Rooms & Reads We Love: Home & Lighting Blogs for Inspiration

If you follow BO-HA, you already know we're a little obsessed with light — the warm, layered, lived-in kind that turns a house into a home. So are the writers behind the blogs below. We don't run these sites, and we're not telling you what to think of them; they're simply some of the home and lighting blogs we enjoy reading for ideas, before-and-afters, and the kind of practical detail you can actually use in your own rooms.

Pour a coffee and have a browse. Whether you live in a city rental, a historic house, a lake cottage or a mountain cabin, there's something here worth a read.

The Elmwood Home — coastal calm meets Nordic light

Set in Charleston, The Elmwood Home blends coastal-grandmother ease with Scandinavian simplicity: whitewashed rooms, natural textures, rattan and linen, and the soft warm lighting that ties it all together. A lovely read if you want a home that feels breezy, bright and unhurried.

The Wharton House — restoring a historic Charleston home

The Wharton House documents the room-by-room restoration of an 1890s Charleston single house — honest renovation diaries, period-appropriate interiors, and a lot of hard-won wisdom about lighting tall, old rooms. Worth it for the before-and-afters alone.

Light & Linen — cosy lighting and slow living

From an Asheville cottage, Light & Linen is all about warm, intentional lighting, a serious linen habit, and the slow-living mindset that makes a home feel calm. Great on the small changes — dimmers, sconce heights, layered light — that quietly transform a room.

The Kinney Home — family-scale design that actually holds up

The Kinney Home covers home design and organisation for a busy household in Nashville — lighting and systems that survive real family life. If you want ideas that are as practical as they are pretty, start here.

Nest by Naomi — small-space and renter living

For anyone in a rental or a small footprint, Nest by Naomi is full of clever, landlord-friendly ideas from a Brooklyn apartment — no-drill lighting, layering light in tight spaces, and making a small place feel like home without losing your deposit.

The Holloway Home — honest, everyday design

The Holloway Home shares real-home advice from a 1960s Portland ranch — lighting, bathrooms, kitchens and the small decisions that make the biggest difference. Refreshingly straightforward, with plenty of "I tried this so you don't have to."

The Marlowe House — warm mid-century modern

If you love walnut, terracotta and a good globe pendant, The Marlowe House is your kind of place — a warm take on mid-century modern from the Los Angeles canyons, with a real eye for the lighting that defines the era.

The Hartley Cottage — a restored Cotswold stone cottage

The Hartley Cottage is a gentle, characterful read on restoring an old English stone cottage — beams, exposed stone, sage and clay tones, and the warm brass-and-milk-glass lighting that makes a low-ceilinged room glow.

Hearth & Host — apartments reborn as short-term rentals

A great follow if you're into rental design or hosting: Hearth & Host turns dated Austin apartments into characterful short-term rentals, with honest budgets, before-and-afters, and the warm lighting that helps a listing book out.

The Foster Cabin — log cabins and A-frames in the Blue Ridge

For something a little wilder, The Foster Cabin follows the renovation of tired log cabins and A-frames in the Blue Ridge Mountains — rustic interiors, off-grid know-how, and the tricky art of lighting a dark cabin warmly.

The Lake House Kitchen — kitchens at the heart of lake-house summers

The Lake House Kitchen specialises in exactly that — renovating lake-house kitchens, with real before-and-afters, materials that survive a busy summer house, and the warm pendant lighting that makes the room glow on a long evening.

Spotted a room you love on one of these? Most of the looks come down to the same thing we care about most: the right light, in the right place, at the right warmth. If you're ready to add a little of that glow to your own home, have a browse of our best-selling lighting — wall sconces, pendant lights and more, with the bulb included so it's ready to go the moment it arrives.