The clocks go back this weekend, marking the transition from sun-speckled autumn dusks to several months of dark nights.
The end of British summertime, and the arrival of gloomy mornings and evenings can leave many in an equally miserable mood - which is why lighting at home becomes crucial at this time of year. 2016, after all, has been the year of hygge - the Danish concept of cosy living - of which lighting is a critical element (Danes burn more candles per head than anywhere in Europe).
Turning your home into a ‘hygge’ winter haven might mean rethinking the distribution of your lamps and shades, or simply getting rid of old bulbs.
“There’s no doubt that our needs change as winter sets in, and given light affects our mood so much, it’s something you need to get right,” says George Clarke, the architect best known for his renovation series Restoration Man and Amazing Spaces.
Choosing larger lampshades can create soft, indirect light, and placing light sources in the corners of the room helps to avoid shadows.
Exposed bulbs, and crystal, glass or metal shades and stands can give a harsh light, she says, so experiment with mixing materials.
Warm colours such as yellows and golds - see Matthew Williamson’s gold pineapple lamp for Debenhams, £80 - can enhance a cosy glow.
Battling wintry nights isn’t a pursuit limited to the indoors - lighting up the home should start at your porch. A “really nice light hanging over the doorway on a sensor is perfect - it’s a more welcoming way of returning home,” says Clarke. Careful consideration should also extend to the garden, as “just because it’s winter, you don’t want to look out of your doors and see a black mass of space.” Positioning uplights in trees, and low level bulbs to cast out a flood of light across the grass can help to “bring the garden to life during the darkest five months of the year,” he advises.
Choosing the right lightbulbs can also be surprisingly transformative to the feel of a room, says Clarke.
He says the first place to start is replacing any old bulbs with LEDs, which are significantly more efficient but have shed their reputation for giving off a cold blue light.
The days of bog standard bulbs are over - most now come in a range of different colour temperatures, making the warmth of your home more malleable. A lower temperature of about 2700k gives a warm white light. Clarke says the optimum mixture for the post-summer months is warm light with “a touch of cooler, bluer light” and warns against “blasting yellow light as if you’re in the Mediterranean” as the contrast with the weather outside will be too stark.
Paparozzi says Tala’s Minerva LED bulbs offer a blue-tinged light that is not only “fantastic in terms of saving on your energy bills,” but creates the right balance of cold and warmth. The range is also E27, which means that the bulbs can be housed in fittings from spotlights to table lamps.
Lighting decisions must be made with consideration of how a room will be used - full blast may be fine for the kitchen, for example, but will kill the atmosphere over the dinner table.
Dimmer switches can help with versatility, but if you don’t have these, smoked glass, as in House Doctor’s Note table lamp (£180, amara.com) can provide the same warming effect.
Meanwhile, increasing numbers of us are now using ‘smart’ lighting systems which allow us to control the mix of temperatures and brightness in our homes wirelessly from our phones.
The new Philips’ Hue system involve replacing your existing bulbs with their internet-enabled versions, featuring 16million colours that can be set and changed with a tap of a button.
Some four million UK households are now ‘smart homes’, according to 2015 research - no wonder given our every day lives are getting busier, says Clarke. “Using connected lightbulbs allows you to have the full spectrum of white light at your fingertips, and making artificial lighting part of your daily routine can work wonders for how you feel,” says Clarke. Setting bulbs to grow gradually darker at night, and slowly brighter in the mornings is another way to make the adjustment to winter weather a little less severe.