New Year’s Sale: Get 20% off Dwell with promo code YEAR20
SubscribeSign In
All Photos/living/lighting : recessed

Living Room Recessed Lighting Design Photos and Ideas

If color doesn't scare you in the slightest, go for broke!
The sliding doors that seamlessly connect the indoor and outdoor spaces is one of the couple's favorite features of the house, which allows for plenty of airflow and sunlight. Joe is photographed on one of Yellow Leaf Hammock's swiveling Hammock Thrones.
Cover Architecture and EEK Studio redesigned the fireplace so it no longer obstructs the side of the window. The surround lighting creates a warm and inviting effect, even when the fireplace is not lit.
Windowsills were extended to do double-duty, and also function as bookshelves.
The courtyard is enjoyed from multiple vantage points, including the main living spaces and an office on the main floor, as well as a second-floor hallway and bedrooms.
“We’ve tried to create a space that feels calm, with warm lighting, soft textures, natural wood pieces, and beach treasures collected from our trips,” says Leah. The living room features a cozy and durable Movie Night Sectional from Sundays, Zero Waste Coffee Table from Avocado, and handcrafted shelving unit by local carpenter Kaleb Redden—putting family mementos and found objects on display.
The materials for the prefab were chosen to help the lodge blend into the wood. According to the architects, “the lodge features an intentionally limited palette of natural materials, including the same species of timber, western red cedar, on the external cladding and internal lining. Left unfinished, the exterior will weather naturally to a silver-gray color that is reminiscent of the local landscape, which will contrast the cozy, warmer tones of the interior."
New folding glass doors connect the downstairs living room to the revamped yard. The floors are concrete and the ceilings are Hemlock.
The couple spent six months designing their 1,178-square-foot, two-story home. Its compact size was informed by the existing garage’s 20-foot-by-30-foot footprint and L.A.’s ADU size limit of 1,200 square feet. "We had always planned on designing a compact house, however, having a hard limit to its size was definitely a challenge,
The sunken living room features a multifunctional piece of built-in furniture that integrates a sofa, sound system, and television, and also contains a "secret door" that leads to a wine cellar. "[We incorporated this] as a clin d’oeil to the midcentury tradition of built-in work stations and bookshelves," says Morales.
The architects incorporated sustainably sourced parota wood into the living room’s sunken seating area. The Turn Tall side table is from Blu Dot, and the pillows are from West Elm.
In the living room, Two Mario Botta chairs look towards the new fireplace, a Memphis coffee table and an original leaded-glass window. The rug is designed by Faye Toogood for CC Tapis. Happy the dog sits on a sofa from Toronto’s Home Societe.
Living, dining, and kitchen spaces flow into one another in the soaring great room. Here, the Sacramento firm placed new, polished concrete slabs over the original ones to alleviate unsightly cracks.
The floors are polished concrete, a money-saving move that allowed for splurges like the floor-to-ceiling windows from Chicago Tempered Glass set in Tubelite frames.
The wooden floor and pink Pandomo surfaces were selected for their scratch-proof qualities, and to give the “cats' room” a sense of warmth. The wall coating absorbs smells and helps regulate humidity levels.
Walnut integrated refrigerator ans kitchen cabinets.
The open-plan living area features a hanging fireplace. The space wraps around a central core containing the new oak staircase, bathroom, and storage.
The living room retains the home’s original, poured terrazzo floors. There are oversize Fleetwood sliding glass doors on both sides. Most of the original doors have been upgraded to newer, energy-efficient glass, but their size and placement match what was original to the home.
In the living area of actor Vincent Kartheiser’s Hollywood cabin, redesigned by Funn Roberts to maximize every last inch of space, an Eames lounge chair and ottoman mix with a couch and coffee table by Cisco Home from HD Buttercup. The table in the main room is from West Elm.
Brothers Nima and Soheil relax in the family room on an Eames lounge chair and a custom sofa they designed. “Mid-century architecture draws the outdoor environment indoors,” says Soheil. “There’s a lot of natural light, a lot of ventilation.”
