Bathroom’s are no longer about a quick wash and run or a plain white box with no personality. Nowadays, with more people wanting to emulate hotel luxury in their own homes, bathrooms have become a haven of relaxation and peace, with the décor following that theme. Lighting can have a profound effect on how the room feels and a bathroom is no different. When looking to renovate or redecorate a bathroom, it’s important to decide the lighting scenes you need once the bathroom furniture placement has been decided as it will allow you to effectively hide any trailing wires and will inform what electrical work will need to be done where.

The size and use of the bathroom will also help determine what lighting is needed, for example, a downstairs cloakroom will only need a single light in contrast to an en-suite bathroom which will require task specific brighter lighting as well as a soft option for those times you want to relax. While it’s now legal to place switches inside the bathroom, so long as they’re fitted an appropriate distance from wet areas, the most popular placement is still outside the bathroom, next to the door.

In terms of lighting, bathroom specific lighting is determined by its IP rating. IP44 is a splash-proof light that is suitable for use inside a bathroom, resistant to the typical moisture levels found in a domestic bathroom. IP65 is jet-proof and can be used inside a shower cubicle if additional light is needed. It’s a good idea to consider installing any general lighting needed on a dimmer controlled circuit, that way you can reduce the level of light when using the bathroom during late or early starts.

Lighting for the bathroom can be broken down in to general, task specific and mood, effectively covering all possible uses for the room. General lighting, such as an overhead ceiling light, is an easy way of illuminating the entire room and is perfect for a late night use. If certain areas need to be lit consider using spotlights or downlights recessed in to the ceiling that allow you to position light into the areas you need to highlight.

Task specific lighting will typically revolve around the bathroom mirror. Illuminating the area properly so that you can easily see what you’re doing when shaving or applying make-up, without casting shadows across your face, can be done through side lights rather than an overhead light. Illuminated mirrors are a good way of achieving task specific lighting for your bathroom and often include shaver sockets, allowing you to kill two birds with one shiny stone.

Mood lighting is the creative section of bathroom lighting; you can add smaller, softer lights throughout the bathroom to add a glow to the room when you want to indulge in a long soak in the tub. LEDs at skirting height can produce a lovely wash of light across the floor and recessed LEDs, set in to shelves or niches, can illuminate areas that you might need access to without overly brightening the room.

For inspiration on the lights available for bathrooms take a look at our full bathroom lighting collection online or see our bathroom lighting picks over on Pinterest!

Lighting needn’t be purely about function, with the range of styles, shapes and materials now available you have much more choice in how your lighting compliments, or contrasts, with your decorating style. The rise in popularity of shabby chic and, more recently, industrial chic, has increased the use of statement lighting and chandeliers in particular are making their comeback. Once considered too ostentatious for a two up, two down, now you can have one in the bathroom and nobody blinks.

If you’re looking to incorporate some statement lighting in to your own home, add a little luxury and extravagance, there really isn’t a better way than through the use of a chandelier. Dripping with crystals, chandeliers are designed to reflect light as well as look stunning.

Alternatively, if a chandelier doesn’t work for your space but you love the dripping opulence, crystal encrusted ceiling lights make great substitutes. To give you some idea of the differences of style within just these two types of statement lighting we’ve picked out a few of our favourites.

The Arizona 8 Light Chrome Chandelier is a classically styled light with 89 strings of decorative glass pieces attached to give it that iconic sparkle. With eight lights incorporated in to the design this is a light that can really hold back the darkness, fit on a dimmer controlled circuit if you want to be able to adjust the ambience of the room by lowering the light levels.

Contrast the Arizona with the Italiano 8 Light Crystal Chandelier, a gold finished light dressed with crystal. A much more decadent version of the classic chandelier that wouldn’t look out of place in an Italian Castello but would look equally as fantastic in your hallway.

The Viking Chrome 8 Light Crystal Chandelier is a third, very popular, take on the chandelier style. Dressed with Swarovski crystal drops and rhinestones, this is another eight bulb light in a modern design that offers clean, sleek lines with its sparkle.

