project.
It's just nice to offload that to someone that already has the design force behind it andknows that it's going to work and it's going to create the layered lighting and all the
things that you're looking for.
That's an amazing offering because, I have friends who have to do whatever was planned inor wired in, even though it doesn't really make sense for the way they live at the end.
(40:01):
It's not necessarily a consideration done early enough or in a holistic way, unless you'reworking with an interior designer.
So it's great that you can be supplying that service too, because not everyone can affordan interior designer.
Yeah, and you know, we think we always try to recommend that, if you can work with adesigner, do.
We have a very large network of designers that work with us.
(40:22):
But, you know, going into one of our showrooms, there's always a team available to helpout and, whatever small ways, even just some of the advice I'm giving today, they can also
provide and help make selections and try to give some inspiration and ideas.
And in terms of budget management, know, you know, visual comfort is not is not a economyrange, right?
(40:44):
So there are some things range from accessible entry level luxury.
And, know, you can go into multiple thousands and for some large chandeliers.
What advice would you give somebody, you know, like everyone, everyone has a budget wherewhere should you save and where should you invest?
What can be swapped out down the line?
Yeah.
So I think, and I would apply this rule also to just the design of your home generally isfocus on the spaces that you think are going to get most of your attention and most of
(41:12):
your time.
And if there's any spaces where you're going to be entertaining, those are spaces youprobably want to put a little more love, a little more money into.
The back of house spaces, maybe that, you know,
a room upstairs that no one ever goes to or the room way downstairs that no one ever usesor some bathroom that's like not getting used.
Don't put your money in there.
(41:32):
There's plenty of products that you can use to kind of just get those rooms done but nothave to spend a lot.
And put your love into the spaces you love and the spaces that are going to make your homereally shine.
I think that that would be my advice.
And then...
Once you've nailed what those rooms are, two, three rooms, focus on getting things forthose rooms that, are gonna stand the test of time, are show pieces that will really
(42:01):
bring, those feature elements to your home and hopefully just give you a confidence aboutwhere you live, right?
I love going into the rooms where I was like, there's two pieces that I bought.
are just showstopper pieces and every time I walk in there, I just smile because I just, Ilove what they do to the space.
It was worth every penny, you know.
(42:22):
Absolutely.
And actually on that point in terms of your favorites, what are some of your favoriteranges from visual comfort?
I have so many favorites, it's crazy.
first time I actually went into one of our showrooms, it was a jaw-dropping experience forme because I felt like a cat on catnip or something.
(42:44):
It was literally so overwhelming because I had only looked, to be fair, at the productsonline.
And when I saw the products online, was like, well, these look great, but you know, I'mlooking at them in two dimensions.
don't really, not only are they not three dimensional, but you can't see the quality ofthe finishes.
You can't see all of the craftsmanship that's gone into these products, which is justoutstanding.
(43:08):
And it's one of the reasons why we're so keen to actually bring a showroom to Dublin,because we want people to actually come into contact with the product in person to see.
the value that you're really getting for every, everything you spend.
mean, these are pieces that, have the craftsmanship of something that would be far, farmore expensive if we weren't able to produce it at the scale that we are able to.
(43:31):
Some of my favorite pieces, I mean, I love the Waterford line.
I can't lie.
I mean, this was recently launched.
I mean, not only is the story around it so amazing, but the pieces themselves cover arange.
I mean, the,
The pendant lights in the Waterford line are just phenomenal.
They've been getting a lot of attention in the press.
(43:52):
The Carrick fixture, which I mentioned earlier, is also a favorite piece of mine.
And then I'm also a big fan of some of the Aaron lines.
The Clement, which is actually going to be used in...
We're working right now with Kelly Hoppin at Wow House in London.
It's a show that's going to be running through the month of June.
And she's created a show house with us, the living room space actually.
(44:15):
And she's used a lot of the products from the Aran line, the Clement, I think floor lampshe's used, the task light, and it's that mixture of brass and black hooded sort of
shades.
just kind of retro, but in a really contemporary way.
I think those are probably some of my favorites of the moment.
(44:37):
Amazing.
Yeah, and think people should definitely check out the website and in terms of the closestshowroom to us here in Ireland would be in London.
So tell us a little bit more about how people can visit.
Yeah, so we currently have our debut in the UK in Chelsea Harbour, which some of you, someof the people that are your listeners might know that that's at the Design Centre at
(44:59):
Chelsea Harbour.
We're right opposite the main entrance, so very easy and accessible if you're going to theDesign Centre for anything.
And then we're going to be at end of this year opening up our second showroom in London inMarlabone in Wigmore Street.
So we're really looking forward to that.
hopefully we'll be launching our architectural line, our technical lighting line in thatshowroom.
then, we're eye spotting right now to try to find our next space, here in Dublin, whichwe're really looking forward to.
(45:25):
So trying to find the right space for us here.
And then hopefully we'll also be in Europe looking at places like Paris and, you know, lotto come.
Amazing.
And of course online.
And of course online, yeah, I always recommend if someone can get to a showroom on theirtravels to come and visit us and see the product in person.
online, anyone can get to from anywhere.
(45:47):
And we have a pretty good marker of showcasing projects as well on any of the socialoutlets for visual comfort.
So I recommend people looking through those also for inspiration and you'll find ourlighting in all of those and sometimes it's nice to see how things look in context.
Absolutely.
Rather than just on a cut sheet or online on a white background.
(46:10):
Especially scale.
I think that we didn't cover on that earlier, but I'd be remiss not to say something.
I think a lot of the ways people try to trim the budget down on a light that they love isto go a size smaller.
And it's really important to consider the right scale of a lamp for a room.
You're better off going with a different lamp altogether of the right size.
Yeah, I agree with that.
I think people tend to be more conservative, right?
(46:34):
and the other thing is that sometimes they hang their fixtures too high.
thinking about, again, great references, go to your books, do your homework, get yourinspiration and really look, look to see how heights can bring also,
another dynamism to the environment, when you don't just conceal something, make it toosmall, so it's almost disappearing in the space.
(46:59):
Well, that's not really helping to create a feature, is it?
The nature of a feature is featuring it.
But then there will be cases when a room can't command something massive or, it's justgoing to overkill it.
I would always tend to go a little bit bigger.
I would tend to go a little bit bigger.
And I would say that because I think a lot of people just go a little bit too small.
Yeah, absolutely.
And in terms of shopping online, I you mentioned that people can also get some help.
(47:24):
How does that work?
