A vaulted ceiling is the best room in most houses to light and the easiest one to get wrong. The pitch means a fitting that looks fine on paper can end up glaring straight at the sofa, and there is rarely a void to hide anything in — so the positions have to be right first time.
Working with the pitch and the rooflights
Spotlights were set out along the slope in relation to the rooflights, so that the artificial lighting picks up in the evening roughly where the daylight leaves off, and the two do not fight each other. Positions were marked against where people actually sit and stand rather than on a symmetrical grid, which is what stops a vaulted room feeling like an office.
Kitchen and dining
The kitchen was given downlights over the worktop where the task light is needed, with the dining area on separate switching so it can be dropped independently. Both were run as new circuits rather than extensions of what was there.
Checking the board first
Before any of it went in, the existing consumer unit was inspected to confirm it could take the additional circuits safely and that the protection in place was adequate for the new work. That check is not optional — adding load to a board that cannot take it is how a lighting job becomes a fault-finding job six months later.
All new circuits were tested and certified on completion.
