The question about The Big Light
I spent an evening recently with a friend, who's British. We talked about the Big Light, i.e. the pendant light in the living or dining room.
According to the UK rules - and this was news to me - the Big Light is never, ever, under any circumstances, allowed to be turned on!
Or maybe momentarily, if you have lost an earring and need to find it, but even then it needs to be turned off right away once the earring has been found.
Rooms should have table lamps on side tables, or floor lamps, or sconces, or if there’s none of those then you sit in the dark. But do not turn the Big Light on.
I’m from Finland, and we love our pendant lights there. Finns are practical and decorations are minimalistic, so there’s no room or place for lamps cluttering the corners. Or if they are not minimalist, there’s still no table lamps or floor lamps. For very avid readers, there might be an extra light in addition to the pendant light somewhere in a reading corner.
The pendant lights are meant to be statement designer lights, such as Lokki or Octo and you most certainly turn it on. In fact, the pendant lights stay on more-or-less full time from mid-September until mid-May because it’s dark all day long - and as a contrast, you don’t really need lights of any kind in summertime.
Older buildings wouldn’t ever have down lights, just the statement pendant light in the middle of the room above the coffee table or dining table.
I do my lighting and interior designs in Australia, and this is yet again a different story.
Australians like quite minimalistic, streamlined and modern decor and generally down lights are the way to go. You can spot a building that has been previously owned by an electrician, by a grid of down lights in the room, making it look like a control room of a spaceship. Newer buildings would have more strategically placed downlights, and interior designer (or architect or lighting designer) designed spaces would have a combination of uplights, wall washers, sconces and dimmable downlights.
I like to place a pendant light above the dining table or coffee table or kitchen island when the space requires it for balance, decoration or lighting point of view. Many of my clients don’t want table lamps or floor lamps, and sometimes I must insist. Sometimes there’s no good place for them, and we make do with the other lights, including pendant lights.
I have never really thought about this before, and I certainly wasn’t aware of the British Big Light concept, so I’m very interested to hear your views!
Should the Big Light stay permanently off?
Or are they there to provide light while the lamps create mood?
Can we keep shocking our British friends by a sole Big Light in the ceiling?
Just imagine these two rooms without the Big Light:
Let me know your thoughts.
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Sari