Zooey Deschanel and Jonathan Scott's Lighting is Magical

Jonathan Scott and Zooey Deschanel — (Image credit: GettyImages)

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Recreate Zooey and Johnathan's Lighting at Home

There's one thing you'll never find in Zooey Deschanel and Jonathan Scott's Manhattan apartment: recessed lights. Instead, they opt for a combination of vintage-inspired lanterns, sconces, and lamps.

The couple shared their secret to elegant kitchen lighting in a recent Instagram video from their talented designer, Young Huh. Zooey and Jonathan's freshly renovated New York apartment is alive with their signature whimsical style, and their baby blue kitchen is no exception. Warm lighting is their secret weapon for keeping it welcoming.

Rather than leaning into kitchen lighting trends, the couple opted for sculptural lights with character. Zooey explains: 'If you look up, you notice that there are no recessed lights in this place.' With Jonathan interjecting: 'That's a swear word in our house.' She continues: 'We were able to just put beautiful lights everywhere, or we have a chandelier or a pendant, a sconce or a lamp. The lighting feels magical and moody.'

Recreate Zooey and Johnathan's Lighting at Home

Vintage style

Elegant Stoneware Pleated Pendant Lamp

If you love a pendant light with texture, this pleated stoneware design is a chic choice for your kitchen. The beautiful combination of cream and brass feels elegant and timeless – it would look so charming in a cottage kitchen.

Subtle light

Pendant Light With Opal Ribbed Glass Shade

Bringing in a hint of that black and brass color combination, this pendant light features a larger shade made from ribbed glass. It's a stylish choice if you want to bring in that cozy, textured look in an easy-to-clean way.

Exact Match

Battersea Opaline and Brass Hanging Lantern

Zooey and Jonathan use these gorgeous lanterns above their kitchen island, and it's easy to see why. The combination of curved milky glass and perfectly aged brass has a heritage look and feel that will never get old.

Timeless craftsmanship

Moroccan Moorish Hanging Metal Lantern

If you want a more characterful lantern, this vintage Moroccan Moorish pendant from Marrakech is perfect. It features softly sandblasted, milky-white glass framed in a rich dark bronze metal finish, handcrafted by skilled artisans.

Vintaged brass finish

Metal Swing Arm Wall Lights

Sold as a set of two, these sconces bring timeless style to the walls in your home. Their metal arms are designed to swing outward and inward, allowing you to position light exactly where you need it.

Shell Shape

Greta Scalloped Sconce Wall Light

With an accordion arm and a floral-like shade, this wall sconce has a charmingly vintage-inspired feel to it. Its brass finish is so tasteful, and I just love how its cord perfectly matches in color.

Though recessed lighting was long the preferred option in kitchens for its easy-to-use nature, this tide is shifting. Helen Pett, Design Expert at Arteriors, explains: 'As much as practicality is important when planning kitchen lighting, increasingly we are seeing a demand for jewellery pieces - those statement designs which can really add something different and special to kitchen design.'

As Jonathan and Zooey demonstrate, following in this shift asks homeowners to choose lighting that they absolutely love that shows their personalities. Installing a variety of different heights of lighting with different constructions helps to create a gorgeously layered scheme that you'll want to spend all day under.

Helen advises: 'An extravagant chandelier or decorative set of pendants above the island can work as a beautiful focal feature while still providing a glow over this important kitchen space. This provides the perfect layered combination to ensure the kitchen is properly lit and has light level for every occasion.'

In terms of bulb strength, one piece of advice is to consider the lighting scheme in one of your favorite movies. Jonathan jokes: 'This is the side effect of being engaged to someone whose father is a world-class cinematographer. Lighting is very important.' This way, Hollywood magic can always be a part of your home, as it is in Zooey and Jonathan's apartment.

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Sophie is a writer and News Editor on the Celebrity Style team at Homes & Gardens. She is fascinated by the intersection of design and popular culture and is particularly passionate about researching trends and interior history. She is an avid pop culture fan and has interviewed Martha Stewart and Hillary Duff.

In her free time, Sophie freelances on design news for Westport Magazine and Livingetc. She also has a newsletter, My Friend's Art, in which she covers music, culture, and fine art through a personal lens. Her fiction has appeared in Love & Squalor and The Isis Magazine.

Before joining Future, Sophie worked in editorial at Fig Linens and Home, a boutique luxury linens brand. She has an MSc from Oxford University and a BA in Creative Writing and Sociology from Sarah Lawrence College.