Yes, well, we have a team of people that work in our showrooms and, you know, those peoplecan certainly help edit or help curate a collection if there's something that you're
looking for and it all feels overwhelming, you going through pages and pages online.
We have a team that can definitely help point in the right direction.
(47:46):
something I would say is, if you had...
some images of things that you really liked, but maybe you didn't have the time to gofinding them or sourcing them through our site.
You could send those to one of our team members at any one of our showrooms and theycould, help give advice about what we have in our assortment that could maybe be a match
or close to a match or something similar.
(48:07):
So, we offer that.
And for designers out there who
want to work with someone, we certainly have the team to help support them as well.
Not just on any one project, but across multiple projects.
We definitely want to support designers and helping them kind of do some of the heavylifting on their projects.
And one last question on logistics.
(48:28):
currently when we order the visual comfort lighting, it's coming in from the UK.
How does that work from a customs and logistics point of view?
we take care of all of that.
we don't want our customers to have to be dealing with any of the costs associated withimports.
And there's a lot right now because we're dealing with the UK having gone through Brexitand what does that mean for the EU?
(48:52):
We take care of all of that so that our customers don't have to worry about paying any ofthose custom costs.
That's just something that we think is fair and we do that.
And if anyone has any questions about that, they can certainly work with the showroom orget support if they have a larger order that's going somewhere that's maybe not in their
home country, just to make sure that things are freight forwarded so it doesn't come byloose parcel, which would be our standard if you're ordering kind of piecemeal.
(49:20):
Any big orders, we really do try to recommend collaborating with someone that can helpthem think about it collectively so that
Everything is uniform, it's straightforward, it comes in one big shipment.
That's very helpful, especially for designers, because when you piecemeal order things,can be very clumsy, packages come separately, and when you're working on a project site,
it can get very confusing about what's what.
(49:43):
Absolutely.
I know that's a concern a lot of consumers have who aren't used to ordering from the UKlike designers might be.
Well, thank you so much for walking us through that.
think that's it's in a really exciting way to think about lighting.
It's almost like the jewel and the icing as well as like you said, just a real bareessential because we live indoors.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
(50:03):
At end of the day.
Yeah, lighting is really a lot of fun and it shouldn't be something scary.
It should be something to have a lot of fun with.
And hopefully, the assortment that we have can make it fun.
And we welcome people to, come to our showrooms, look at the product and, you know, you'llwant to come back, I'm sure.
It was great talking to you.
So really enjoyed this.
Thank you so much, Jean.
(50:24):
So for anyone who wants to learn more about visual comfort, check out their website, checkout their Instagram, and buy yourself some design books and start getting inspired about
lighting.
All right.
That's a wrap.
Welcome back to another episode of the interiors podcast.
name is Tanya Neufeld Flanagan.
And today I have a very exciting topic.
It's all about lighting.
here with me today is Jean Koeppel of Visual Comfort.
Hi, great to be here.
So for those of you who don't know, Visual Comfort is a brand adored by designersworldwide.
(00:44):
It's an American company, but it's become one of the go-tos here in Ireland, in theindustry, in UK and Europe.
I'm really excited to have Jean here to give us sort of a 101 of what people shouldunderstand about lighting.
What are the mistakes people are making?
How to design all the lighting in your house like you're a designer in case you don't haveone.
(01:05):
But before we get into all of that, Jean, tell us a little bit about yourself and aboutvisual comfort.
Yeah, happy to.
Great to be here.
Bit of background about me.
I'm trained as a designer and architect.
I've worked internationally, the US, primarily sort of New York area, Switzerland and theUK, London.
And that's kind of where my formal training happened amongst those places.
(01:26):
And then I slowly, slowly got into working specifically in the lighting industry, lightingand controls actually.
So I founded a startup called Shimmer and we developed embedded controls with lighting,worked in the industry with many well-known lighting big businesses on the commercial side
and residential side.
yeah, been in the industry a while.
(01:46):
Amazing.
And you've recently joined the visual comfort brand and tell us what is it about visualcomfort that's special.
Well, Visual Comfort Special for a lot of reasons.
mean, you know, before I joined, I knew the business and I knew that they were doingsomething brilliant with decorative lighting, but then expanding to actually offer
(02:07):
everything from architectural lighting, known as technical lighting as well, to landscapelighting, basically offering an entire whole house solution.
And that really appealed to me in line, of course, with the global expansion, is what I'mresponsible for.
Sort of that was kind of winning combination for a company that's really, you know, beenattracting a lot of attention now for the better part of the last, you know, 10, 20 years.
(02:35):
Yeah, so the company's been around for decades and designers have known it for a longtime.
But what's quite exciting is that consumers can also buy and browse and see the prices ona lot of these products.
Yeah, I mean, part of what the business has done so brilliantly is making the brand andthe products accessible.
formally, know, lighting design, a lot of other building products, you'd always have to gothrough a professional or perhaps a rep to purchase products.
(03:03):
But what we've done is we've democratized the whole idea of working with light andbuilding products that allow consumers generally to be able to,
access them themselves, look, touch, feel the products in our showrooms and think aboutwhat they want for their home.
And for the average person listening who might not know about all these different lightingcompanies that exist, how would you describe the style of visual comfort lighting and the
(03:28):
range of products?
that's another thing that makes this business so special because when I was a designermyself, you would tend to have to go to a lot of different high end lighting companies to
find, an assortment that would work for any particular project.
And what VisualComfort has done is it's formed collaborations with many designers,actually 40 different collaborations.
(03:52):
we have designers designing products for us that just has made this brilliant assortment.
We have 9,000 products, 30,000 SKUs in total.
I mean, it's a very broad stretch.
for any one company to be doing that type of range.
And that has great appeal for designers because they can get pretty much everything theycould imagine.
(04:16):
Your projects change, they're not always identical.
You wanna go different style ways.
You wanna think about maybe a beachfront property on one project and then maybe somewherein the mountains or a city.
You're going to have very different needs for each of those types of projects.
So we want to build our product selection for all those different types of solutions.
And I think it being an American company offers that range.
(04:40):
The American market is so enormous and so geographically diverse, so stylistically diverseand budgets all over the range.
So it's really great to have a brand that comes from that background because it gives somany varieties to choose from here.
That's right.
And as we expand globally as well, mean, even here in the UK and Ireland and hopefullythroughout the rest of the EU, we're going to look to extend that further, right?
(05:05):
Because you go to different places and there are different preferences.
There are different needs and we want to be able to, as we grow, accommodate those.
