Skylights are renowned for flooding rooms with natural daylight, but what happens when the sun sets? With a bit of creativity, your skylight can become a stunning feature of your home’s lighting design at night as well.
At Toughened Glass Systems, we’ve helped many homeowners install beautiful skylights and roof lanterns, and one of the most common questions we hear is how to illuminate these features effectively after dark.
In this post, we’ll share our recommended skylight lighting ideas, from modern LEDs to types of pendants.
LED Strip Lighting
One of the most popular options for boosting a skylight at night is LED strip lighting around its perimeter. These LED strips can be installed along the inside edges or in a recessed cove around the skylight opening to create a glow.
LED strips are also highly versatile. You can choose single-colour strips for a white outline, or use colour-changing RGB strips to dial in any hue you desire. Many homeowners opt for adjustable strips so they can select calming tones for relaxing evenings or vibrant colours for entertaining. For example, in a living room with a central roof lantern, concealed LED strips on a dimmer can create a dimmable glow on the ceiling during movie nights, yet turn bright and colourful for parties.
In a kitchen, installing LED strips atop cabinets or along an offering around a kitchen skylight can provide both accent lighting and extra task illumination when cooking.
Pendant Lights and Chandeliers
For a bit of flair, nothing beats a beautiful pendant light or chandelier hanging beneath a skylight. Pendant lights introduce a focal point and create illumination by combining the natural light from above with a decorative fixture. By positioning a pendant directly under a roof lantern or skylight, you draw the eye upward and emphasise the height and openness of the space.
This approach adds depth to your lighting, the skylight provides an airy feel, while the hanging fixture brings some character below it. Dining areas and kitchens benefit greatly from this idea. For instance, if you have a skylight above a dining table or kitchen island, consider suspending a pendant light in that spot. It not only provides practical task lighting for meals or food prep but also looks stunning at night, silhouetted against the glass above.
Many homeowners with our kitchen skylights add pendants or a row of mini-pendants above an island to complement the daylight from above with focused light after dark. When choosing fixtures, make sure the style suits your space. An industrial metal pendant or a glass globe can lend a modern touch, whereas an ornate chandelier beneath a roof lantern creates a luxurious feel.
Recessed Spotlights
If you prefer a more subtle look, consider adding recessed spotlights around your skylight. These small ceiling lights sit flush with the ceiling, providing illumination without drawing much attention to themselves. Arranging recessed LEDs around the perimeter of a skylight frames it with light and accentuates the architectural detail.
At night, you can aim these spots to wash light toward the skylight or downward into the room, making the roof opening a featured element rather than a dark void. Functionally, recessed spotlights are excellent for providing general and task lighting. In a kitchen, for example, you might install a few around a skylight to brighten worktops or a sink area after dark. This ensures that even though the skylight isn’t bringing in sun at night, the area below it is still well-lit for cooking or homework.
Accent Lighting to Highlight Frames and Features
Your skylight or roof lantern itself can become a piece of art with the right accent lighting. One approach is to use uplighting inside the skylight well or along the frame. If your skylight has an interesting architectural frame (for example, a timber curb or the aluminium bars of a roof lantern), you can install small LED uplights at the base corners to wash light upward and showcase those structures.
Another creative idea is to create an indoor “garden” effect under your skylight. Many people place houseplants below skylights to give them plenty of sun during the day.
Why not enjoy them at night too? By arranging a couple of small uplights or spike lights among your indoor plants, you can illuminate the foliage from below after dark. The result is a tranquil feel for your home, the greenery is gently lit, the skylight above maybe reflects a bit of the light, and you’ve brought a touch of the outdoors inside.
Nighttime Feel
Not all skylight lighting has to be high-tech. For a touch of romance, candlelight and fairy lights are fantastic companions to skylights.
Of course, safety first. Open flames directly under a skylight (which might accumulate heat) aren’t always ideal, and they require supervision. A great alternative is LED flameless candles, which now come in remarkably realistic designs that flicker like the real thing.
Skylight Lighting Ideas by Room
Different rooms benefit from different lighting styles. Here’s a quick guide to help you choose the right skylight lighting for each space:
- Kitchen: Pendant lights over islands or dining tables provide stylish task lighting, while recessed spotlights around the skylight help keep work areas bright after dark.
- Living Room: A chandelier or cluster of pendants below a roof lantern makes a bold focal point, and dimmable LED strips around the skylight offer a soft glow for evenings.
- Bathroom: Moisture-rated recessed lights ensure good visibility, while waterproof LED strips around the skylight can act as a relaxing nightlight.
- Bedroom: Smart lighting around skylights can simulate sunrise and sunset cycles, while fairy lights or flameless candles create a calm, cosy mood.
- Conservatory/Extension: LED strips in roof lantern frames provide a gentle evening glow, and uplighting indoor plants or nearby garden features enhances the indoor-outdoor feel.
No matter the room, combining multiple lighting styles often gives the best results, layering task, ambient, and accent lighting creates a comfortable finish.
Contact Toughened Glass Systems Today
If you’re considering adding a new skylight or upgrading an existing one, don’t forget that lighting is an integral part of the design. At Toughened Glass Systems, we not only supply skylights and roof lanterns, but also have the skills to advise on integrating them easily into your home’s lighting scheme.
Check out our range of various bespoke skylights and roof windows to find the perfect fit for your project. And of course, if you need any guidance or have questions, feel free to contact us.