Why stop at the kitchen island? A run of floor cabinets, a console table, even a bedside, they can all benefit from the downward glow and vertical interest a pendant brings. Ours come in sizes small and large, style classic and contemporary, and in bronze, nickel and glass.

The pendant light’s bigger, bolder, more glamorous cousin, the chandelier, might not be for every space, but in certain rooms (the centre of a staircase, for one) its size and statement are just what’s called for. While lanterns, all airy glass and metal frames, bring presence on a lighter scale.

This is the type of lighting that should be the starting point to your scheme: intelligent and understated wall and down lights that you can use to broadly light a room or to tactfully highlight its most important areas.