For anyone listening, some of the really popular designer ranges within the visual comfortfamily is names you might recognize like Ralph Lauren or Aaron Lauder.
Kelly Weersler's range is obviously hugely popular.
And once you start looking through the website, which I highly recommend you do, you willstart noticing these lights in every design magazine you read.
(05:33):
they really are everywhere, but it doesn't take away from the luxury.
It has the best of mass market and the best of luxury.
Yeah, I would say so.
you have to also remember that those designers are also coming up with new products almostevery year for the collections that they are responsible for.
And we introduce new designers as well that bring their own flavor and their own set.
(05:54):
And that's part of what really makes the offering unique, but there are times when youdon't want it to be unique, right?
From a designer perspective, because
You know, when you're working on projects or even multiple projects and you want to makesure that all the metals are uniform, you want to make sure that the warmth of the light
is uniform in the same home, you want to make sure that there's going to be certainconsistencies, right?
(06:18):
That kind of continuity is something that the bigger business, you know,
thinks about when we're working with all of these different designers so that you don'tget this sort of dog's dinner or clumsy output that is a mismatch when you're actually
looking to build in one space.
you know.
And whether it's your own renovation or your designer juggling a few, it's reallyconvenient to be able to order everything through one place or a lot.
(06:42):
know, think designers will still always like to have a bit of variety.
The consumer, I'm sure, would be happy to order everything from one place if they could.
But it's great to be able to have like a contemporary IP rated bathroom light, but at thesame time be able to order your
exterior lighting and you know, a beautiful pendant for your dining room all from the samecompany but in a wide array of prices and styles.
(07:04):
Yeah, exactly.
And I think, you know, can't stress enough all the other backend stuff that none of uslike to deal with.
And knowing that you can work with someone, you know, an actual like account manager typeperson that's going to help you through all of the ups and downs that any project goes
through.
is something that we take a lot of pride in, in that extra level of service.
(07:25):
And we're hoping to build in even more service on top of that, that can help to buildinspiration through different trends, through different ideas that the designers that make
our collections can provide to the greater industry as a whole.
Yeah, it's quite a unique spot in the market.
So one of things I really want to bring out from the visual comfort expertise and your ownbackground is what do people need to understand as a one-on-one to lighting?
(07:52):
Why does lighting matter in your home?
Yeah.
So, mean, lighting is, it's a funny one, right?
Because when we think about light, there's something ephemeral about it.
You know, we think about the light outside and we always want it to be a certain way, butactually it changes throughout the day.
You know, it's a moving kind of, you know, emotive sort of existence in our lives,wherever we go.
(08:13):
And so, you know, when we think about lighting for the home, there's, there's that,there's the ambient lighting, right?
Which we try to sort of
We try to replicate the general lighting or the ambient lighting from the ceilinggenerally, which is all of your like recessed lighting, that general lighting.
We try to sort of, we want that to really compliment more with the mood that you get maybein a natural world.
(08:34):
But then at the same time, you know, there are times when you really want to make it feelmore amber or you really want to make it feel a little more cooler depending on the
occasion or depending on what you're doing in the space.
So.
Having the flexibility to actually do those, to make those kind of moves with the generallighting in your home adds a sort of emotive quality to the space.
The second area, besides ambient, I would talk about is your task lighting.
(08:58):
So this is all the stuff that's gonna be helping you work, helping you function.
So maybe like in your kitchen, you want some task lighting because you're cooking.
Or maybe when you're working, you need task lighting because you need to focus.
Task lighting doesn't have to be boring.
It doesn't have to be just functional.
We all know the famous tabletop desk lamps and all that sort of drab stuff.
(09:23):
now task lighting can be really beautiful, really inventive, almost like iconic sculpturesin their own right.
And it's an opportunity to bring that element into that tier of lighting in the home.
And the third area, you know, not to be forgotten, but often is, is the sort of the accentlighting.
So this is the third tier that really accent lighting brings dimension.
(09:46):
It brings a kind of just a very special layer to the space that I would say is almost likethe icing on the cake.
It's the lighting that's going to really allow that beautiful painting to come alive.
It's the light that when you're entertaining that is gonna really make the table thatyou're all sitting and dining at feel like it's alive.
(10:09):
It's the perimeter lighting around a particular room that is just giving it that extradimension.
And that accent lighting doesn't necessarily always have to be a feature.
It can be working with a feature element in the space, but it's that trilogy, the ambient,the task.
and the accent really are kind of the beauty of really layering light in a home.
(10:33):
And I think it's really good for people to start to understand it that way, that there'sthese three categories, because I think it's the sort of thing you notice if there's a
hotel you love and you go into that lobby and you start to dissect, why does this feelamazing?
It's probably the beautiful lamps they have tucked away on these marble consoles.
It's probably, like you said, the picture light over that gorgeous oil painting thatallows the light to dance and you can see the brushstrokes and...
(10:59):
I think it's the difference between a design space and, you know, often a space that thelighting was chosen a bit later because your builder was like, I need to get those in,
order them now.
And that third layer is really what makes that difference.
But you can't tell because it feels so good and so instinctive and natural until it's beenremoved.
And you're like, why doesn't this feel great?
(11:19):
You can think about like maybe there's a time when you've gone into some like, sort ofyou've stayed in a place maybe, you know, like let's just say cheap and cheerful type
environment and the light feels very flat, you know, it just feels super flat.
There's no dimension to the space at all.
But then you go into, as you said, like these wonderful hotel lobbies or into a home wherethere's all this dimension and it adds interest and it adds a kind of third layer to the
(11:45):
space.
And it just, actually literally feels alive, like the space feels alive.
And I think, you know, lighting, it's just, it's that you could have a brilliant design,right?
But if you don't light it well, any good designer will tell you like, yep, I really missedthe boat on this one.
It's that it's, it really is such an important part, which is why.
you know, thinking about it not last in the project cycle, but actually thinking about itmore holistically on the front end can be really important.
(12:13):
Yeah, and I actually wanted to talk about some common mistakes and I think we've kind ofalready addressed two of those.
One is not considering the three different types.
So the ambient lighting from your overhead light, the task lighting perhaps from, youknow, smaller desk lamps or spotlights, and then the accent lighting, which can be a table
lamp, which can be a floor lamp, which can be maybe a decorative wall light that doesn'temit so much light and that create the moods.
(12:38):
Not layering those in, think is one of the common mistakes.
And two, like you just touched on, is not considering the lighting earlier on in theproject, even from a circuit planning point of view, from a lighting plan point of view,
but as well as a budgetary point of view.
