We truly love our homes when our homes love us back. Home should be a sanctuary, a retreat from the outside world. It should be a haven - a safe, comforting environment where we can be on our own terms, and which is set up to suit our lifestyle requirements. Homes come in all shapes and sizes, from studio flats and interesting city conversions to traditional period homes or former barns out in the countryside. We are adept at creating living environments in all sorts of different structures. But what makes a space a home?

Here we are again. The carrousel of time has revolved another three-quarter turn. Morning mist lines dips and hollows and balmy afternoons give way to damp, tangy evenings with a whiff of winter in the air. Holidays are over, barbecues are put into hibernation, flowers fade to make way for berries. Firewood is stacked ready to revive log burners. Night time encroaches earlier and takes us by surprise, along with the sudden nip in the air. We are all moving inside, turning on lights and lighting fires. To compensate for the sun’s departure, we turn towards the cosiness of our homes for shelter, giving up the freedom of the outdoors for the security of the fireside.

Lighting can most certainly have an impact on the value of your home. Research has shown that adding recessed LED lighting to your property can add up to 3% to its value. On paper, key reasons for this are longevity of the fittings and their low energy consumption. Add to this the fact that more decorative lighting will often disappear with the current owners, who will take table lamps and even wall lights and pendant fittings with them when they move, and, all in all, integrated LED lighting is seen as good value by prospective buyers.