If hanging space is an issue, try a ceiling light instead. The Baima Chrome and Crystal Ceiling Light has 142 individual crystal strings made from specially selected crystals the provide exceptional light refraction. This is a large light, with eighteen bulbs run off three transformers, dripping with crystals and will certainly make a statement in your home.

Talking of dripping, the Charlston Chrome and Glass Ceiling Light has decorative glass droppers hanging from the chrome frame, resulting a remarkable blend of contemporary and naturalistic shapes. Using twelve low wattage bulbs, you get a beautiful light reflected and refracted off the glass pieces.

For a much more modern take, the Dover Chrome and Glass Ceiling Light is your best bet. One of Wofi’s top selling ranges, the Dover is a small light with square glass shades that hang from a chrome base and is delightfully contemporary while still giving you that desired sparkle.

So the next time you’re shopping for a new light, think statement rather than practical. Think unusual. Think contrasting. And remember, everyone can use a little sparkle in their homes, a chandelier is a stunning way to achieve that goal.

Take a look at more statement lighting over on Pinterest.

Choosing lighting styles for your home is dependant on many factors, not least being cost and looks. But how many people take in to account the type of lighting required for each room and, beyond that, in to each area of each room? To create a light-scape that will suit any use for every room of your home, a combination of lighting types is probably the best way to go.

Of all the lighting types available pendant lighting is perhaps the best choice if you’re looking to light an area requiring direct task lighting and are perfect for use in dining rooms, kitchens or over desks. Offering strong lighting to allow you to safely see what you’re working on, pendant lights hang slightly lower than chandeliers, giving you direct light on to your working area. For more controllable light choices install on a dimmer control circuit so you can change the ambience of your room with ease.

Pendant lights are incredibly popular, and it’s easy to see why. Our top five sellers are stylish, quality products that would brighten up anyone’s home. But don’t just take our word for it, take a look at the pendant lights you, the customer, have decided are our hottest choices and get some inspiration for your own lighting needs.

The Clara Nickel and White Glass Pendant light is a simple, elegant light with a modern design. It looks fabulous as a single light or grouped together. Grouping is a great way to increase task specific lighting over a table or a long kitchen counter and is something pendant lighting tends to lend itself well to.

The Naro Orange Glass Ceiling Pendant light is a bold, colourful statement light with an oval shaped glass shade. It’s a fantastic way to add a splash of colour and provide a focal point for your room of choice.

Action’s Futura Bulb ceiling light is a quirky choice designed to look like a classic light bulb. Modern but with a hint of industrial chic, this is a great light for any eclectic home and looks terrific hung singly or in groups.

 The Fargo Modern green ceiling pendant is another colourful choice that introduces a bold splash of green into your room of choice. With a green outer and a white inner shade, this contemporary design is easy on the eyes.

Finally, the Nine Light Decorative Glass Ceiling Pendant is a glittering choice to add sumptuous luxury to a room. Nine bulbs are surrounded by thirty-six strings of decorative glass that will sparkle, glitter and refract light to light up even the darkest corners.

Nowadays, magazine spreads are showing us that lighting can be used purely for decorative means rather than just as a functional requirement, and pendant lights fit those criteria perfectly. Think outside the box; use pendant lighting in bedrooms, as decoration, in clusters or in rows, but – always – as a means of providing function and aesthetics in one stylish package. Take a look at all our pendant lights for more inspiration.

Individual rooms in houses are used much differently now than they used to be, gone are the days of a dining room being used solely for sit down meals. Today’s dining rooms are used for a plethora of functions from home office, craft centre, school table, and (for the wildly imaginative) as a hospital operating theatre for teddies. The need for multi-functional rooms has resulted in the need for multi-functional lighting and never more so than with the dining room.

When planning lighting for any room it’s important to consider how you’re going to use that room, as that decision will inform all your choices. Once you know that, you can begin to think about the combination of lights that you might need to cover all the possible uses of that room.

With the focus of the dining room being on the table, overhead lighting that will create a glow of light over the table itself is not only beneficial when eating but also essential when using the table for other tasks. Adjustable lighting that allows you to vary the mood of the room to accommodate a romantic dinner for two as well as enough light for homework sessions in the evenings can help make a room truly multi-functional and rise and fall lighting helps to do just that.