So do you have a few thoughts you'd like to share about lighting plans?
Yeah.
Well, I mean, I think, you know, it kind of goes back to the whole plan, right?
(13:02):
Cause a lot of, a lot of general, homeowners, let's just say that maybe they have a newproject or maybe they have a room they want to rethink, you know, and they say, where do I
start?
know, where, where, where is the, what, what do I start doing?
What do I start thinking about?
Do I think about the furniture first?
Do I think about this first?
I mean, I often will say, well, you know, it's really about the holistic image.
(13:22):
So maybe start by just looking at some of your favorite
Like pull out a bunch of books, your favorite books or find some interesting designers andjust page through them.
And you know, what is it that you're reacting to?
What are the things that are calling out to you that you like?
You know, make note of what those environments are and what is it about those spacesthat's calling out to you?
(13:42):
Because, you know, taking a holistic approach to how you think through the whole design,obviously the lighting is a very important fundamental, I would say, and can certainly
the feature elements that come from lighting can be sculptures or like pieces of art intheir own right.
There's nothing wrong with saying, absolutely love that chandelier and I really want thatfor my hall without knowing what your hall's gonna look like.
(14:06):
That's perfectly okay.
But also thinking sometimes about what is the hall gonna look like?
And thinking about what is my color palette?
I always like to start with color palette.
But one thing informs the next, one object informs the next, and sometimes getting theright inspiration can help get you in the right direction from the start.
Yeah, I think that's good idea.
(14:27):
it also sets the tone stylistically.
So if you love this antique chandelier, know that that space is going to start feelingquite classical.
If that's what you want, amazing.
Then maybe you can find some classical, some beautiful, you know, blue and white Chinapainted lamps that'll go with
say, you know what, I really want to do an eclectic thing and I really want to mix these,you know, these really lovely Aaron lights with something that's, you know, much more in
(14:54):
line with like a Waterford that we do that is, you know, much more crystal.
I mean, you can really, mean, you know, being here part of design week this week inDublin, I mean, you get some designers that just do such creative things.
with how they bring different eras of lighting or different eras and styles to one design.
(15:15):
And it can be done very, very well if the right color palettes kind of align those objectstogether.
I mean, I always welcome people to experiment, you know, because I think that's partlywhat visual comfort offers is just the ability to experiment with so many products to be
able to glean ideas from, you know.
Yeah, it's a whole other dimension of style.
(15:38):
So sometimes you'll see some interiors and they're defined by the lighting.
So it might be like a Parisian apartment that has really classical bones, but then they'veused really low profile furniture and like really stark architectural lighting.
it's what creates the look.
It does and that's why looking through and I really do recommend sometimes looking atbooks rather than just looking at things online because we spend so much time online and
(16:02):
there's just such a cornucopia of ideas it can sometimes feel overwhelming but somethingabout the poise of taking out a book a really good designer from a few different eras and
paging through their work
It brings a kind of calm and you can actually look at the rooms and think, you know, Ireally love this about how they did that space and, I want to employ that, you know, in my
(16:25):
own design.
Some books that I love, the Soho Home books are incredible.
Soho House, a lot of their books are really inspirational and they always have storiesbehind the lighting.
And another one that I adore, which I don't think is in print anymore, is a Thomas O'Brienbook called American Modern.
And Thomas O'Brien is one of your...
Our designers, yeah, mean, does beautiful work.
(16:45):
And looking at really any of our designers, know, in our collection, yeah, they will allprovide, you know, the kind of inspiration that I think would really help, you know,
anyone who wants to just take a crack and think about designing their next, you know, roomproject, the next Renault, whatever they're working on.
Absolutely.
So speaking of overwhelm, I'd love it you could break down some of the terminology.
(17:09):
I know we've talked about ambient accent and task lighting, but can we break it down alittle bit more in terms of like what's a sconce versus a wall light?
And a lot of these things is people get confused and then they actually don't even knowwhat to search for, you know, or, or like, you know, if you go on a website and you type,
like, how do I even describe what I'm looking for?
It's helpful.
It is, yeah.
I mean, start by saying, okay, very logical question, where does the light go?
(17:32):
Where is it actually going to get fixed or mounted to?
we all know there's a ceiling, there's a floor, and there are walls, generally speaking.
I mean, there's freestanding areas we think about those as floor.
And, in the industry, call that the application, right?
So where are you going to apply the light?
So general lighting, which we always kind of want to make it disappear, like great ambientlighting is generally the lights that, are not the eyesores, are not the wall warts,
(18:00):
right?
We want them to go away, just be a beautiful natural environment without really showingyour face.
The task lighting and the accent lighting can go either way, this is where we get intomore of the art form, the art object of the space.
And
there was a day back, know, don't know, 80s, 90s, so on, know, lights always had, youknow, a post and a shade, a post and a shade.
(18:21):
Every lamp was like, if you had a child draw it, it was a post and a shade.
But now, you know, they really are so beautiful.
Like they are art forms.
And if they're well selected, they're not just functioning by providing light, they'reactually providing form and dimensionality that's kind of a sculpture in its own right.
So your ambient light, is, know, we're talking about different applications, right?
(18:44):
So the application is really going to help you find what you're looking for online.
So if you're doing a Google search and you're looking for a floor light that, you know,for the floor, something that's freestanding, put freestanding floor light.
In fact, it might even be good to be a bit vague because you're going to see a much biggerassortment than if you write, you know, the specific name.
(19:05):
for
feature lights that are suspenders, so anything suspended from the ceiling, you're gonnaprobably get a lot more elaborate kind of chandelier type fixtures.
For wall mounts, you're gonna get a variety of sconces, you're gonna get library orpicture lights
Generally, those application names are probably the best entry point if you're looking forsomething, you know, where is it going to go?
(19:30):
Amazing.
Okay.
And tell us about finishing materials.
Cause what you were talking about there is lighting has gone beyond having a job to beingsculptural in an art form.
like, even when the lights are off, they should add something to the room with a lot ofthese lights.
And I think one of the big things as a designer is it's an opportunity for anothermaterial, right?
So whether that's in a shade or whether that's the metal finish or, one of the
(19:51):
the pendants in our future house is from Visual Comfort and has the leather wrapped aroundthe pendant.
And for me, I was like, I want to introduce something different here, but I don't want itto be cold like metal.
And I don't want it just to be fabric.
want something in between.
And it's a really good place to add more of that materiality.
So tell us a bit more about like the different finishes and what people should understandabout them.
