For this Best of Lighting edit, we’re focusing on pieces that do more than just illuminate, they set the mood. Think soft, warm glows balanced with cleaner, clearer light: lighting that feels comforting. 
The best designs strike that sweet spot between atmosphere and function. Together, they create spaces that feel considered, calm, and quietly uplifting. From sculptural pendants to understated table lamps, each piece has been chosen for its ability to elevate a room without overpowering it.

Best of Lighting

For this Best of Lighting edit, we’re focusing on pieces that do more than just illuminate, they set the mood. Think soft, warm glows balanced with cleaner, clearer light: lighting that feels comforting. 

The best designs strike that sweet spot between atmosphere and function. Together, they create spaces that feel considered, calm, and quietly uplifting. From sculptural pendants to understated table lamps, each piece has been chosen for its ability to elevate a room without overpowering it.

Few materials shape a space quite like wood. Warm, grounding, and endlessly versatile, it brings texture and depth without ever shouting for attention. From pale, tactile grains that brighten a room to rich, dark finishes that add quiet drama, wood has an instinctive way of making interiors feel considered and lived-in.

Wood Edit

Our weekly Nice Things Edit is a curated Monday round-up of what we’re loving right now -from our favourite pieces on Glassette to a recipe, a read, a place to visit, and a gift worth bookmarking.
Each week, every member of the Glassette team shares their current favourites, whether that’s new arrivals, pieces we’ve spotted trending, or timeless finds we can’t stop thinking about. Think of it as a weekly dose of joy, discovery, and design inspiration - handpicked by the Glassette team.

Nice Things This Week

In 2026, let your interiors moodboard begin on screen. These five films are immersive worlds where colour, composition and object placement feel quietly intentional. Watch for painted walls that set the emotional temperature, fabrics that catch the light, and rooms styled with a restrained confidence: a few standout pieces, thoughtfully spaced, doing more than a crowded shelf ever could. There are motifs worth borrowing too - florals that feel modern, metals that read softly rather than shiny, and palettes that balance sweetness with edge. Consider each film a design reference point: part escapism, part study in how atmosphere is built.

2026 Film List

The Films You Need to Watch in 2026 (And the Interiors They Inspire)

Put the kettle on (or pour a wee dram) and spend five minutes with Darcie Maher, founder of Edinburgh favourite Lannan Bakery, as we talk Burns Night, baking, and the power of nostalgia.
Raised in the Scottish Borders, Darcie’s work is rooted in the treats of her childhood - pink iced buns, custard slices and bakery windows full of joy. For Burns Night, she keeps things refreshingly low-key, favouring good food, good music and desserts that honour tradition with a playful twist. From cranachan hacks to sea buckthorn Jaffa Cakes, this is a love letter to Scottish flavour, past and present.

Burns Night with Darcie

Burns Night with Darcie (Lannan Bakery)

For every kind of love.
For your partner, your best friend, your mum, your flatmate, your dog - or simply you.
We’ve curated a Valentine’s gift guide for everyone you’re celebrating (including you).

Best of Valentine's Gifts

Frank Gehry design is defined by asymmetry, material honesty and a refusal to prioritise visual perfection over lived experience. This editorial explores why Gehry’s approach still matters today, how his principles translate into interiors, and how to borrow the mindset without literal imitation. A modern guide to designing spaces that feel human, expressive and quietly radical.

Frank Gehry

Frank Gehry: The Art of Imperfection

The best serving bowls do more than hold food - they shape how a table looks, feels and functions. From ideal sizes and materials to common mistakes and smart buying tips, this Glassette guide explains why serving bowls matter more than plates, and how to choose versatile, design-led pieces that work for everyday dinners and effortless hosting.

The Best Serving Bowls

The Best Serving Bowls (and Why They Matter More Than Plates)

Looking for the best tableware for everyday use? This Glassette edit breaks down what to buy, what to skip and how to choose plates, bowls and serving pieces that feel calm, tactile and designed to live with - not just look good once a year. From stoneware to shallow bowls, this is tableware that works hard, stacks well and quietly elevates daily meals without feeling formal.

