How to Light Up Your Glazed Extension at Night: Lighting Tips for Orangeries & Garden Rooms

When it comes to designing a glazed extension, effective lighting is more than just the cherry on top – it’s a make-or-break design feature that plays a very influential role in the overall impact of your home.

Just like all glazed extensions, orangeries and garden rooms featuring large amounts of glazing will experience an influx of natural light during the day and a lack of light at night, making choosing efficient lighting when the sun goes down a crucial but oftentimes challenging process.

In this article, we will guide you through the key considerations when it comes to lighting your glazed extension in a way that complements the design, your home’s architecture and your own individual lifestyle. We explore how to build an effective lightscape, how different lamp hues will change atmosphere, and how to enhance flow in your home through light.

“Light is the first gesture of architecture.” Luis Barragán, Architect

Types of Light: Guide to Hues, Undertones and Lamp Colours

You may already have a strong personal preference for either cool or warm lighting, however, it’s important to delve into the purpose of both and the effects that they create to build an understanding of which would best suit your glazed extension, and even your wider home.

Cool lighting works best in bright, contemporary spaces. The blue undertones add energy to the space, complementing modern, spacious kitchen areas where visibility and concentration is key. Cool lighting best suits garden rooms that have been built with modernity in mind, perhaps paired with dark joinery and sleek, monochrome décor.

On the other hand, warm lighting is exceptional at creating an inviting, homely atmosphere. Soft orange undertones create ambience, ideal for relaxed spaces such as lounges and living areas. Warm lighting increases comfort and tranquillity in the space, especially when dimmed.

Westbury design each orangery and garden room individually, complementing not only the taste of the homeowner, but the existing property style. This should be true when choosing a lighting style, too. When lighting a garden room that has been designed for a heritage property, warm light will best suit the existing architecture, as harsh white lights can easily clash with the traditional character of the home. For new build homes, cool lighting will bring the best out of your contemporary architecture.

Plan Your Lighting in Layers: Creating a Lightscape

Artists paint landscapes by building each layer one by one, first focusing on the sky, then distant mountains and rolling hills, then trees and so forth until a full story is told. In the same vein, an effective lightscape can be created in your glazed extension by layering multiple light sources to build atmosphere. The key is to begin with ambient lighting, which will form your base layer and provide you with your main illumination source, and then build on that effect by integrating different light fixtures.

Westbury’s Tip: Lighting should not be uniform, or else it can easily feel flat. Bring in lighting at different heights for added interest. Two simple ways to do this are by hanging pendant lights above kitchen counters or from a roof lantern, or using bookcases and shelving to stagger lamps.

Each layer must serve an individual purpose, so it’s important to first consider each source separately, and then think about how they will work together to enhance your desired effect.

Ambient Lighting

As previously mentioned, ambient lighting – also known as general lighting – forms your base layer and sets the overall tone in the room. This mainly encompasses your chandeliers and main pendant lights. Ensure that your ambient lighting leads you to your desired effect alone, without dependency on other light sources. The goal is to build a foundation that your other layers will add to, rather than distract from.

When working with vaulted ceilings, such as in a garden room, the ceiling height allows you to integrate larger focal pieces that accentuate the height and create a sense of grandeur. If you’re instead working with a flat roof, such as in an orangery, then consider keeping your roof lantern your main light source as the sun goes down by opting for recessed lighting or even hanging a chandelier from your roof lantern.

Task Lighting

It’s crucial to keep in mind that whilst your lighting must add aesthetic appeal, it must first be functional; this is where task lighting comes in. These lights provide direct illumination for everyday activities, such as pendant lights hung above dining room tables or reading lamps in lounge areas. Consider making your task lighting adjustable, such as opting for movable track lighting, which will give you greater versatility and convenience.

Accent Lighting

Accent lights add depth, atmosphere and specific interest in smaller illumination pockets. This may look like spotlighting beneath cabinetry, LED strip lights hidden in bookcases, wall sconces, or any wall-mounted lighting source aimed at art pieces, paintings or wall art to draw the eye. Accent lighting is the most decorative of the three layers, allowing for greater creative flexibility.

Key Consideration: 5-Amp Circuits

When building atmosphere in your garden room using multiple light sources, a smart consideration is the implementation of 5-Amp circuits. These allow you to turn multiple lights on or off with the flick of a single switch. They work by wiring various light sources into one switch, and can also be used in conjunction with a dimmer for flexible mood control.

There is one downside to 5-Amp circuits, which is that they are only designed to work with lower amp appliances, specifically those less than 5 amps. This is for safety reasons to reduce the risk of electrical overheating and cannot be dismissed. Fortunately, most domestic lights fit this criteria with plenty of scope, meaning that this is rarely a hinderance in residential properties.