(20:15):
Yeah, I mean, there's so many different types of finishes and options and, I really thinkthat, when you're thinking about bringing any object into your design, you're thinking
about, okay, there's an opportunity here to create a feature.
So maybe, know, for instance, in your dining room that you kind of have some voids.
(20:38):
Right, you know that there's a space that you want to fill because it needs something.
Well, in the past, you might not think about a light, actually.
You might think about a sculpture, you might think about a painting, or you might thinkabout a kind of art-ist object.
Now there's so many things to choose from that you can actually incorporate it, you canmake it functional, you can make it a light, it can be a chandelier, it can be a sort
(21:01):
of...
in a centerpiece, if you like, for a table or you can have three centerpieces and there'sa kind of light functionality.
The other great thing is we now have mobility, right?
Because we have a whole range of products that don't need to be wired.
And this allows us to move things around and to have a freedom in the space to put thingsin places where in the past maybe we couldn't because you didn't really want a wire
(21:25):
dragging around the room and it would be awkward and it would be a trip hazard and allthose things.
Now we can move stuff.
so, I welcome people to have a look at the range of mobility, movable fixtures in ourproduct assortment because they do both very well.
And in terms of the actual metal finishes, you know, brass, nickel and everything inbetween, how would you advise people to use them?
(21:47):
Should they try to match everything, which obviously buying from your range helps, orshould they mix and match?
Are there any rules for that?
I hate to say there's ever any rules because I don't think there should ever be any rules.
And I think that, you know, designers take a lot of freedom to break rules and often do itvery, very well.
Obviously it's very subjective, but I would say for any newbie that's, not really had anyformal design or architectural training maybe stick to one metal type for your home.
(22:15):
If it's small, certainly if it's a room, stick to one.
type of metal in that room because that finish is going to round out the room better thanif you try to mix and match.
think mixing and matching is great when you have that level of experience and there's tonsof designers who do it really well.
But you know, if you're going to go for a chrome, keep it chrome.
(22:35):
You know, if you're going to go for a yellow metal, if you're going to go for brass, keepit brass.
Now, if you want to mix the brass, mix, you know, the different types, I mean, you couldtry
But generally, the smaller the room, the more you want to kind of keep it uniform and keepit consistent.
The more space you have, all right, maybe you have a little more flexibility to play.
Yeah, and it's a stylistic decision, I think, as well, too.
(22:57):
If you want really contemporary and minimal matter finishes tend to work well.
And the more uniform they are, the better.
Whereas if you prefer a more layered, lived in look, an old period London flat, a bit ofmixing in can look nice, like an antique brass with a polished brass or a nickel with a
brass again.
I mean I have a dining room where I've used a lot of like brass so you know one of myfriends came into the room the other day and like my gosh you've got brass and kind of
(23:26):
very yellow kind of metals in this room but then in your adjacent room which is yourliving space you've gone all like chrome and I said yeah well I did that because that room
has a very dark
finish on the walls and with that, with the yellow metal, it holds its own and keeps,captive in that little space.
But then the other bigger room where it's more airy, I wanted lighter walls with chromeand, the mirror in there has a sort of, brushed chrome type finish.
(23:53):
I've mixed matched some of the white metals in that room.
I think they both work well together.
But if people want to play it safe to your point, choose a single metal that you love andthink about how to play around with that.
Yeah.
And again, that's another thing you have to be careful of when you're sourcing lightingfrom a variety of places is one aged brass is not going to look the same as another aged
(24:14):
brass.
Like they can vary so much.
You can usually get consistency when you're looking at the polished versions ofeverything, but that's not necessarily to everyone's taste.
So it's, important to sometimes look and touch and feel.
And we'll, talk a little bit later about how people can look and touch and feel visualcomfort.
I mean, that's one thing that it does help also again with visual comfort is that we areable to, you know, think about that uniformity through the medals so that when people are
(24:41):
knowing that, is this gonna clash?
They don't really have to have that concern because we are thinking about building thoseconsistencies.
But yeah, there's certainly a lot to choose from and we do try within the differentfinishes to always give options.
so that if you really love a fixture but I really wish that was a nickel, you know, itmight well be.
Yeah, absolutely.
(25:01):
And just like you're saying, if somebody's a newbie to play it safe, it's great to,especially in smaller spaces, stick to one metal.
I think these kinds of recommendations from experts are really helpful when people areoverwhelmed by their own renovation and it's something they're doing outside of their busy
lives with work and family.
What are some other kind of winning combinations of mix of lights that you like?
(25:22):
Like, I really like a chandelier with this and that, that people can memorize.
Yeah, when you're thinking of a room, I would say try not to have too many focal points,You wanna try to pick one iconic thing that's the anchor to the room.
That's really gonna help because when you create too many anchor points, you don't knowwhere to look.
(25:44):
and it doesn't draw you into the room as nicely.
So if you're thinking about a really, you know, over the top chandelier, something that'sreally dramatic and a feature to the space, maybe do something more subtle with the other
lights in the room.
they don't have to actually be the ones that are speaking so loud.
People, often think, oh, look.
so attracted to all these different things.
(26:04):
There's just so many great things in your assortment.
I don't know what to do.
well, choose one thing that you really, really love.
could be a really expensive piece, but keep that as your one single anchor.
And then think about just the more subtle things that can complement with that, that willnot draw too much attention to itself, but really just kind of help to round out the room.
Yeah, and I think that goes beyond the lighting, like you said, like choose your hero.
(26:27):
And in one room, the hero might be the marble on your island and maybe the pendant aboveit should just be a linear pendant.
Really simple.
But in others, if you've chosen that the chandelier is going to be your, showstopper, thendon't get, the bright pink sofa, unless that's your vibe, know, then go for it.
But if you, if you aren't a maximalist, like I think most people are somewhere in themiddle,
(26:49):
that's why it's best to consider it, you said, flip through the books and see what'sdrawing your eyes at the giant paper lantern, or is it those gorgeous wall sconces going
up the staircase.
Understand the hierarchy.
Exactly.
And that's really great way of putting it.
And I think that, once you get that balance right, you will find a room or someplace inyour home for everything.
(27:10):
also thinking about, OK, well, maybe not for that room, but I can use it in another room.
yeah.
And finding things that could complement each other.
So if you choose something that has a kind of floral quality to it, well,
Maybe you want to think about how to bring something a little floral quality to the hallor to, you know, bathroom, because then you're carrying a common thread through the space.
(27:32):
And we like to weave threads through the space because it builds continuity in the homeand it just makes sense, doesn't it?
Absolutely.
Yeah.
