Lutron Electronics has released its Luxury Residential 2026 Trend Report: Living with Light, providing an in-depth look at emerging trends in residential lighting, automated shades, and controls. Informed by custom surveys from The Harris Poll driven by insights from high-net-worth homeowners and residential designers and architects, as well as Lutron sales and product data, the report highlights how lighting, shading, and controls are now central to both the aesthetic and emotional experience of a home.
The report strongly signals that homes are increasingly prioritizing mood, wellness, and personalization. Motorized shades and app-controlled lighting are shifting from luxury upgrades to expected design essentials, while layered, tunable light is foundational to creating spaces that feel human, flexible, and attuned to the rhythms of daily life.
“We’re moving away from choosing lighting just for style or trend and toward creating experiences with light through spaces that reflect who we are and how we want to feel. The best lighting doesn’t compete with a space — it completes it,” says Julee Ireland, Home Renovation School.
The full report is available for download here.
Key findings include:
- Lighting as the Heart of the Home: Lighting is now central to design decisions: 94% of designers and architects say clients believe lighting is highly important. 52% of designers believe the right lighting design can elevate even modest interiors, while 47% report that poor lighting can devalue even the most high-end architecture and finishes. Among affluent homeowners, 66% believe interiors should reflect their lifestyle, 50% prioritize ambience, and 44% recognize that effective lighting has wellness benefits.
- The Shift Toward Dynamic, Tunable Light: Luxury homeowners are embracing lighting that adapts throughout the day. While 60% of homeowners adjust lighting based on mood or time of day, only 9% currently use preset scenes — despite 42% expressing interest in them — revealing major opportunity for intuitive, human-centric control systems. Designers are moving away from uniform downlight grids toward warm, layered, dynamic lighting that shifts with emotion and activity.
- The Evolution of Window Treatments: Motorized and layered window treatments are now expected throughout homes, extending beyond bedrooms and bathrooms into living areas, home offices, and kitchens. 56% of designers now include automated shades in final designs, and 43% additionally recommend them, signaling that automated shading is quickly becoming a standard in luxury homes. Growing homeowner interest, with 38% express interest in adding them, revealing a clear adoption gap and strong growth potential for the category. With 59% of homeowners valuing daylight as much as artificial lighting, these findings underscore the need for fully integrated lighting and shading solutions.
- Customization, Personalization, and Materials” Personalization remains a signature marker of luxury. 98% of designers report clients request custom fabrics for shades, 56% incorporate custom finishes, and 45% include custom engravings. Fabric preferences favor natural fibers, sustainable materials, rich textures, and layered, blackout, and light-filtering fabrics that balance daylight, privacy, and mood. Lutron sales data also reveals how people live with these products, with favorite engravings like “Reading,” “Welcome,” “Entertain,” “Dinner Party,” and “Meditation” for mood-driven or function-driven scenes.
- Smart Controls Complete the Design and the Experience: A seamless marriage of technology and aesthetics is now essential to high-end design. 61% of designers include lighting that can be controlled via smartphone or app, 56% incorporate custom finishes, while 43% see clients request them, and 51% say home automation must fit the aesthetic of the home. The goal is “personalized simplicity” — technology that disappears into the background while elevating comfort.
For more research and insights, download a PDF version of the full report here.
For more information, visit lutron.com.
