Alternatives to Downlighters – What to Use Instead of a Downlight

Downlighters have become indispensable within interior design; they are a powerful versatile discrete source of light and easily installed. However, there has been an over reliance on the downlight as the easy option, too commonly spoiling interiors with their overuse and overlighting.

An alternative to downlights is sometimes the better option easily missed for the sake of convenience. So what alternatives can you turn to as a substitute or if you cannot accommodate recessed lighting?

Quickly benefit from our alternative solutions to the downlighter for all the important areas of the home.

Ultimate Guide on How to Use Recessed Downlights for our in depth guide on using downlighters within a home, as you are bound to need to use them somewhere despite all these great substitute ideas!

Downlight Substitutions in the Home

There are a host of lighting solutions that can be considered as alternatives to using downlights. We argue that you should not always turn to the downlighter as the main source of light as all good lighting designs will mix lighting techniques and lighting sources, so challenge yourself with these substitutions and learn what to use instead of downlights.  

Alternative to Recessed Downlights on Solid Ceilings

• Lighting Objective: Create multiple sources of light without recessing into the ceiling
• Downlighter: Recessed ceiling downlight
• Alternative: Surface mount short depth ceiling light with GU10 lamp

Alternative to a Downlighter For a Low Glare Light Source

• Lighting Objective: Create good levels of directed light and minimise the risk of glare from strong light sources. 
• Downlighter: Darklight Downlighter, a black baffled downlight
• Alternative: Dark shaded walls lights, metal shade pendant lights where the bright light source is hidden revealing only the reflected light out of the fitting.

Alternatives to Downlights to Create Ambient General Lighting

• Lighting Objective: Create a general light source in any room
• Downlight: Downlights often mistakenly positioned in a grid in the ceiling to light everything in the room.
• Alternative 1: When the ambient lighting is adding an extra layer of light to the other light sources in the room, use white glass or a light fabric shaded ceiling lighting that spreads light widely. The light source should be positioned to infill light in between the other lights so do use multiples where needed.
• Alternative 2: When the ambient general lighting is the main or only source of light for the room use a recessed linear LED strip to create homogeneous lines of light in the ceiling.

Alternative to Downlights in a Living Room

• Lighting Objective: Light curtains and backs of furniture to enliven color
• Downlighter: Recessed black baffled 2700K dimmable white adjustable downlight
• Alternative: Table and Floor Lighting with light colored fabric shades positioned near furniture and curtains to cast light across the fabrics.

Alternative to Ceiling Spotlights in a Kitchen

• Lighting Objective: Create a bright general level of light 
• Downlighter: White recessed downlight using an LED lamp
• Alternative: Alternatives to recessed lighting in a kitchen would build up lots of light from task lighting on counter tops from LED Strip under wall cupboards, ambient lighting from reflected light onto the ceiling positioned above kitchen cupboards and pendants over island and other working surfaces.

See: The Ultimate Guide on How to Light a Kitchen 

Alternative to a Downlighter to Create a Focal Point to a Room

• Lighting Objective: Focus light onto something to draw attention and be one of the brightest parts to the room.
• Downlighter: Adjustable medium to narrow beamed downlight focused onto the object or area. 
• Alternative 1: Surface or track mounted spotlights with a tight beam width or uplight/downlight from a hidden linear LED strip.

Alternative to Downlights in a Corridor

• Lighting Objective: Light a narrow space with limited positions for lighting
• Downlighter: Medium beam white downlight 
• Alternative: Create interesting repetitions of light from smaller sources within LED wall lights or in ground floor uplighters.

Alternative to a Downlighter to Create Task Lighting

• Lighting Objective: Create a concentrated pool of light for a high luminance and lumen level on the working surface. 
• Downlighter: Group of medium beam width downlights directed onto a working surface. 
• Alternative: Drop pendants fitted with high output lamps that direct light downwards well. 

Alternative to Downlights in a Shower 

• Lighting Objective: Comfortable useful lighting to wash by
• Downlighter: IP65 wet rated 3000K downlight
• Alternative: Hide IP65 linear LED strip around the edge of the ceiling to reflect light down the walls or light upwards and reflect light off of the ceiling.

Alternative to Downlights for a Home Office

• Lighting Objective: Create enough light to work at a desk and use a PC
• Downlighter: 3000K Medium Beam White Downlight
• Alternative: Wall Uplighter to reflect light onto the ceiling and back down into the room. Use a desk lamp for task lighting. 

Alternative to a Downlighter to Create Accent Lighting.

• Lighting Objective: Create lit spaces and objects that add individual interest in a room. 
• Downlighter: Wide or medium width downlights used to create specific pools of light onto an interesting part of the room or an object.
• Alternative: Wall lights positioned either side of the object to allow light to spill across it.

Alternative to Downlighters in a Wet Room

• Lighting Objective: Comfortable useful lighting to wash by
• Downlighter: IP65 wet rated 3000K downlight with medium beam width.
• Alternative: Create a series of tiled alcoves lit from the top inside with IP65 niche lighting for pockets of light for visual interest and reflect light out into the shower.

Alternative to a Downlighter to Light Artwork

• Lighting Objective: Light Artwork, Pictures and Photography
• Downlighter: Adjustable 3000K high CRI wide beam black baffled downlighter
• Alternatives: Track Mounted Spotlights with wide beam high CRI 3000K lamps, Wall mounted artwork lighting, carefully placed table and floor lights.

See: The Best 5 Ways to Light Artwork & Pictures on a Wall

Andrew Orange , the owner of Orange Lighting qualified and worked as an interior designer in 1993 before specialising in lighting working on high profile projects based in London. Since starting Orange Lighting Ltd in 2003 he has been sharing his knowledge and unique teaching style mostly to his designer clients, offering practical real life advice born from running a busy consultancy and lighting supply business. Launching in 2020, his blog has evolved into Quick & Easy Lighting, curating some 25 years design experience into making the lighting choice and design process achievable and easy to understand for all.