Best Lighting Designers

A lighting designer plans a home's lighting — deciding what to light and how, where fixtures go, which fixtures to specify, and how the lighting will be controlled — then documents that plan for the electrician to install. It is a discipline distinct from the electrician who wires the lighting and the showroom that sells fixtures: the best lighting designers are independent in their recommendations and collaborate closely with the architect and interior designer so lighting is integrated into the architecture rather than added at the end. Their core craft is layering ambient, task and accent light so a room can shift from bright and functional to soft and intimate, with the fixtures themselves barely noticed.

Good lighting design has an impact out of all proportion to its share of a budget, and it is far easier to plan into the architecture than to fix later — which is why a dedicated lighting designer joins the best projects early. Choosing the right one is about genuine lighting-design expertise, a portfolio of work you admire, fluency with outdoor and landscape lighting and with modern lighting controls and automation, and a collaborative approach. Local knowledge matters, since climate and architecture shape both fixtures and scheme. Browse by city below to find lighting designers who work in your area and the kind of home you have in mind.