This is something I say often, and I truly believe it; a room doesn’t always need more things, sometimes, it simply needs another layer of light.
A few weeks ago, I shared 5 Simple Ways to Make Your Home Feel Warm & Inviting, and the very first was one of my favorite design tricks: layer soft lighting.
It sounds simple, and it is, but there’s a little more to getting it right than just adding another random lamp. When a room feels a little flat or unfinished, our first instinct is often to add something. Another pillow. Something for the coffee table. Maybe a new piece of artwork. But sometimes what the room really needs isn’t more décor at all. It needs another layer of light.
One overhead fixture can illuminate a room, but it rarely creates atmosphere. That comes from smaller pools of light placed throughout the space: the lamp glowing from a bookshelf, candlelight flickering on a table, or the unexpected bit of warmth coming from a glass hurricane in the corner. This is what creates the cozy, inviting feeling, and these are the little details that make you want to stay awhile.
Start with the lights you already have
Before adding anything new, turn off the overhead lights one evening and take a look around your room. Where does it suddenly feel dark? Where does the room seem to disappear? Is there a corner that feels disconnected from everything else? Those are usually the places where another small source of light can make the biggest difference. You don’t need another large table lamp. In fact, I often prefer several smaller lights placed around a room rather than two large lamps on either side of the sofa doing all the work.
The goal isn’t to make the room brighter, it’s to make the light more interesting. Put a little lamp somewhere unexpected. Lamps don’t have to live only end tables.
One of my favorite ways to add warmth to a room is to tuck a small lamp somewhere you might not ordinarily think to put one; on a bookshelf, the kitchen counter, nestled in the bar, on a built-in cabinet or even a little table in a hallway.
Cordless lamps have made this particularly easy because suddenly you aren’t designing around the location of an outlet.
A small lamp on a bookshelf can completely change how the entire wall looks at night. Instead of one dark expanse of shelving, you get this beautiful little glow tucked among the books and objects. And because the light is coming from somewhere unexpected, it makes the room feel layered rather than simply lit.
Add candlelight and vary the height
There’s a reason candlelight has been making rooms beautiful for hundreds of years. It’s flattering. It moves. It creates shadows. And it brings a softness to a room that even the prettiest lamp can’t quite duplicate.
I especially love taper candles because they add height as well as light. A pair (or three) on a mantel, console or dining table immediately draws the eye upward and adds another dimension to the arrangement.
And they don’t necessarily need to match perfectly. Try varying the heights of your candlesticks or placing one on top of a closed book. Those little differences keep a display from feeling too staged or symmetrical. I love a group of 3 to add more interest.
Flameless candles are also one of those modern conveniences I’m very happy to embrace. They let you put candlelight in places where a real flame wouldn’t be practical, and versions with timers can quietly come on every evening before you even think about them. There’s something rather lovely about walking into a room and finding the candles already glowing.
Light the things that disappear after dark
This may be my favorite little trick. During the day, a glass vase, hurricane, lantern or decorative object catches natural light and becomes part of the room. At night, many of those pieces simply disappear. Try adding a small battery-operated light inside one, there are versions that mimic candlelight flickers. Suddenly the glass catches the glow, the surrounding objects are softly illuminated, and you’ve created another tiny point of interest in the room.
This isn’t task lighting. It isn’t even really there to help you see. It’s simply there to make the room feel beautiful. And those little sources of light are especially wonderful on bookshelves, mantels and unexpected corners where you want the eye to wander rather than land on one bright light source.
Then add one real candle
After layering lamps and flameless lighting around a room, I still love having one real candle burning. Not because the room needs more light, but because now we’re adding another sense.
Scent has an incredible ability to change the feeling of a room. In fall, I love something warm and earthy. At Christmas, maybe it’s evergreen or spice. And in spring, I want something much lighter and fresher.
You don’t need six scented candles competing with one another. One quality one is perfect. It’s the finishing layer, the thing that can make a room feel like fall before you’ve added a single pumpkin.
Don’t forget the temperature of the light
One last thing, and this one can make or break everything you’ve just done.
Pay attention to the color of your light bulbs. For the kind of warm, inviting rooms we’re talking about here, I generally prefer a warm white rather than a cool, blue-white light. You can have the most beautiful lamps in the world, but if the bulbs make the room feel like a doctor’s office, it’s not a room you’re going to want to stay in for long.
And when several lamps are visible in the same room, try to keep their light temperatures reasonably consistent. They don’t need to be identical. But they should feel like they belong in the same conversation.
The goal isn’t more light
That’s really the secret to all of this. We’re not trying to make every corner of the room equally bright. In fact, the shadows are part of what makes layered lighting work. Some areas should be brighter. Others can quietly recede. The contrast between them creates depth and gives the room atmosphere.
So the next time a room feels as though it’s missing something, resist the urge to immediately buy another decorative object.
Turn off the overhead light.
Turn on the lamps.
Light a candle.
Add one little glow somewhere unexpected.
And then look at the room again.
You may discover that it wasn’t missing another thing at all.
It was simply missing another layer of light.
Want to create the feeling at home?
I’ve gathered a few of the lighting and ambience pieces I actually use and love over in Favorite Finds.
Stories & Haven 
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