COSY ROOMS

Designers explain how layered lighting quietly shapes mood, enhances décor, and turns ordinary rooms into warm, welcoming spaces

- DARSHITA JAIN

THERE is a certain ease you feel the moment you step into a well-lit home. It is not something you consciously analyse, yet the room instantly feels calmer, warmer and more put together.

Most of us assume it is the furniture or the colours creating that comfort, although designers will tell you it almost always begins with the lighting. And not just one bright bulb overhead, but the quiet layering of different lights that makes a space feel alive, familiar, and effortlessly welcoming.

Mita Mehta, founder, interior stylist and curator at Mita Mehta Studio, who has spent nearly three decades studying how light behaves in homes, often reminds clients that lighting deserves a place at the beginning of any design conversation. She puts it simply: “A beautifully designed space will fall flat if the lighting is not right. Lighting is not an afterthought. It is one of the first layers that determines how a room feels, how it functions, and how people experience it daily. When we speak of ‘layered lighting’, we are simply talking about building the right mix of ambient, task, and accent lighting, each doing a different job, but working together quietly.” Layered lighting sounds technical at first, yet the principle is straightforward.