I think there's one pendant, I can't remember what it's called, but it's got a matte whiteplaster finish and it kind of looks like branches.
Almost that pendant.
Is it from the Lauder collection?
Yeah.
And it just, it almost, they look like almost like, like a silver birch branch and it'sreally organic feeling.
(27:57):
And you can just see that going in someone's home that has like maybe the lime wash wallsor just this sort of like limed oak.
And again,
that approach to the lighting feels continuous.
Yeah, and someone might see a fixture like that and say, you know, I really love somethingabout this fixture, now that sort of leaf-like design is going to play into maybe what I
(28:17):
use for a wall covering, or maybe I want to bring that kind of naturalistic vibe to thespace and I want to complement it with other things that speak to that natural element.
There's just so many ways that you can build that thread, but kind of latching on tosomething to tell a story, I think is always very helpful.
Yeah.
So, okay.
(28:38):
Two tips from Jean there.
The first one is, is know when the lighting is going to be a feature point or not.
And even each room think, if you took a little snapshot in your brain, what's drawing theeye.
And if it is the, lighting feature, then have it be one of the lighting features andeverything else should be the supporting actors.
And secondly,
if there's something you're drawn to, like maybe it's a gorgeous, crystal chandelier.
(29:00):
What's something else that you can play from there?
Or like we talked about that, that pendant that has something that looks like leaves orbranches, then maybe there's there's a wallpaper in your downstairs loo with scenes.
Exactly.
Like one of the things you might also be inspired by is that you know we have a newcollection called Waterford and everybody knows Waterford especially here in Ireland and
(29:22):
you know we've created a quite a bespoke collection that isn't necessarily all thetraditional types of Waterford that you think of when you think of crystal right.
very ethereal.
Yeah, we have Karig, which is just this beautiful chandelier, which I'd put sort of almosthas a Zaha Hadid kind of vibe to it.
(29:42):
Very architectural with the armature and these big carrot, crystals on the ends.
it's just stunning fixture.
You know, combine that with some one of the other, you know, Waterford lines, which mightbe a more traditional sort of lampshade that, also embodies the crystal.
but in a very different form.
It's like a traditional and a contemporary, but because you're holding on to the crystal,i.e.
(30:06):
the common thread, it kind of works together.
And then maybe crystal then becomes this transparent element that you start to integrateit in the glass collection in your cupboard that you feature or...
you the glass that you use in another room in another way, the frame around the mirror,the way that, glass and objects are cut in the home, the table top that's, you know,
(30:28):
beautiful glass table top.
you know, there's just ways to play around with that material.
Yeah.
I think it's good for people to like designers obviously does, each room will have likematerials set out together and how did they all speak to each other?
And you know, maybe you can't always get samples of it yourself, but even getting littlescreenshots and putting it a, Google slides presentation will help you see visually, does
(30:51):
this all work together as something kind of jarring?
What's my missing link here?
And usually it's about repetition.
And if there's a random element, are you anchoring it in some way, or are you
Are you making it random on purpose because you want it to stick out?
What about some combos of like, should every room have a pendant and wall lights and afloor lamp and table lamps?
(31:12):
Or what should a dining room have?
What should a living room have?
Walk us through it.
Yeah.
I mean, again, you know, we do have to remember that, you know, light does have a functionand it is meant to provide light.
And there are going to be places where you just need to have functional light becauseyou're going to be reading there or there is no light.
Maybe there is no ambient light because there's no recessed lighting in the ceiling.
(31:36):
It's an old historic home and you're going to have to get the most out of your light from
the free-standing lights in the space.
So I think first, you know, figuring out functionally, well, where do I need light?
And then once that's determined and you can be strategic about where your furniture is andwhere the light might go, then you can start to have fun because then you can think, okay,
(31:56):
you know, there's a console behind my sofa.
That's a real opportunity to bring two big sort of lamps that have a beautiful base and...
can be a real feature to that room and create a symmetry in that room that I really want.
Or you might say that, you know, in your dining room, it's quite small, there's enough fora table.
I could do a really great sort of chandelier or just, you know, a suspended fixture ormaybe a few pendants, but I'm not gonna really have much room for too much else.
(32:27):
I mean, I might do something...
on the sideboard that is going to give me some extra light at a lower level.
So maybe two interesting table lights there, or maybe two wall lights in that room to giveit another vibe.
But you're probably not going to want to start thinking about too much task lighting in aspace like that.
But I think it's just really common sense, isn't it?
(32:47):
What are you doing in the room?
You're eating, you're dining.
What am I doing in the room?
I'm relaxing, I'm reading.
What am I doing in my bedroom?
I'm sleeping but I need some bedside lighting or I need a floor lamp by the extra armchairin the corner.
I want something on my mantle, you know.
there are no rules but thinking in terms of the function and how you're going to use thespace is a good place to start.
(33:10):
And I think people are often scared of adding those extra ones that are nice to have,especially people, who are like, I'm really contemporary.
I wouldn't have a floor lamp or a table.
a lot of times those lights can be the feature.
You know, there's some, lovely lights that, they just, bring the room together.
They help to actually unite everything So, again, looking at all these things holisticallyreally helps.
(33:32):
and they can be, made of alabaster.
It doesn't all have to be, like you said, like a post with a paper shade.
To somebody who's not necessarily into interiors, but they prefer sleeker interiors.
They might think that it's fussy to add more lighting, but it can be really
I wouldn't really think about it always being about adding more lighting.
I mean, it can be if you need light, but it can really be about adding more dimension thatI, you know, I'm looking actually for an object, something more sculptural to sit on that
(34:00):
table.
Wonderful that it's illuminated object, but really that's what it is.
It's an illuminated piece of art in many respects because
opening your mind to the fact that it's not necessarily just a light, It helps open themind to the possibilities of where we can put lights.
Yeah, it could be replacing where you thought, I might put a painting there someday.
(34:23):
It could replace that.
Like, up the stairs in our house, we're going to put the Arabelle sconces, which are justbrass.
for anyone listening, if you look at them on the visual comfort website, you might belike, well, that's not gonna illuminate the stairwell very much, but that's not the point
of it.
The point of it is it's something funky.
It's brass.
It's establishing, a style for the house in the stairwell.
(34:43):
There's a very traditional chandelier.
in that space and I wanted something to contrast it to show that we're respecting thearchitecture of the home but we're also having some fun with something a little more funky
and youthful.
Yeah, and the beauty of the fact that it is light means it does illuminate itself.
it becomes a kind of feature of itself at night.
