This is the base: it lights the whole room and lets you move around, tidy and clean. It comes from the ceiling, from a flush light, a pendant, recessed spotlights, tracks or a lit cove.

On its own, it leaves shadows and an even light with no depth. That is why it is the starting point, never the only light. Combined with light walls and ceilings, which reflect more light, a room looks brighter with fewer light points.

This is the light for doing things: reading, studying, cooking, putting on make-up. It should be stronger than the general light, aimed where your hands and eyes are, and well placed so that it neither dazzles nor casts shadows. Good task lighting reduces eye strain.

• Reading: a floor lamp beside the armchair or a wall light with an arm next to the bed.
• Kitchen: light under the wall cabinets, over the worktop.
• Desk: a table lamp on the side opposite the hand you write with.

The LEITURA wall light, in black metal, is 36.5 cm high with a 180 cm fabric cable. The ESTELO floor lamp is 138.5 cm high and 36 cm in diameter.

This is the light that warms the room and gives it character. It is for the end of the day, when the general light is too much, and for highlighting what deserves attention: a bookcase, a picture, a textured wall.

It comes from LED strips in niches and coves, directed spotlights, wall lights, table lamps and soft-light pendants. It is the layer that most changes how a room feels.

The colour of light is measured in kelvin (K). The lower the number, the warmer and more yellow the light; the higher, the whiter and cooler.

• Warm light, 2700 to 3000 K: comfortable and calm. For living rooms, bedrooms, dining rooms and entrances.
• Neutral light, about 4000 K: more alert. For work and task areas.
• Cool light, 5000 K or more: close to daylight. For spaces of intensive work.

Bárbara's rule: warm light in every room, except work areas such as the office or the study corner. Within the same room, use the same temperature for every light point, so that no difference shows between one lamp and another.

Think of the room as a sequence of moments. In a living room:

• For tidying or having guests: general light, with ambient light.
• For reading: the task light by the armchair, with ambient light low.
• At the end of the day: ambient light only.

For this, each layer needs its own switch. A dimmer on the general light widens the options further: the CÚPULA pendant, for example, has dimmable LED. In the bedroom, the 3 layers add up to at least 4 light points: see 10 essential items for your bedroom.

A lamp is the quickest way to change a corner: no building work and no waiting. Before choosing, decide 3 things: which layer the room is missing, at what height the light should sit and what temperature the existing light has.

For the height of a pendant over the table, the island or the bedside table, see How high to hang a pendant light. To make more of natural light, see the tips for a brighter home. Lamps and ideas by room are on the Light page.

More pieces in the Lighting collection.