Essentially a pendant light, a rise and fall light has the additional benefit of a built-in mechanism that allows you to adjust the height of the light as often as you need, to whatever height you need in that moment. Got six kids working on their science project? No problem, pull the light down closer to the table. Cooking up a storm for your anniversary dinner and want appropriate lighting for a romantic meal? Push the rise and fall light to the ceiling to create a more diffuse lighting effect. The rise and fall system allows you greater control over the lighting effects in your dining room.

Having said that, through the combination of atmospheric, ambient and accent lighting you can create a light-scape in each room of your house that allows you to have task-specific lighting available but also enhances or creates moods at will depending on the combination and strength or placement of each individual light.

When designing a light-scape for a dining room, single pendant lights over a smaller table look more proportioned than a multiple light option. The rule of thumb is that the bigger the table, the more overhead lighting can be used. For example, the Dia Rise and Fall light is adjustable up and down, but the three arms of paired lighting can also be adjusted left and right to give you additional lighting options. This is the perfect light for a contemporary dining room with a large table but would look out of place in a smaller, cottage style environment.

While it used to be the case that a room would have a single, central light, modern usage of our home’s spaces, and changing trends in lighting, has meant that combining lighting options in each room gives us the ability to maximise the use of each space. Floor standing lamps can light a dim corner of the dining room and wall sconces can highlight a single piece of beloved art. You can then combine all lighting options, or choose to just switch on one or two of the lights available to you, to create different moods, producing a truly multi-functional living space suitable for anything you and your family might need. Take a look at our full lighting range for more ideas and lighting options. You can also take a look at our Rise and Fall Lights on Pinterest too.

Table lamps are not the only option for bedside lighting, we’ve got a large selection of wall lights that look great positioned in pairs either side of a bed. Unlike a table light, a wall light doesn’t need a bedside cabinet to rest on so it also frees up space.

A well positioned bedroom wall light can provide you with enough lighting for reading in bed or background illumination when watching a little late night telly, plus if the lights are separately switchable then you and your sleeping partner can have independent control!

More and more the home lighting marketing is taking inspiration from Hotel interiors, with many of us keen to emulate a luxurious hotel style within our own home. To give you a little inspiration, we’ve put together our pick of the top 5 bedroom wall lights, all of which can help you add a little ’hotel chic’ to your own bedroom!

The Suite large double-hinged wall light in a satin nickel finish is a beautiful sleek style light that allows a large range of movement due to the two hinges incorporated in to the design, perfect for reading in bed. Fitted with an on/off dimmer switch you can control the level of light you receive by degree.

Astro’s Momo adjustable light in bronze can be adjusted in a similar fashion but is a far more modern look despite the use of a bronze finish. Again, perfectly designed as a reading light, these work best as part of a pair of lights controlled individually.

The Versatil adjustable wall light doesn’t just move left and right but can also be adjusted up and down, allowing a greater range of movement and control. Fitted with a discrete handle in the shade, you can adjust the lamp position easily without the risk of touching a hot light bulb.

All Lit Up’s Fosso flexible LED wall light is a low energy choice in lighting, great for those with a smaller budget as running costs are reduced. Fitted with an on/off switch, this contemporary styled wall light can be adjusted every which way to suit your lighting needs. It’s also the most compact design for those who prefer a minimal look.

At under £20 the wall-mounted spotlight from the Sleeve-Vetro range by Wofi Lighting is great for those on a budget. Finished in matt nickel and fitted with a white glass shade, this is an elegant lamp with a contemporary style. Again the on/off switch is fitted on the bottom plate of the light itself making control easy to use.

Depending on how you use your bedroom (is it just a space for sleeping, or is it also a dressing room and somewhere you put on your makeup?) then wall lights may also need combining with some other form of lighting, such as a central ceiling light or uplighter wall rights in other areas of the room. If that’s the case you may also want to take a look at our full range of ceiling lights.

