Design Advice

Designing functional and attractive lighting in your child's room is not difficult, as long as you apply common sense and some basic guidelines. Oh, and use our wonderful lights of course! Below are a few notes to help you get started.

These and much more besides are included in our guide to decorating with light and colour, which you can download for free by clicking the button on the right. For more advice and ideas on interior decoration, see the Frequently Asked Questions and our selection of lighting and decoration Books further down the page.

Design Considerations

One ceiling light in the middle of the room (or wherever it was arbitrarily placed when the house was built) is seldom ideally positioned or adequate. Unless it can be repositioned you are better off considering it as a merely decorative light, and adding other lights for optimal functionality and appearance.
Spotlights are great where you need a concentration of light, but be sure to supplement them with other lights to provide good ambient lighting levels throughout the room. If you only use a single spotlight in an otherwise dark room, the rest of the room can actually appear even darker than otherwise, due to the contrasting light levels.
Children spend much of their time playing on the floor, and good lighting should therefore illuminate the floor area especially well. They also view things from a much lower height than adults, therefore lights should be of such construction and/or positioned and directed so as not cause glares even when viewed from low level.
Diffused light, such as from string lights and illuminated mobiles, can be used to add ambience and highlight features during daytime, and they double as a nightlights at bedtime.
Low-voltage and other low-energy lights consume so little energy that they can be left on for extended periods of time without substantial cost or environmental concerns. Although the standard incandescent light bulbs are still the norm in the lighting industry, we try wherever possible to offer products which use low-energy light sources.

Safety Considerations

Lights which are within reach of children (including which they can reach by climbing on furniture etc.) must not become hot, or at least the bulb must not be within reach. Lights which are of such design/construction that a loose object such as a toy or piece of clothing can enter the shade or other enclosure and rest on top of a hot bulb should be avoided to minimise fire hazard.
It is strongly recommended that all lights within reach of babies or small children operate on extra low voltages, ideally max. 24V.
Freestanding lights must be stable enough not to be easily knocked over, and ceiling and wall lights must be fixed securely so that they don't fall (and cannot be pulled) down.
‘Candle’ shaped light bulbs can have inherent structural weaknesses, which is why their use in children’s rooms should therefore be avoided. In most cases you can use a small round bulb or a small low-energy bulb instead.
Low-energy bulbs and low-voltage lights help cut down your energy bills - and help preserve the planet for your Little Ones!

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is good lighting important?

Lighting is fundamental to the look and feel of a room, as well as to its functionality: a room would be quite useless if you could only use it during daylight hours, and it would look quite awful if you only put in a light bulb without any shade to light it! Often rooms which people find attractive and 'cosy' are so exactly because of the lighting, and the atmosphere it creates. Why would this be any less important in a baby's or child's room, where they spend most of their time?

Why are special children's lights important?

In designing a nursery or a child's room, well-planned and high-quality lighting is just as important as other design features - arguably even more so! By using different types of appropriate lights for different purposes, the flexibility and functionality of a room can be significantly increased. Lighting also greatly enhances the décor and adds atmosphere and character to the room. Children typically spend a large part of their time playing, reading, etc. in their rooms, and good and versatile lighting is therefore especially important for them.

What are the different types of lights used for?

Different lights serve different purposes, that is why it's important to combine different lights for the optimal effect. Ceiling lights help to create a pleasant atmosphere and mood in the room, as well as providing general ambient lighting. They are usually the starting point of planning the lighting in your nursery. Wall lights create soft lighting which draws attention to the perimeter of the room, creating a cosy feel. A wall light also gives the baby a sense of security at bedtime. Desk lamps provide good levels of task lighting, ideal for nursing and changing the baby at night. String lights and other decorative lights are essential for every nursery! They are the perfect nightlight, and in the evening create a lovely atmosphere.

Are the products safe for use in small children's rooms?

All products comply with the UK safety standard BS EN 60598. Desk lamps and most string lights use extra low voltage so they never get hot, and are designed so that no electrical parts are accessible by little fingers.

What does 'extra-low voltage' mean?

These lights operate on very low voltages (typically 6-24V), making them even safer than normal mains voltage products. Because they use less energy, they also tend not to get hot, making them especially suitable for use in children's rooms.

Are replacement bulbs available?

Our mains-voltage lights use standard bulbs with the common Edison Screw fitting (E27 or E14), available in most shops.

Some of our extra-low voltage lights use special bulbs which are available to order from us (on the same product page as the lights requiring them).

Some products use integrated light sources such as LEDs which are built into the product and are therefore not replaceable. The average life of such light sources however vastly exceeds that of a normal incandescent light bulb.

Are ceiling lights difficult to install?

All our ceiling lights connect to your ceiling rose the same way as your current ceiling light does. Changing a light fitting is not difficult, and is certainly within the skills of most people capable of basic DIY tasks and equipped with usually nothing more than a small screwdriver, as long as you follow the instructions supplied with each product. However, if you are unsure of anything, please consult a professional electrician.

WARNING: Before removing your existing light fitting, switch power off at the fuse/control box - switching off at the wall switch only means there is still live current in one or more wires in the ceiling rose!

Can I have your lights delivered abroad? / Can I take your lights abroad?

All our products are intended for use in the UK only. All products with a wall plug or transformer/adapter are equipped with the UK 3-pin-plug, and although in some cases this can be removed and replaced with a European 2-pin-plug, for electrical safety reasons we strongly advise against this. If you do decide to change any components (eg. plug or adapter) for use in Europe, please note that this is entirely at your own risk and may void the warranty; please make sure also that you use a replacement component with the same electrical values, as using an unsuitable replacement part may cause hazards. Ceiling lights are generally easy to fit into a standard ceiling rose in most European countries, but we cannot unfortunately advise on this due to differences in standards and regulations from country to country - please consult a local electrician in your destination country.

FOR US CUSTOMERS: Please note that our products are designed to work on European 220-240V @ 50Hz mains electricity (and not the US standard 110-120V @ 60Hz), and are therefore not suitable for use in USA; also, bulbs commonly available in the US may differ from those used in Europe. Therefore our products are not suitable for use in USA, and our warranty provisions do not cover the US market (or anywhere else outside of UK).

Do you sell refurbished or 2nd hand lights?

We do not sell used or refurbished products; all our lights are brand new, 'A' grade stock (unless very clearly indicated, under special circumstances only).

We do, however, open some product packaging prior to shipping, to place extra padding inside the box to protect the product during transit. This is done so as to ensure that the product reaches you intact.

Also, UK plugs are fitted on some products such as string lights and some bedside lamps, and for this reason the original packaging has been opened and re-sealed. Again, we want to emphasise that the product remains brand new and unused.

Selected Books

For further advice, information and inspiration, why not try one of the following books? (Book are supplied by Amazon, and following these links takes you to the Amazon.co.uk website.)