In The Spotlight: Mistry Lighting
We recently caught up with Krishna Mistry, founder and lighting designer of Mistry Lighting to talk all things lighting. From choosing the perfect pendant, to future-proofing your home, Krishna is giving us all her best advice on how to show your space in the best light!
Krishna, you’re a lighting designer and expert with over 10 years of experience in the industry; how did you get into lighting design, and why is it so important?
I actually studied interior design at university, lighting was never something I’d thought about. But when I graduated in a recession my sister was working for a lighting wholesale company, so I spent a few months working with her. I think it only took me three months working as a junior designer to realise I absolutely loved lighting design. Lighting impacts a space so much, it makes the biggest difference. I’ve worked with some amazing architects in some amazing, iconic buildings and you genuinely see if the space is lit badly, you’re just not doing the design any justice. It’s so important and that’s why I’m doing what I’m doing.
“If the space is lit badly, you’re just not doing the design any justice. It’s so important and that’s why I’m doing what I’m doing.”
You work across hospitality, commercial, retail and residential projects; what should we consider when creating a lighting strategy for our home?
The way we light a space is we layer lighting and it’s about the three layers: your task lighting, your accent lighting and your ambient lighting. Really you should only be lighting key features such as furniture, objects, artwork. People think you need a lot of lights in the ceiling, but you don’t. Also, think about lighting different height levels: ceiling lights, wall lights and low-level lights. This creates much more of an atmosphere rather than all one directional lighting from your ceiling. Then paired with good lighting controls, which lets you adjust these layers of lighting.
So, what do you do if you think you might want to reorganise your furniture in the future?
You can look to future-proof your home. For example, by using a track lighting system. It’s something I’m looking into in my own home. If you feel like you’re going to keep changing the layout of the space, moveable spotlights are a really good option to give you flexibility. The other thing I would think about is putting a pendant in the centre of the room, which will provide you with general lighting and then add table lamps and floor lamps to create pockets of light in the corners of the room. If you want to keep a grid of downlights in your ceiling, then add your layers of lighting by using a variety of floor/table and wall lights.
What would you say a well-designed lighting strategy can deliver that people might not expect or might not realise until they’ve experienced it themselves?
A lot of the time I find lighting is quite flat because most homes are lit very uniformly. Nothing in particular is really picked up, so when you walk into the space, you’re not really drawn to anything at all. With the right lighting you will really notice that piece of artwork that’s hung on the wall or really see the texture of your wallpaper and fabrics come through with the lighting, It really enhances your experience of the space and creates an atmosphere from relaxing to entertaining guests.
In your work, you quite often use big statement pieces, we love the fringe lights from your Rockwell Hotel project. What advice can you give for incorporating statement lighting that will stand the test of time?
You can get some beautiful statement pendants and chandeliers which really stand out. But if you really want something that will last forever you should go for something slightly more minimalistic. At the same time go for a notable brand because they’re the pieces that are timeless. Really think about what designs are going to last. And what I like is that there’s so much out there, so think really hard and don’t make quick decisions on your pendant lights - there’s no rush!
“I designed pockets of light which created depth and interest. And as much as lighting is important, you also have to consider the shadows; you need the darkness to enhance the light.”
What is something you’ve done that has really made your clients say WOW?
Over a year ago I worked on a restaurant called Tattu in Edinburgh, which definitely has the wow factor. The design team involved were amazing and their vision was to continue their strong brand of purple lit cherry blossom trees with the design of the restaurant reflecting the presentation of the food (very Instagramable!) My job was to bring these things to life and really enhance their ideas. Instead of having the entire ceiling lit with purple floodlights, I designed pockets of light which created depth and interest. And as much as lighting is important, you also have to consider the shadows; you need the darkness to enhance the light. In the restaurant, there’s a central panel which is a piece of artwork by a local artist which we backlit. In the evening when you’re having a really beautiful meal, it creates a soft glow. You don’t even realise its actually lit, it’s just glowing. It’s all about integrating every single design element between the interiors and the lighting and that can create something very special, very atmospheric.
The Quick Five
We wanted to do a round with questions we’ll be asking all of our guests as part of this series, so here’s 5 quick fire questions for you…
1. What is your earliest memory of design?
My first finished project as a lighting designer was Anne Summers in Westfield, Stratford. I was extremely excited, I got to the shop really early to look at the lighting and take some pictures and I completely forgot there would be people there shopping. All I was thinking about was the lighting. It was only when I saw a man staring at me, I realised I’d taken photos that he wouldn’t appreciate being posted all over social media. But it was a proud moment for me seeing my first lighting design scheme in real life.
2. What room or item in your home do you love the most, and why?
Bet you thought I’d say a light fitting, didn’t you? But it’s probably my drinks trolley that I love the most, that brings the most joy. And my plants. I’ve become a bit of a plant mummy over lockdown. I’m extremely proud of my avocado plant, as I grew it from seed to a full-grown plant.
3. One thing you believe can elevate or transform any room?
Lighting. That was a really easy question. Well-designed lighting is going to really enhance your space.
4. Best or worst design decisions you’ve made?
So my best decision came from the worst decision I made. It was those LED panels I was talking about for Tattu, Edinburgh. I jumped for joy when we could dim those right down to 1% and it was everything we wanted and needed. At another beautiful restaurant, Soutine in St John’s Wood, I designed an artificial skylight, which looked amazing but the dimming system just didn’t work. It was like a thunderstorm, the lights kept on flashing on and off. Thankfully, we changed the dimming system and drivers so now it does exactly what we wanted it to do, which is mimic daylight in the space changing colour temperature throughout the day and dimming down to a low lighting level in the evenings. Lesson learnt – getting the right lighting control system is important!
And finally, what is the most recent item you’ve purchase for your home?
Given that we have just bought a house and are in the process of buying furniture, ottoman bed and these memory foam ice pillows have been our recent purchases. I love the cold side of the pillow and I tested it out in the showroom and it was incredible, I’m really excited for that to arrive.
P.s - You can get yourself a TheraPur Memory Foam Ice Pillow here.
https://www.dreams.co.uk/therapur-memory-foam-ice-pillow/p/719-00257