The fashion in recent years has been for bathroom walls and floors to be lined with tiles: an expensive treatment that, says Harding, is not necessary. Think also about the lampshades: a fabric or paper shade will give a diffuse effect, while a solid metal shade, for example over a kitchen worktop, will direct a blast of light to where it’s needed. You can fit them above a mirror, or use them to bring pieces of art to life and create a glow around the edges of the room.” She’s also a fan of picture lights: “They’re something we think of as being a bit trad, but they’re a great way to create incidental light, and they don’t need to look like the ones you see in a fusty old country-house hotel. Articulated wall lights are a good way to illuminate the worktop in the kitchen – a softer alternative to overhead spotlights – and work well as reading lights either side of the bed. If you are doing some work and have the budget, she suggests adding wall lights as an effective way to create atmospheric lighting.
“It’s such an easy way to make a massive change.” It also doesn’t have to be a costly exercise: “You don’t need to open any walls or get any workmen round, just order in some floor and table lamps.” “If I had to go into a house and change one thing, it’s usually the lighting,” says Harding. Here are her tips for how to choose furniture, whatever your budget. This has been the foundation for her own line of furniture, NiX, which launched recently with a collection of tables and lighting (upholstery, dining furniture and beds will be coming next), all of which she describes as “the things I’ve found over and over again that I keep needing for projects”. Through her years of home design, Harding has identified what she calls “the nuts and bolts of things you need to put a home together” – the pieces that can make or break a room. The question is, if you don’t have a bottomless budget, what should you consider spending the bigger part of it on, and where can you save some cash without compromising on quality? And, of course, one way to maximise the functionality of a room is through well-chosen furniture.
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