And that is a lovely thing to have, I mean, most art doesn't come with a light.
(35:07):
So, it doesn't illuminate at night.
You need to illuminate it.
And, you know, we have plenty of those lights too that can do that, picture lights and soon.
But it's nice that when they're embedded together, it makes the object just all that muchmore enhanced.
Can we talk a little bit about some of the technical elements people should consider thatcan really make your lighting either, you know, be successful or fail?
(35:30):
Like things like Kelvin, IP rating, even dimmers and different circuits.
Give us a few no-nos and yes-yeses.
Yeah, I know.
lighting it can be a heavy lift when you've not ever worked with it before.
And I mean, even people that go into, a hardware shop or, you know, into a home based typestore and they want light, just to get bulbs can be a little overwhelming with all of the
(35:55):
things that the pack says on the package.
I mean, I'd start with the most important thing, which is probably the warmth or coolnessof the light.
Right?
Because how often have you been gone to a space and it's either a mix match of cool andwarm, or it's just way too bright, way too cool.
And it doesn't make you feel comfortable.
You know, it doesn't make you feel relaxed when you're in an environment that feels morelike an operating theater.
(36:21):
So I think starting out with what we call Kelvin, which is how warm or how cool the lightis, is a good place to start.
And
Just to make it more confusing, you would tend to think that a higher Kelvin number wouldprobably be warmer, right?
As temperatures go up, it gets hotter, the number gets higher.
Not the case.
So in Kelvin, the higher the number, the cooler the fixture, the cooler the output of thelight.
(36:45):
And in our case, we tend to like to conform more to the other end of the spectrum, which Iwouldn't quite say is a deep amber.
but is a warmer tone overall.
So you're kind of looking, if you want that type of warmth, a 2700, know, sometimes youcan go a little bit lower if you really want an amber.
We have a few designers in our collection that insist on going even, you know, as low aslike 1800.
(37:08):
It's that super, super amber orange.
But, you know, somewhere around the 2700 is considered, you know, we think kind of theoptimal level of warmth for the home.
If you can pull that off consistently in a space, really will help to make the environmentfeel more comfortable.
um
say the spotlights or task lighting should be the same or can they be a little bit higher?
(37:32):
Well, I would tend to keep most things uniform, but what I would highly suggest is gettingthings on dimmers because the dim ability is going to allow you to make those little
adjustments that give the nuance to the space based on time of day because
We have to remember we've windows in most rooms, right?
And in the day, certainly you're going to get different qualities of light on dark daysthat are rainy.
(37:57):
You're going to want to have a different light in the space than you would maybe on a verybright day or in the evening.
If you're entertaining, you might want to dim it way down, but you might need to have itbrighter in certain areas because people are doing things, playing a game, eating the
meal, cooking.
So I think, getting that flexibility in with building things on dimmers is just going togive that flexibility to the space and how you want it to shift with your lifestyle, you
(38:25):
know.
think that goes back to talking about planning lighting in early.
planning where you're going to have lights and you can even have some of your floor lampsor table lamps also on your circuits so that they don't have to be turned on and off at
the source.
They can be controlled from your switches and then some of the terminology you might hearelectricians use are two-way circuits so that the light at the top of the stairs can be
(38:47):
turned off from downstairs too so that when you're leaving the house in the evening you'renot leaving everything illuminated.
So these are just a few technical know-hows that can be really helpful early on.
when you're hopefully working on a lighting plan with someone.
Yeah, and hopefully it will soon be us because we don't have it yet in the States.
We do offer a full set of technical lighting, architectural lighting.
(39:10):
That's the ambient lighting and general lighting that I was talking about.
But we also offer systems, which is the integrated controllability of those lights.
And that will all be coming to Ireland, be coming to the EU soon.
So we're really looking forward to be able to bring that.
And then we can really,
almost put together the whole house offering, which I think will really help bothconsumers as well as designers alike that really don't want to be thinking about all the
(39:37):
technical lighting planning that often goes into a project.
It's just nice to offload that to someone that already has the design force behind it andknows that it's going to work and it's going to create the layered lighting and all the
things that you're looking for.
That's an amazing offering because, I have friends who have to do whatever was planned inor wired in, even though it doesn't really make sense for the way they live at the end.
(40:01):
It's not necessarily a consideration done early enough or in a holistic way, unless you'reworking with an interior designer.
So it's great that you can be supplying that service too, because not everyone can affordan interior designer.
Yeah, and you know, we think we always try to recommend that, if you can work with adesigner, do.
We have a very large network of designers that work with us.
(40:22):
But, you know, going into one of our showrooms, there's always a team available to helpout and, whatever small ways, even just some of the advice I'm giving today, they can also
provide and help make selections and try to give some inspiration and ideas.
And in terms of budget management, know, you know, visual comfort is not is not a economyrange, right?
(40:44):
So there are some things range from accessible entry level luxury.
And, know, you can go into multiple thousands and for some large chandeliers.
What advice would you give somebody, you know, like everyone, everyone has a budget wherewhere should you save and where should you invest?
What can be swapped out down the line?
Yeah.
So I think, and I would apply this rule also to just the design of your home generally isfocus on the spaces that you think are going to get most of your attention and most of
(41:12):
your time.
And if there's any spaces where you're going to be entertaining, those are spaces youprobably want to put a little more love, a little more money into.
The back of house spaces, maybe that, you know,
a room upstairs that no one ever goes to or the room way downstairs that no one ever usesor some bathroom that's like not getting used.
Don't put your money in there.
(41:32):
There's plenty of products that you can use to kind of just get those rooms done but nothave to spend a lot.
And put your love into the spaces you love and the spaces that are going to make your homereally shine.
I think that that would be my advice.
And then...
Once you've nailed what those rooms are, two, three rooms, focus on getting things forthose rooms that, are gonna stand the test of time, are show pieces that will really
(42:01):
bring, those feature elements to your home and hopefully just give you a confidence aboutwhere you live, right?
I love going into the rooms where I was like, there's two pieces that I bought.
are just showstopper pieces and every time I walk in there, I just smile because I just, Ilove what they do to the space.
It was worth every penny, you know.
(42:22):
Absolutely.
And actually on that point in terms of your favorites, what are some of your favoriteranges from visual comfort?
I have so many favorites, it's crazy.
first time I actually went into one of our showrooms, it was a jaw-dropping experience forme because I felt like a cat on catnip or something.
(42:44):
It was literally so overwhelming because I had only looked, to be fair, at the productsonline.