Connecting Spaces Using Light

Contemporary glazed extensions, particularly the modern orangery, are typically open plan to allow for seamless flow and maximised space. When these extensions are multi-functional, such as with kitchen-diners, it’s important to link your zones through lighting.

For example, you may decide that cool lighting would work best in your kitchen area, but this would clash with your dining area which would instead require soft, warm lighting. Lighting must be consistent throughout the room in lumens and the hues of your lamps. When lighting an open plan space, ensure that the lighting you choose works in every zone. This could look like opting for warm lamps with higher lumens for enhanced visibility, without forfeiting a homely atmosphere.

What are Lumens?

Lumens measure the visible brightness of a lamp (otherwise known as a bulb). This is often incorrectly assumed to be the same as wattage, which instead measures power consumption. In simple terms, the higher the lumen rating, the brighter the light.

When replacing lamps, ensure that the lumens are consistent. For example, with spotlighting, it will be glaringly obvious when one lamp is brighter than another. Aim for consistency across the board in terms of both lumens and hues/undertones to maintain visual harmony.

Uplights vs Downlights: Choosing the Right Lighting Effects

You can integrate uplights and downlights individually, or use a combination of both. Below we explore the impact of both lighting effects, and how to successfully use them to your advantage.

Uplights are fitted into the floor or directly below a subject, and are a great way to draw the eye to architectural details or stand out features in the room. They can be used to illuminate window nooks, fireplaces, art pieces and decorative pilasters. They are most effective when placed closely to the wall, which allows the light to travel upwards rather than into a space without clear focus, which would then create a much more understated, diffused effect.

Downlights, also known as recessed lights, cast light downwards and are used to provide focal points in the room. They do this by highlighting specific zones, or can be used along the perimeter to light wall texture. You don’t want to position your downlights evenly across the entire room, as this can make the lighting feel flat. Instead, place them strategically to create depth and shadow.

When used together, these two lighting techniques can fully illuminate pockets of the room, such as in alcoves or to light up art pieces. An example of this would be when lighting a painting positioned on the wall behind a sofa. Hidden uplights behind the sofa combined with overhead downlights will create direct focus on the piece, evenly lighting the painting without having to light the entire room.

“In the right light, at the right time, everything is extraordinary.” Aaron Rose, Film Director

Extending Lighting into Your Garden

Modern glazing technology performs exceptionally well, but the coatings that ensure that your glazed extension is well-insulated throughout the year make the glass more reflective. When the glazed extension is situated in a dark, unlit garden, the glazing acts like a mirror, reflecting the light-filled room back on itself. These spaces are designed to feel open and connected to the outdoors, so this can minimise this effect. To avoid this, make sure that your garden is adequately lit, and dim your internal lights.

Outdoor Lighting Ideas & Tips

Light Your Pathways – Lighting your pathways not only enhances visibility, but it also outlines a journey in your garden. This makes your space feel larger, and ultimately more inviting.

Create a Welcoming Seating Area – Glazed extensions enhance the connection between your indoor and outdoor space, so ensure that you’re extending the inviting atmosphere outside. Use low, warm lighting to create ambience, either with festoon lights, outdoor heaters or decorative lanterns. 

Highlight Plants & Trees – String lightswoven amongst tree branches can create interesting movement within the leaves and illuminate your garden’s natural features. You can also use stake lights in flower beds or at the bottom of trees to create an uplight effect.

Lighting a Conservatory: Challenges & Solutions

Conservatories are the most challenging home extension to light, as their fully glazed roofs and large amounts of glazing means that that there is a lack of solid surfaces for light fixtures. Wall-mounted lights cannot be integrated, and the pitched, glazed roof leaves little creative room for ambient lighting.

Fortunately, conservatories are seldom used in the same way that orangeries and garden rooms are – separated from the home by external doors, conservatories are simply additional lounge spaces and therefore lack in strict lighting requirements. By factoring in simple task lighting such as floor standing reading lights, your conservatory will still serve its purpose.

It’s worth noting that contemporary conservatories vastly outperform those of the past, and Westbury conservatories can be customised in a similar way to our orangeries and garden rooms. Solid walls can be implemented, and the amount of glazing can be reduced to your personal taste. For advice on which home extension is right for you, call our expert sales and design team today.

How Westbury Can Guide You in Lighting Your Space

Westbury offer a complementary lighting plan for all our customers. For nearly 40 years we have rigorously studied to bring the best out of our glazed extensions, including educating ourselves on how to effectively light the space. We’ll provide a personalised lighting plan tailored to your new space, outlining suggestions for which lighting sources to integrate and where they will be the most impactful.

To get started on your project, get in touch with our sales and design team today. For more design inspiration, request a brochure.