Best of Tableware

Best Tableware: The Edit That Makes Every Meal Feel Considered

Soup night is the easiest way to host well in winter. This Glassette guide shows how to host with one pot - from choosing the right soup to setting the table, lighting the room, and avoiding common mistakes. Calm, modern hosting without formality or stress.

How to Host With One Pot

Soup Night Is a Lifestyle: How to Host With One Pot

Consider this your 2026 short list: five under-the-radar destinations that feel refreshingly untouched. Think cinematic landscapes without the crowds, culture with depth, and places that reward curiosity over algorithms. These are trips for travellers who value atmosphere, design-led stays, wild nature and the thrill of discovering somewhere just before it becomes a “thing”. From desert horizons to overlooked coastlines and creatively charged cities, these destinations offer a fresher way to travel. Don't tell everyone!

Under-The-Radar Holiday Spots

5 Under-The-Radar Holiday Spots In 2026

Across Europe, listening bars are giving nightlife a new dimension. Warm light, design-led interiors and thoughtful vinyl selections create a new kind of experience. Listening bars have been around for a little while, and they’re not going anywhere. From Porto to Paris, Milan to Hamburg, these spaces put sound first. No bad lighting, no background noise posing as a playlist - just rooms designed to let music lead. These are our favourites in Europe.

Europe's Best Listening Bars

If Pantone’s Colour of the Year set the baseline, consider these its brighter counterparts.
Looking to SS26 fashion as an early reference point, interiors appear to be moving in the same direction: colour with more presence, less noise. Grape, Fuchsia, Lime and Flame Orange are saturated but considered, bringing depth, warmth and a lift to the home. Used as a single statement or paired for contrast, they’re the shades we’re watching for 2026.

2026 Colour Trends

This week’s moodboard looks to Marty Supreme, a film that’s become a cultural artefact before most people have even taken their seats. In cinemas now, its rollout has set a new benchmark for how movies show up in culture.
For this week’s film moodboard, we’re borrowing from its world of sharp suits, sharp wit, and scenes that unfold over a perfectly poured drink. Think clean-lined martini glasses, silver platters, and tableware that leans polished and pared-back. Bring a slice of Marty Supreme’s after-hours energy home with our latest edit.

Marty Supreme

Film Moodboard: Marty Supreme

This month’s colour pairing to brighten dark January brings together butter yellow and sky blue - a creamy, mellow yellow with an airy blue. Butter yellow feels warm and comforting, while sky blue adds calm, clarity, and a cool freshness. Together, they strike a balance that feels light, optimistic, and instantly uplifting.

Sky Blue & Butter

Colour Pairings: Sky Blue & Butter

There’s a particular moment we all recognise: standing in a new home, shoes politely off, holding a bottle of wine, wondering if we should have brought something more thoughtful. A candle is usually the answer - but not all candles make good housewarming gifts. The right ones feels generous without being showy, personal without being risky, and beautiful enough to live happily on a coffee table long after the boxes are unpacked. The wrong ones? Overpowering, awkwardly scented, or destined for the back of a cupboard. This is how to choose a housewarming candle gift that actually lands well.

Candles for Housewarming

What Candle to Bring to a Housewarming

There are two types of bedside lighting. The first is a single bright lamp that makes you feel like you’re about to complete a tax return. The second is the kind you find in hotels: soft, low, flattering the lighting equivalent of a good robe. The difference isn’t just aesthetics. Bedside lighting is the thing that decides whether your evenings feel like a gentle landing or a hard stop. It’s what makes reading possible, makes your bedroom feel warm instead of functional, and (quietly) tells your brain it can start powering down. A good bedside set-up doesn’t need a full bedroom overhaul. It just needs the right light, at the right height, with a little bit of softness built in.

The Bedside Lighting Edit

The secret isn’t more lighting, it’s softer lighting, placed with intention, and switched on before the evening goes grey. Boutique hotels have a particular kind of magic. You walk in and everything feels calm. The sofa looks inviting. The corners are warm. Nobody is being blasted by a ceiling light. Even the air seems better lit. And then you get home and your living room is… fine. Technically. But it doesn’t have that low, flattering glow that makes you want to order olives and speak quietly. It’s either dim and a bit sad, or bright in a way that makes you feel like you should be cleaning. The good news is you don’t need to redesign your living room to get that boutique hotel feeling. You just need to borrow their lighting rules - the ones they’ve been quietly perfecting for years.

