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Even the best designed interior wouldn't work without well designed lighting. Why not to have a light as a feature and create unique visual effect? Let's try to use it as a final touch in the interior design.

LED lights are fast becoming a household staple - energy saving and versatile, they are an excellent way to replace your existing recessed lights, spotlights, strip lights and so on. However, some people still have concerns over the colour of the LED light, believing it to be too cold in comparison to standard Edison bulbs (the classic light bulb).

The LED market has definitely taken this into consideration and has answered people's concerns with a number of LED light 'bulbs' to choose from. These lights take the classic for of the Edison bulb but the 'filament' inside is formed of LEDs. There are a number of different solutions to this, from frosted glass that disguises the LED lights inside the bulb to tiny LEDs that mimic the appearance of a filament bulb.

Although LED bulbs are generally still much more expensive than regular bulbs (potentially beyond the energy saving effects of a single light bulb), they offer an environmentally friendly and well-designed solution to the 'light bulb replacement' issue.

Price ranges for LED light bulbs on the market range from £10 - £50, depending on the appearance, the colour, the shape and the brightness of the LED.

Here are some of our favourites:

Philips CorePro 10W LED Bulb: A simple bulb with a frosted cover disguises the fact that this bulb is not a standard incandescent bulb. At 10W this is quite a bright bulb, which should aid the fact that it is 3000K (a slightly cooler colour but still a popular choice for residential interiors).

Megaman 7W Clear Golf Ball:  Megaman are the pioneers in the LED industry and have produced this simple bulb, with a clear cover, that is suitable for dimming. At 7W this is also quite a bright bulb too and the colour is just as warm as a standard bulb, 2800K.

LED-strip is an amazing little thing which can create a really interesting lighting effect. The main secret is - always try to hide the strip itself, so that it would look like light is coming from invisible source. It creates this magical and inspirational atmosphere.

One of our clients said that a beautiful chandelier could bring a lot of guests' attention and could really play the role of the "Wow" factor in the living room. Even though, chandeliers are not that popular nowadays,they still could look interesting and breath-taking. A lot of lighting companies offer huge choice between classic and contemporary styles.

I love finding small companies at Maison et Objet - designers who give their products real time and effort and a hand-made touch. One such designer that I found was Belgian-based lighting designer Sophie Casier. I love the simple but intricate look of her metal and wooden light shades. The three layers of surface - two horizontal and one vertical strip - create interesting plays of light. The light shines against the wall but also sits on the surface of the material, creating a soft halo of indirect lighting. There is also a version of the lights that come with an LED detail that creates long streaks of angular light reflections on the wall. Overall a fantastic, multi-faceted light shade with lots of customisable details in terms of final wood finish or painted colour. From such an original and innovative designer as Sophie, we shall certainly be using these lights in a project as soon as possible!

Description from the Designer:



This concludes our Paris Maison et Objet review - I hope you have enjoyed reading about our lovely finds!