A double-height living room under a cluster of gold ring chandeliers beside a stone-clad wall, an interior by Apel Design

Interior Design · Lighting + Technology

Light and technology, designed into the room itself.

Apel Design plans interior lighting, daylight, shading and concealed audio and video for private homes in Malibu, Los Angeles and Southern California, drawn together with the architecture from the first sketch.

The idea

A room is only as good as the light it receives.

Most rooms are lit as an afterthought: a grid of downlights added once the plan is fixed, a chandelier chosen at the end. We work the other way. Light is drawn with the plan and the ceiling, so the position of a window, the depth of a soffit and the height of a pendant are decided together, and each room has a quality of light that belongs to it.

Technology follows the same discipline. Screens, speakers, shades and control keypads are part of a room's equipment, but they should not be what a guest remembers. We give each one a place in the architecture, recessed into a ceiling, set behind millwork or folded into a wall plane, so the room reads as calm, and the systems appear only when someone asks for them.

Knowledge + experience

Six layers we plan in every interior.

Each layer is drawn on its own and then coordinated with the others, so the ceiling stays quiet.

Daylight first

We study orientation, skylights and clerestories early, so rooms are bright where people gather and shaded where glare would tire the eye.

Layered artificial light

Ambient, task and accent light are planned as separate layers, each with its own purpose, so a room can shift from work to evening.

Decorative fixtures

Chandeliers, pendants and sconces are chosen for scale and placed by drawing, measured against the table, the island or the stair they serve.

Controls and scenes

Keypads are grouped and placed where hands expect them, with scenes named for how the household lives rather than for circuits.

Shading and privacy

Shade pockets are drawn into ceilings and window heads, so fabric disappears when open and the glass reads cleanly from inside and out.

Concealed audio and video

Speakers, screens and equipment are hidden in plaster, millwork and cabinetry, with ventilation and access planned from the start.

Selected work

Rooms composed around their light.

Chandeliers, skylights, concealed strips and open glass, each placed as part of the design of the room.

Black tufted sofas under recessed lights beside a glass wall onto a lit garden, an interior by Apel Design — **Living room and night garden**Light beyond the glass

A white kitchen island under four metal dome pendants, open to a living room, an interior by Apel Design — **Kitchen under dome pendants**Task light over the island

Three faceted pendants over a long timber table before a glass-walled wine room, an interior by Apel Design — **Dining room and wine wall**Pendants as a centerpiece

A wire sphere pendant over a dark dining table, with sunlight falling across the floor, an interior by Apel Design — **Dining under a wire sphere**Daylight and one pendant

Lantern pendants hanging in a curved stair hall with an iron railing and wall sconces, an interior by Apel Design — **Stair hall lanterns**Light hung in the stairwell

A stone trough basin under a mirror with a hidden light strip, an interior by Apel Design — **Stone basin and lit mirror**Light concealed in the cabinet

A freestanding tub and open shower beneath a sloping glass roof between pale tiled walls, an interior by Apel Design — **Bath under a glass roof**Daylight over the tub

A walk-in closet of open white shelving under linear light slots in a stepped ceiling, an interior by Apel Design — **Closet with linear lights**Light cut into the ceiling

A long white island seen from above beside a glass wine case and a terrace, an interior by Apel Design — **Kitchen and wine display**Daylight from the garden

The path

From daylight study to final focus.

Study

We map sun, views and the way each room will be used across a day before placing a single fixture.

Layers

Ambient, task, accent and decorative light are drawn on reflected ceiling plans alongside shades, speakers and screens.

Selection

Fixtures, finishes and control locations are chosen with the client, often tested with samples or mockups in the room.

Review

The studio reviews each room against the lighting drawings, then refines aim, levels and scenes until the room matches the design.

Design-Build interiors

Designed by Apel Design, built through Design-Build.

Rooms from Mintcello and The Aviator, where the studio carried its own design through Design-Build, with construction by Creative New Dimensions Inc, in conjunction with Apel Design for Design-Build.

Three pendants over a curved timber bar beside a lit arched stone niche, at Mintcello in Malibu, by Apel Design — **Mintcello**Malibu

A freestanding tub in a stone alcove with windows to the mountains, at Mintcello in Malibu, by Apel Design — **Mintcello**Malibu

Slim pendants between tall mirrors above twin basins on a floating vanity, at The Aviator in Malibu, by Apel Design — **The Aviator**Malibu

A glass shower around a dark tiled column with ceiling rain heads, at The Aviator in Malibu, by Apel Design — **The Aviator**Malibu

Black and red sculptures on a white wall beside a tall window, at The Aviator in Malibu, by Apel Design — **The Aviator**Malibu

Questions

Useful clarity before the first conversation.

When should lighting design start on a new home or renovation?

As early as the floor plan. Ceiling heights, skylights, soffits and the position of walls all decide where light can go, and they are far easier to shape on paper than to change later. We begin lighting studies alongside the first interior layouts and refine them as furniture plans and finishes take form.

Can speakers and screens really be hidden in a finished room?

In most rooms, yes, when the decision is made early. Speakers can sit behind plaster or fabric, screens can retreat into millwork or hang like framed art, and equipment can live in a ventilated closet away from the room. Each choice has tradeoffs in sound and access, which we talk through before anything is drawn in detail.

How do you keep a room from feeling over-lit?

By giving light a purpose. Instead of an even grid, we place light where it does work: on a counter, a painting, a stair or a table. Fewer, better placed sources and dimmable layers let a room glow in the evening without glare, and shades balance the daylight so that more fixtures are not needed to fight it.

Does Apel Design stay involved once construction begins?

Yes. Apel Design can lead an interior from the first sketch to the final placement, whether the house is delivered through our Design-Build practice or built by a contractor of the client's choosing, with the studio overseeing the interior work. For lighting, that means reviewing fixture locations, aim and scenes against the drawings before the rooms are complete.

Let’s shape the experience: from room to object.

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