And when I saw the products online, was like, well, these look great, but you know, I'mlooking at them in two dimensions.
don't really, not only are they not three dimensional, but you can't see the quality ofthe finishes.
You can't see all of the craftsmanship that's gone into these products, which is justoutstanding.
(43:08):
And it's one of the reasons why we're so keen to actually bring a showroom to Dublin,because we want people to actually come into contact with the product in person to see.
the value that you're really getting for every, everything you spend.
mean, these are pieces that, have the craftsmanship of something that would be far, farmore expensive if we weren't able to produce it at the scale that we are able to.
(43:31):
Some of my favorite pieces, I mean, I love the Waterford line.
I can't lie.
I mean, this was recently launched.
I mean, not only is the story around it so amazing, but the pieces themselves cover arange.
I mean, the,
The pendant lights in the Waterford line are just phenomenal.
They've been getting a lot of attention in the press.
(43:52):
The Carrick fixture, which I mentioned earlier, is also a favorite piece of mine.
And then I'm also a big fan of some of the Aaron lines.
The Clement, which is actually going to be used in...
We're working right now with Kelly Hoppin at Wow House in London.
It's a show that's going to be running through the month of June.
And she's created a show house with us, the living room space actually.
(44:15):
And she's used a lot of the products from the Aran line, the Clement, I think floor lampshe's used, the task light, and it's that mixture of brass and black hooded sort of
shades.
just kind of retro, but in a really contemporary way.
I think those are probably some of my favorites of the moment.
(44:37):
Amazing.
Yeah, and think people should definitely check out the website and in terms of the closestshowroom to us here in Ireland would be in London.
So tell us a little bit more about how people can visit.
Yeah, so we currently have our debut in the UK in Chelsea Harbour, which some of you, someof the people that are your listeners might know that that's at the Design Centre at
(44:59):
Chelsea Harbour.
We're right opposite the main entrance, so very easy and accessible if you're going to theDesign Centre for anything.
And then we're going to be at end of this year opening up our second showroom in London inMarlabone in Wigmore Street.
So we're really looking forward to that.
hopefully we'll be launching our architectural line, our technical lighting line in thatshowroom.
then, we're eye spotting right now to try to find our next space, here in Dublin, whichwe're really looking forward to.
(45:25):
So trying to find the right space for us here.
And then hopefully we'll also be in Europe looking at places like Paris and, you know, lotto come.
Amazing.
And of course online.
And of course online, yeah, I always recommend if someone can get to a showroom on theirtravels to come and visit us and see the product in person.
online, anyone can get to from anywhere.
(45:47):
And we have a pretty good marker of showcasing projects as well on any of the socialoutlets for visual comfort.
So I recommend people looking through those also for inspiration and you'll find ourlighting in all of those and sometimes it's nice to see how things look in context.
Absolutely.
Rather than just on a cut sheet or online on a white background.
(46:10):
Especially scale.
I think that we didn't cover on that earlier, but I'd be remiss not to say something.
I think a lot of the ways people try to trim the budget down on a light that they love isto go a size smaller.
And it's really important to consider the right scale of a lamp for a room.
You're better off going with a different lamp altogether of the right size.
Yeah, I agree with that.
I think people tend to be more conservative, right?
(46:34):
and the other thing is that sometimes they hang their fixtures too high.
thinking about, again, great references, go to your books, do your homework, get yourinspiration and really look, look to see how heights can bring also,
another dynamism to the environment, when you don't just conceal something, make it toosmall, so it's almost disappearing in the space.
(46:59):
Well, that's not really helping to create a feature, is it?
The nature of a feature is featuring it.
But then there will be cases when a room can't command something massive or, it's justgoing to overkill it.
I would always tend to go a little bit bigger.
I would tend to go a little bit bigger.
And I would say that because I think a lot of people just go a little bit too small.
Yeah, absolutely.
And in terms of shopping online, I you mentioned that people can also get some help.
(47:24):
How does that work?
Yes, well, we have a team of people that work in our showrooms and, you know, those peoplecan certainly help edit or help curate a collection if there's something that you're
looking for and it all feels overwhelming, you going through pages and pages online.
We have a team that can definitely help point in the right direction.
(47:46):
something I would say is, if you had...
some images of things that you really liked, but maybe you didn't have the time to gofinding them or sourcing them through our site.
You could send those to one of our team members at any one of our showrooms and theycould, help give advice about what we have in our assortment that could maybe be a match
or close to a match or something similar.
(48:07):
So, we offer that.
And for designers out there who
want to work with someone, we certainly have the team to help support them as well.
Not just on any one project, but across multiple projects.
We definitely want to support designers and helping them kind of do some of the heavylifting on their projects.
And one last question on logistics.
(48:28):
currently when we order the visual comfort lighting, it's coming in from the UK.
How does that work from a customs and logistics point of view?
we take care of all of that.
we don't want our customers to have to be dealing with any of the costs associated withimports.
And there's a lot right now because we're dealing with the UK having gone through Brexitand what does that mean for the EU?
(48:52):
We take care of all of that so that our customers don't have to worry about paying any ofthose custom costs.
That's just something that we think is fair and we do that.
And if anyone has any questions about that, they can certainly work with the showroom orget support if they have a larger order that's going somewhere that's maybe not in their
home country, just to make sure that things are freight forwarded so it doesn't come byloose parcel, which would be our standard if you're ordering kind of piecemeal.
(49:20):
Any big orders, we really do try to recommend collaborating with someone that can helpthem think about it collectively so that
Everything is uniform, it's straightforward, it comes in one big shipment.
That's very helpful, especially for designers, because when you piecemeal order things,can be very clumsy, packages come separately, and when you're working on a project site,
it can get very confusing about what's what.
(49:43):
Absolutely.
I know that's a concern a lot of consumers have who aren't used to ordering from the UKlike designers might be.
Well, thank you so much for walking us through that.
think that's it's in a really exciting way to think about lighting.
It's almost like the jewel and the icing as well as like you said, just a real bareessential because we live indoors.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
(50:03):
At end of the day.
Yeah, lighting is really a lot of fun and it shouldn't be something scary.
It should be something to have a lot of fun with.
And hopefully, the assortment that we have can make it fun.
And we welcome people to, come to our showrooms, look at the product and, you know, you'llwant to come back, I'm sure.
It was great talking to you.
So really enjoyed this.
Thank you so much, Jean.
(50:24):
So for anyone who wants to learn more about visual comfort, check out their website, checkout their Instagram, and buy yourself some design books and start getting inspired about
lighting.
All right.
That's a wrap.
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