There are five simple ways to describe how light behaves in a room. These five “effect” descriptions can be applied to any light fitting, and they form the core of the language we use to describe how light should behave in a room to craft the "right light".

A 12sqm (that’s 3Mx4M) room does not need a lot of light – it is not a particularly big space. You need light at the wardrobe (built in light is LOVELY, and highly practical, but not always in the budget) so often, when we’re keeping budget in mind a well placed low glare downlight at the front of the robe is all you’ll need. Beyond that a bedside lamp or reading light is going to give you the layers of light you need – and add an app controlled light globe to the equation, and you’ve got amazing scope for changing the mood in your bedroom.

Probably the biggest benefit to professional advice - which is strongly based in the science and mathematics behind light, is understanding that light isn't just downlights - and that you can create bright, dynamic spaces without pockmarking your ceiling.

So many images and TV shows show decorative lighting hanging right up close to the ceiling. At MINT, we say NO to that. Think of decorative lighting as jewellery for your home. You should love it - you'll be looking at it every day. Pendant lighting (and all other decorative lighting for that matter) should make you smile, bring the sparkle to your home and be the perfect accessory for your interior decoration and design.

The questions when lighting a "living breathing" feature like a fire, are - do we light the fire surround? Add decorative features above the fire? create drama with texture? or allow the fire to take centre stage and hide all of the general lighting in the room away into the architecture?

Organising the supply chain for any kind of build can be a complex and mystifying process, especially if you are managing it yourself. Leaving purchasing of lighting or any other item to the last minute can have massive impacts on your on-site progress, often resulting in cost blow-outs as trades overlap and missing elements prevent final completion.

This Middle Park period home has had a sleek expansive modern extension out the back…..it’s a family home that provides wide open spaces for everyone to come together and the clients didn’t want the lighting to detract from the architectural features – it was all about creating *invisible* light

Building light into joinery can also create a levitating effect, and really lift the feel of a room. Especially rooms with limited natural light. A smaller room can be visually expanded by having light hidden away into joinery and behind mirrors. A large room can actually be lit effectively by hiding light into the architecture and using the room as a luminaire. Completely hidden source, but brilliant bright room. Clever stuff indeed.

The most obvious solution to lighting a timber ceiling is to use uplight - you've invested time, money and passion into that design - show it off!! The warm light, and ambient brightness will improve your mood at home, and creates a dramatic effect.

More than the heart of your home, your kitchen is the one space where every aspect of life happens. Chatting with friends and family, kids doing homework, organising the details of your life – and of course, cooking your meals. With the right lighting, your kitchen becomes more than just a functional area in your home, it becomes the central hub for your lifestyle.

Kitchen Lighting Tips….

Perhaps you’ve heard the term ‘Layered Lighting’?? Maybe it made you think of Wedding Cakes, or Winter clothing, but with light? Confusing for sure, how on earth do you “layer” light??. Before we explain, let’s just suggest, that a perfectly lit room should have the 3 basic layers to make for beautiful, functional and sustainable lighting in your home.

At MINT the key focus in our lighting design for a passive house - is to minimise energy consumption throughout the home….this is achieved by effective selection of LED luminaires [light fittings], and by avoiding downlights and recessed lighting - WHY’s that?…so as not to impact on the building envelope and reduce the thermal integrity of the home.

Lighting for artworks requires a little more attention that simply putting a downlight, or even a gimble downlight near it in the ceiling.

There is no one-size fits all solution – that said, we have a few nifty tricks to share with you that will work in 90% of situations – and we can leave the last 10% for art galleries who have both the budget and the reason to go the extra mile.

Put out the welcome mat with lighting....

Whether your home is Modern or Traditional in style, the lighting at your entrance will define how you feel every day that you come home after dark. You can choose to create dramatic lighting effects, or soft voluminous light, both can work beautifully - just don't leave it to the last minute and end up with a single downlight, or oyster at the front door and cheap BBQ lights around the perimeter of your home. You deserve so much more.

Lighting for outdoor living is completely different to lighting indoors. You don't want to be blasted with light - you want to get a sense of the entire space, and enjoy sitting in gentle light that inspires hours of conversation with friends and family.

Adele Locke, founder of MINT Lighting Design is changing the way people consider illumination for their next residential projects. Working directly with the homeowners, builders or architects and interior designers, she is transforming the way light is treated in our homes. We caught up with her recently to find out more about her game changing work.

Creating two completely unique lighting solutions to mirror image townhouses, gave the MINT team a fantastic opportunity to explore the variety of lighting solutions that bring that special WOW factor to any home.

MINT has been collaborating with Hallbury Homes for the last 12 months to bring our beautiful and unique approach to lighting design to their bespoke luxury builds.We’re bringing transformational light to homes of all shapes and sizes, changing Australian Homes for good.

It might be the smallest room in the house – but it’s one of the most vital to our comfort. It’s also a room that everyone goes to every day – usually many times!

Truly, in such a small room, regardless of colour and anything else going on, you really don’t need much light at all – so you can really go wild – let your freak flag fly!

The temptation when designing a dining room (or more often these days, a dining zone within your open living space) is to make the lighting pendant the feature of the space, for your WOW piece - that amazing pendant that makes your heart sing! We're all for that of course - but the greater question is how to bring the flexibility in - without losing the delight of the dramatic.