Tonight on BBC1, DIY SOS visits the beautiful town of Conwy in Wales to help a family on the brink. The family in need have been living in a caravan for over 6 years, and in tonights episode we see Nick Knowles and the team complete one of their biggest challenges yet. In this heart wrenching episode we see the team battle the elements to tackle an almost re-build of an entire house. With the generous support of the local community including tradesmen will they get the challenge completed in 9 days?

Here at All Up and On, we are regularly asked to donate items to such deserving causes, and when it comes to Nick and the Team, we can hardly refuse, in fact we have donated items to them many times before. For this particular challenge we were asked to supply a number of lights to help the team bring some much needed warmth to some of the rooms.

We came to the rescue and donated a number of lights to the DIY SOS team including;

Two Astro Appa Wall Lights with White Shade

Two Astro Anton Bathroom Wall Lights

Two  Astro Nena Bathroom Wall Lights

To view the programme tune into BBC1 at 8pm tonight (Wednesday 18th January 2012)

If you were watching BBC1 tonight then you may have seen a re-run of DIY SOS The Big Build in Littlehampton. The story of a father who has been left penniless and in a semi built home, struggling to cope when Nick Knowles and the team come to the rescue. They created a stunning home full of light, including a brand new outside area with funky seating. If you spotted some items on the programme that you fell in love with, we may be able to help. We stock many of the lighting and seating you may have seen including;

Vino Pendant

Click Here to find out more

Astro Wall Lighting

Click Here to find out more

To see our products in action or to find out more about the Big Build, you can view some pictures and footage here.

If you are looking to create a real talking point with your lighting then the Action Futura Bulb Lights are a must. Shaped in the classic bulb shape, they provide stunning light and give a contemporary feel. They are visually stunning to look at and will create a striking effect in any home or business. Install in groups to create a theme or have as a single focal point.
Both the Table Lamp and Ceiling Pendant Light are new in at All Up and On and are only £74.95 each!

Action Futura Bulb Table Lamp

Action Futura Bulb Ceiling Pendant Light

Young children often have very powerful imaginations, which results in some confusion on their birthday when they have just as much fun playing with a cardboard box as the toy it contained. They can see faces in wardrobe doors, whole landscapes in the garden, and entire worlds in a bucket of Lego.

Parents are always thinking of ways to inspire their children with fun, simple designs and characters. Their books are full of warm, smiling characters, their walls are decorated with scenes from fairy tales or their favourite films and their lunchboxes have pictures of their favourite heroes. But too often, these things are brought from the Disney Store or another generic, mainstream source. While their characters are indeed lovable, why not consider something more unique and interesting?

We offer several designs from Raw Design who specialise in lampshades, bringing us a collection of children’s lampshades full of character and charm. The adventurous scenes from all areas of imagination captivate young children.

The Jungle lampshade features monkeys swinging from the trees above lions, tigers, snakes and crocodiles – all friendly, of course. A cheeky giraffe peers through the trees, and a warm tropical sun shines down on a landscape full of foliage. It’s easy to imagine being a jungle adventurer, trekking through the forests.

For a more out-of-this-world adventure, there are two Red Rockets lampshade designs decorated with swooping space-rockets, exciting sound effects and explosions. One range features the rockets flying through the sky, while the other pictures them swooping through space with planets and stars.

The Dinosaurs lampshade has sound effects written alongside the angry, prehistoric monsters rampaging around a volcanic, smoky landscape. Alternatively, there’s the Farm lampshade, with the words to Old MacDonald written in white around friendly, simple farm animals like cows, pigs, sheep and chickens.

Why not take a look at the full range of creative and colourful lampshades with your child, and see which one is their favourite adventure!

It’s LEGO mad here as we have just taken stock of the new LEGO Mini Lantern. New to the LEGO range, the lantern is perfect for LEGO fans of all ages!

The LEGO Lantern comes with either yellow or red trousers and is in the shape of the iconic LEGO man, with a carry handle, that makes him look like he is weight lifting, so you can carry it from room to room. With 4 built in LED lights, the LEGO lantern provides a bright light from the body.

Suitable for ages 5 upwards, the Mini LEGO lantern makes a great night light, torch alternative or a great feature to a bedroom.