In modern design, residential spaces are being tasked to perform at a higher level than ever before. A room, whether the kitchen, living room, closet, or home office, is no longer just a physical location; it is an area that must be functional yet emotional.

As personalization, sustainability, and smart technology shift from luxuries to standard expectations, lighting design makes all the difference.

Why integrated lighting?

For those building furniture or shaping luxury interiors, lighting is a strategic tool.

Standards: Integrated lighting allows for value-added sales of cabinets and closets, moving beyond the basic box to a premium, tech-integrated solution.

Aesthetic: By maintaining a constant focus on high-quality, reliable, and aesthetically pleasing products, lighting becomes a permanent part of the architecture rather than a temporary fixture.

Function and emotion: Through tunable and dimmable lighting products, you can create solutions that combine necessary functionality with an emotional atmosphere.

Connecting architecture: Lighting serves as the invisible thread that connects spaces and architectural elements, creating a cohesive flow throughout a home or project.

Current trends

European trends are influencing North American design. A few of those trends include the following:

Materials: Wood, stone, marble, especially matte surfaces

Colors: Timeless colors in combination with materials such as wood and stone. Trending more to lighter colors like beige, grey, green in different color spectrums and blue.

Design: Handleless cabinets, moving away from traditional 5-piece shaker doors, back to wood components, fusion of different materials (e.g. wood with marble), predominantly trending to rounder shapes for a softer mood, increasingly also rounder elements, structure mix.

Smart home: Control of devices and lighting systems via the voice assistant and mobile Apps, offers convenience.
Open spaces of cooking and living: lighting creates different moods. It’s a mix of functional and atmosphere lighting.

Sustainability: Recycled materials and, above all, sustainably produced products. If the customer has the choice between 2 products, ecological and non-ecological at the same price, he chooses the ecological.

Lighting: Adds a big impact to rooms and furniture. It highlights structures and creates atmospheres.

Additional lighting trends include a focus on minimalism and efficiency:

Minimalist profiles: Elegant ¼-inch profiles, both recessed and surface-mounted, fit almost invisibly into furniture to provide light without the clutter of a visible fixture.

Sophisticated finishes: Aluminum profiles are available in black, silver, off-white, and bronze, with OEM solutions designed to match partition finishes perfectly.

Sustainability: High-efficiency sources like LED tapes and other innovations ensure that design excellence does not come at the cost of the environment.

By integrating light directly into every cabinet, closet, and living space, designers can add depth and emotion that transforms the homeowner’s experience.

Source: Ashleigh Lawson & Boris Niessing, Elektra USA. For more information on Elektra USA call 917-588-1882 or visit elektra.de/en.