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Wednesday, February 27th, 2019
Fine Furniture Runway Collection: How many lighting fixtures do you think this dining room has?
Indoor and outdoor lighting design must be focused on energy efficiency. If you’re about to construct your dream home, then you should take ample time designing the lighting fixtures that you will install.
Designing the Indoor Lights
When you’re designing the indoor lighting and you want to optimize energy efficiency, you should consider adding more light. The quantity that you bring in also counts just as much as light quality.
Install LED or fluorescent lighting on the ceilings and walls. Take time design the light in key areas such as the living room, kitchen, bathrooms, the hallway and other high-traffic areas.
You can also use portable LEDs and CFLs that are going to be used for two hours each day. Be sure to find the Energy Star labeled lights. Invest also in occupancy sensors that would automatically turn your lights on or off.
Consider the light walls because these will minimize the need to use artificial lights. If you’re thinking of using recessed lights on your ceilings, use UL or Underwriters Lab approved fixtures only. These are airtight so they meet all ASTM (formerly the American Society for Testing and Materials) requirements.
Measure the ceiling height so you will know how to properly hang the lighting fixtures. There are lights that already come with adjustable rods or cables but there are also those that don’t so be sure to do your measurements.
The rule of thumb is, the bottom of your lighting fixtures must hang at about 12-20 inches below an eight-foot ceiling.
When you’re hanging a light over a kitchen island or a dining table, take note that the recommended distance is 28-34 inches from the lighting fixture’s bottom to the table surface. Note the size of your lighting fixture, though.
A smaller light may be hung lower while a bigger one can be placed higher.
When adding new pendant lights, consider if you can use cord swags. These can provide an industrial feel to the kitchen.
Light the stair risers so that no one would trip when he or she goes up or down the stairs.
Play with colors. A bright, colorful light in a neutral room will surely be interesting to see. Decorative lighting can also help in adding mood to the space.
Design for Outdoor Lighting
When you’re designing outdoor lights, you should consider aesthetics, utility and security.
For aesthetic lighting, make sure that the exteriors of your home are properly illuminated giving emphasis to areas such as a plot of garden or a beautiful landscape.
As for utility, be sure to put ample lighting on the driveway and the porch. These lights will help the people navigate around the house. Security-wise, the grounds must also be illuminated whether on the driveway or all around the house.
Energy efficient outdoor lighting needn’t be bright. Use fluorescent or LED lighting for energy efficiency. Think if you can have a few floodlights installed. Combine these with motion and photo sensors.
Check also that the outdoor lighting fixtures come with reflectors, covers or deflectors. Any of these will help reduce light pollution outdoors. Make good use of controls and timers so that decorative lighting can also be turned on and off.
Some of the lights that are commonly used to improve the outdoor setting are –
Lighting, as cliché as it may sound, can make or break the design of your home. Lighting can increase the ambiance as well as the mood of any space whether you’re illuminating outdoors or indoors. If you get it correctly, you get the assurance that your home will look at its best.
Tags: designing the lights, home lighting, lighting plan, McCreerys, McCreerys Home Furnishings
Posted in Decorative Elements, Interior Design 101, Interior Design Elements, Lighting | Comments Off on What Is the Best Lighting Plan?
Saturday, October 22nd, 2016
Capel Incorporated Floor Coverings Botanical Rug 0609CS Poinsettia: The mood of the upcoming holidays shouldn’t just be reflected by your lights but also by all other design elements in your home.
What common complaint do you hear when the holidays are fast approaching? Most people say it’s too early to think of Christmas. Halloween and Thanksgiving are just around the corner so it is that time of the year when signs of Christmas begin to show up.
Shops are now slowly planning their Christmas décor (if they haven’t yet changed their display windows). This is a move to increase their holiday profits. But let’s not think from a retailer’s standpoint.
As a homeowner, how can you best show that you are prepping for Christmas?
Outdoor Christmas Lights Installed
It is estimated by a 2013 poll by TellWut that about 28-percent of Americans wait until December before they put up their Christmas lights. About the same number believes otherwise; to the second group, it is okay to hang the lights earlier than December. About a third of the poll chose to not hang any lights at all.
Holiday light installation can be a tradition that your family can look forward to every year. The sad news is that a lot of homeowners get hurt because they don’t do the installation properly. Remember that there are safety precautions if you want to hang holiday lighting without getting hurt.
There are recommended tools that are used for holiday lighting setup. Just like any home improvement task, there are certain tools that can help you do the job easier. Here are such tools –
Put this Stanley Furniture Dining Room Buffet 443-11-05 to good use this coming holiday season.
Guidelines in Choosing Lighting Materials
Lighting materials can be purchased in many home depot and hardware shops in your locality. Prior to spending, though, be sure to make a careful inventory of the materials that you already have. See if there are still some Christmas lights that you can reuse from the last holidays. If they are already cracked or chipped, then don’t even think about using them anymore.
Test the lights before you pay for them. Make sure also that you know how many lights you actually need before you purchase. Also, be sure to buy outdoor lights and not the indoor types. The latter won’t hold up to the outdoor elements like snow or rain. They could also start a fire when they blow a fuse.