This open-concept Amsterdam loft features soaring 15-foot ceilings, an Eames lounge chair and ottoman, and a Jielde light. Throughout the home, Standard Studio architects Wouter Slot and Jurjen van Hulzen favored raw materials, including concrete, oiled oak, and hot-rolled steel, all of which complemented the original space's industrial feel. Tucked smartly underneath the loft, a compact home office features functional built-in shelving and an Eames DSR chair.
"The main challenge was making a space with a 250-square-foot footprint actually feel large," says Mackay. "The key to its success is high ceilings, eight-foot doors, and oversize windows."
The living area is oriented around a floating window seat crafted from oak. "We wanted a place for guests to comfortably sit, read, and reflect in the beautiful Colorado surroundings," says Tarah. "We sourced the perfect slab of white oak from a local mill. We kept the edges raw and used a light, matte finish that highlighted the natural beauty without it being over saturated. I wanted it to feel as unfinished and natural as possible."
The couple’s cats—Chepe and Pacho—doze while Nigel works in another sitting area (below). The chairs are from HK Living.
"The colorful first-floor lounge is filled with hand-picked treasures—such as the custom-made fireplace, and William Boshoff's "Nice Guys
In the living room, a Stûv fireplace sits near Lori’s favorite place to paint. “We made the southeast corner glass, because that’s where the best view is,” says BCJ principal Ray Calabro.
An exposed ridge beam at the ceiling and sloping ceiling defines the living room in the open plan. The lights over the dining table are by Muuto.
Large windows let in an abundance of natural light and views of the landscape.
The fireplace is covered in Norman brick from Mutual Materials, in an era-appropriate stacked pattern.
The inoperable picture windows were replaced with large sliding glass doors that open to the new seating patio.
Now positioned as they are at the top of the home, the living room and dining room have ten-foot high ceilings and wide open views of the water.
The original fireplace was kept, and the plaster around it removed to reveal the brick, which was white-washed.
The Meranti wood and glass doors are over nine feet tall, and have a custom arch detail at the top. The clay coating on the walls and ceiling are by Matteo Brioni. “We mixed some colors together to give the space a perfect warm and serene feel,” says Valérie. “We like to add the same clay finish to the ceiling as the walls to create a sense of intimacy.”
The Ki cabins feature an open-plan living, dining and kitchen space that seamlessly connect to the outdoors via full-height glazed doors that fold back to completely open up one facade to the lake.
Berube's starting point was the continuous wall of black millwork clad in a solid matte surface by Fenix. "We decided on a dark palette to work with the exterior,
Sophie-Claire Hoeller is a writer and editor, while her husband Tim Holley works in tech for Etsy. The two met in Germany and are both originally from Europe (she from Austria, he from the UK).
The gentle curves of the staircase soften the minimal, rigid lines in the open-plan living space, repeated in the linear sofa by Thai brand and the tactile CH25 amchair by Hans Wegner for Carl Hansen & Son
“The transparency and continuity of the spaces allows the landscape, the coast, and the sea to be present at all times,” LLaumett says. While most of the home’s furniture was constructed on site, a sofa by The Popular Design sits in the living room.
“Materials and details were chosen and developed for what they can offer: solar heat radiating from walls, natural ventilation to feel the breeze, timber posts you can lean against, and benches you can jump on,” said Welsch.
"Architects that have experience with old structures have a thorough understanding of how to deal with—and take advantage of—archaic materials and express them in the design. Allowing the existing building structure and integral elements to be revealed lets the building tell its story, and is what makes timeless and intriguing architecture," adds Nardella.
For the renovation of their midcentury ranch house in Chicago, Trey Berre and his wife, Maria Ponce Berre, compared bids from three contractors, ultimately hiring ABO Construction. The total budget for the project climbed to $174 per square foot after it was discovered that the roof had suffered rain damage and needed to be replaced for $40,000.
The common spaces in the Suteki House deliberately frame exterior views. "The beautiful oak trees on the opposite side of the creek are still ‘belonging’ to this house by the use of shakkei, which expands limits visually," explain the architects.
Often, the text that accompanies the images will provide information that is otherwise unable to be communicated through a photo—the thickness of a mattress, the way a fabric shimmers in sunlight, even suggestions on how to pair the item with other pieces.
12345...22