See things in a new light

As the V&A showcases the best of the new lighting designers, Nicole Swengley checks out what the high street has to offer

Clever lighting - skirting lights, recessed downlights, fibre optics - creates a wonderfully moody look in new properties but many of us are still stuck with central pendants and inconvenient wall sockets. Even so, there's no need to dwell in the Dark Ages - just visit a lighting specialist or one of our more switched-on department stores.

Clever lighting - skirting lights, recessed downlights, fibre optics - creates a wonderfully moody look in new properties but many of us are still stuck with central pendants and inconvenient wall sockets. Even so, there's no need to dwell in the Dark Ages - just visit a lighting specialist or one of our more switched-on department stores.

You can avoid getting bogged down in technicalities with a simple rule of thumb. Highlight favourite objects or paintings, apply sharply focused task lighting at worktops, desks and bedside tables and wrap other areas in a glowing cocoon of ambient light sources. If jargon like "dichroic" or "halogen" brings you out in a cold sweat, consult a specialist like Sally Storey, design director at John Cullen Lighting. She'll reveal interior design tricks such as the use of uplighters to create a feeling of space and low-voltage downlights to make a room seem smaller and cosier.

Interior designer and TV presenter Kevin McCloud has been brightening up Debenhams' lighting department with his curvaceous Onion lamp, £50, and ceramic Pot lamp, from £30, with light-emitting port-holes. Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, meanwhile, has created an exuberant collection of lamps, wall-lights and chandeliers for John Lewis including Sculpture, a six-armed chandelier, £189. A dedicated lighting studio at John Lewis's Oxford Street flagship store demonstrates the effects of around 50 designs with the help of computers and trained advisers.

Chandeliers - traditional and modern - are big news in the re-vamped lighting department at Heal's. Crystal Bar, £299, a chrome chandelier draped with glass crystals, is a best-seller after just six weeks in-store. "People have seen glamorous chandeliers in shops, restaurants and hotels and now want them at home," says Andrew Thomson, Heal's lighting buyer.

"Lighting is an amazing medium," he adds. "People are realising they can use it to change a room's mood, colour, size - the whole environment - without changing a single furnishing." A typical mood-enhancer is the Imagination wall light, £99, in which three prisms shielding the bulb can be twisted to project a wash of coloured light refractions over a wall.

LEDs (light-emitting diodes) that create an ambient glow are hot news at Habitat. Plugg, £22, a coloured Perspex table lamp, and Anna, £80, a Perspex chandelier in which LEDs are located above its blue resin droplets, are both popular. But the fitting that's grabbing most attention is designer Tord Boontje's Garland, £15, a silvery mass of acid-etched steel petals that can be scrunched around a central bulb and flex.

A good choice of halogen lights are available at Next. These use small, compact, long-lasting bulbs to provide a bright, clear light that's good for reading or working. The Metropolitan collection includes a pendant, £79.99, with 10 slim arms each containing a tiny bulb and a five-light floor lamp; £89.99, with a built-in dimmer.

Also worth visiting is the Ryness flagship store at 43 Westbourne Grove, London W11, where imaginative designs include colourful Boo stools, £195, which light up when sat on. If you can't imagine how the store's display lights will look in situ, a Ryness adviser can visit your home.

Looking for true inspiration? Head to the Victoria & Albert museum's show, Brilliant! Here, lighting maestro Ingo Maurer has filled glass tables with tiny LEDs to create constellations, and designer Sharon Marston has constructed a shower of colour-changing glass fibre optics that hangs from the ceiling. RCA graduate Paul Cocksedge, meanwhile, has made neon-filled glass pods that turn deep red when switched on; another RCA graduate, Kazuhiro Yamanaka, has built bulb-outline lights using optical fibres lit with halogen.

Brilliant!, V&A (020-7942 2000; www.vam.ac.uk), to 25 April

Debenhams Direct: 0845 6099 099; www.debenhams.com

Habitat: 0845 601 0740; www.habitat.net

Heal's: 020-7636 1666; www.heals.co.uk

John Lewis: 020-7629 7711; www.johnlewis.com

Next: 0845 600 7000; www.next.co.uk

Ryness: 020-7792 5787; www.ryness.co.uk