Light Like a Hotel

How to Light a Living Room Like a Boutique Hotel

IKEA and Sabine Marcelis return with an upgraded take on the iconic VARMBLIXT donut and pendant lamps, now with smart, customisable lighting. Keeping the same sculptural silhouettes, the new versions are built on the Matter standard for seamless smart home compatibility, and finished in a soft matt texture that gently diffuses light. The donut lamp features 12 curated colour sequences, plus full spectrum control via the IKEA Home Smart app, while the pendant shifts through nuanced white tones, from crisp to candle-warm. Launching this April.

VARMBLIXT, Made Smarter

Looking for the best wedding gifts for 2026? Whether you’re buying for newlyweds, shopping a registry, or choosing something thoughtful for a couple who “already has everything,” this edit is designed to help. From design-led homeware and elevated tableware to meaningful details for everyday rituals, these are modern wedding gift ideas that feel personal, useful, and beautifully made. We’ve organised our favourites by couple type, from forever hosts to food lovers, so you can find the right gift quickly, whatever your budget or relationship to the couple.

2026 Wedding Gift Edit

Wedding Gifts for 2026: What to Buy (and Who to Buy It For)

We’re fascinated by the curious ritual of reading, and how carving out time and space for it can become an anchor, especially in January. We spent five minutes with Danielle, founder of Lala Books, the joyfully casual independent bookshop in Camberwell that feels more like a friend’s brilliantly chaotic home library than a traditional store. Guided by instinct and a love of the unexpected, Danielle shares what customers are craving right now (shorter novels with bite, humour, and no grimness), her sacred(ish) reading habits, and the books she can’t stop recommending.

January Reading List

January Reading List by Danielle founder of Lala Books

The quickest way to make your home feel warmer (and less “overhead light panic”) is to move one lamp not buy ten more. If you’ve ever stood in the middle of a room at 4:30pm holding a mug, wondering why everything feels slightly bleak, you’re not alone. Most homes aren’t under-lamped, they’re mis-lamped. The lamp exists, technically, but it’s in the wrong place, at the wrong height, doing the job of a ceiling light with none of the authority. This is why where to put lamps is the real question, not which lamps to buy. The good news? You can fix 80% of your lighting in under five minutes, with a layout, not necessarily a shopping cart.

Where to Put Lamps

When the sun clocks off at 4pm, your home needs a lighting plan and we’ve got just what you need! Winter is when your home starts telling on itself. That chair you love? Suddenly too dark to read in. Your kitchen? Weirdly clinical. Your living room? Technically fine, but somehow not somewhere you want to be. And then there’s the nightly ritual: you finish the last email, it’s pitch-black outside, and you switch on the ceiling light like you’re interrogating yourself. Welcome to the 4pm problem - when winter exposes lighting that was designed for seeing, not living. The fix isn’t complicated. It’s just… softer, warmer, and a little more layered than you think.

Winter Lighting Guide

The Glassette Winter Lighting Guide

Lanzarote feels like an island in creative flux - raw, elemental landscapes meeting a new wave of thoughtful hotels, quietly confident restaurants and a growing community of artists, makers and hosts drawn to its slower pace of life. The island’s volcanic winelands, dotted with crescent-shaped stone walls and black ash soils, are as visually striking as they are distinctive - and yes, the majority of the white wines from the indigenous Malvaisia Volcanica grape are exceptional. The islands creative heartbeat flows from the north: dramatic cliffs, endless surf, excellent food and a relaxed, international crowd that gives the island an underlying magnetic energy. Add in wildly diverse microclimates, César Manrique’s enduring influence and a deep respect for the natural environment, and Lanzarote reveals itself as both culturally rich and creatively alive.

Best of Lighting

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Sky Blue & Butter

Winter Lighting Guide