Ask for a three-pronged extension cord for your outdoor lighting use. This is a safer bet for all your Christmas lighting needs. Be sure to plug it into a GFCI outlet so that you won’t have to worry about short circuits.
Let’s Hang Those Holiday Lights
Be sure to follow the safety tips above if you want to hang your Christmas lights without any problems. Use light clips as much as possible, even gutter hooks. Remember that roof repairs can become costly so make sure that you minimize wearing and tearing. If you do use nails, just be sure to attach them first to a fascia board.
Use a ladder that is stable when opened. Just to be safe, have a friend hold the ladder as you install the lights. Never place the ladder on water or ice.
If you decide to use hooks, be sure to use gutter hooks. Never carry all of the materials that you need to the roof all at once. Just take it slowly. Have three or four feet distance between hooks. Have a friend hand you the lights then slowly hang them on the hooks.
As soon as every piece of light is in place, be sure to check that there are no burned out bulbs. The electrical wires must also be kept away from high-traffic areas and all lights unplugged when you’re not home or when you’re asleep.
Tags: ambient lighting, Christmas lights, hanging holiday lights, holiday light installation, holiday lighting, holiday lights, installing holiday lights, interior lighting, lighting fixture, lighting plan, McCreerys, McCreerys Home Furnishings
Posted in Accents, Accessories, Interior Design 101, Interior Design Elements, Lighting | No Comments »
Sunday, July 3rd, 2016
FFDM Collector’s Room: Daylight is the most effective source of light but you have to learn to put proper lighting when dusk sets in.
Homeowners often talk of the creation of layers of light but did you ever wonder what that even means? The use of multiple light sources can provide maximum effect on any space. Ambient lighting, for instance, can be fused with task lighting if you want to create a shadow-free work. Accent lighting, on the other hand, can add a dramatic depth while decorative lighting can show your personality. Mixing different fittings can create different themes or stage a much richer home environment.
Multiple Lighting to Break Rooms
Homeowners who embraced the open-plan concept can understand the difficulties of establishing boundaries. Furniture pieces can do this trick but lighting can also do offer the same effect. Light can divide larger rooms into zones such as what happens when you use high-output downlighting on work areas while infill downlighting can be used as ambient lighting. Dining areas can be softened by pendant lights as well as concealed cove lighting.
Different Lights, Different Tasks
When downlights take care of ambient lighting for the dining area, there is no longer a need for decorative lights to provide a high output. Keep in mind that not all lighting fixtures should provide like levels of light.
When it comes to downlighting, make sure that you plan their placement so that they can add to the richness of the surroundings. The wrong use of downlighting can lead to a shapeless and soulless room and, of course, you don’t want that.
You can alter the focus of attention by increasing or even lowering the different lighting fixtures placed in different areas. Remember to group lights into small circuits so you could be more flexible. You can always have separate circuits set at same levels but it is not easy to split 20 or more lights wired together to act as one light.
Maitland-Smith Lamps and Lighting Verdigris Bronze Patina Monkey Lamp 1753-570
Accent Lighting in Bathrooms
Bathrooms can be a challenging project to take on when it comes to lighting. Ideal lighting in this room should have a controlled color temperature. This temperature is how warm or cool lighting should appear.
Bathrooms should have cool lighting, one that would make you feel alert in the morning. In the evening, it should have warmer glow so that sleep would easily come.
LED is often fixed when it comes to color temperature. It is still possible, though, to layer the light when using different circuits for different tasks.
The area where you usually apply make-up should be a well-lit one. Combine low-level accent lights with accurate lighting fixtures with the first to be used at night and the other during the day. They key here is to separate the circuits so you achieve flexibility.
Adding Intimacy
Accent lighting means you have to know which features matter to you. You can also use this type of lighting to make the eyes focus on a beautiful feature. So the next time you want to bring something to life, just focus an accent light on it.
LED has many choices for accent lighting. Find whether you would want a downlight, uplight, or linear fitting.
Consistency Is Key
The use of multiple light sources can better unify any space than having a blanket of downlights with the light source coming from just one direction. Now remember that even the subtlest variation in light can be accentuated so take the time to test the different fittings. See if you can compare them side by side.
Achieve Maximum Effect
Use several kinds of lighting and make them work together to your advantage. Downlighting can provide the light when you’re at work while the decorative lights soften the ambience. Add glamour and personality by having ambient lights set up.
Tags: how to layer lights, improving home lighting, interior lighting, layered lighting, layering, layering lights, lighting fixture, lighting layers, lighting plan, McCreerys, McCreerys Home Furnishings
Posted in Interior Design 101, Interior Design Elements, Lighting | No Comments »
Sunday, January 31st, 2016
Did this Maitland-Smith Lamps and Lighting Chandelier 1954-355 catch your attention? Imagine what your friends would say!
As opposed to what is being propagated, there is no need to memorize lighting fundamentals or even to spend a lot of money just to make rooms look airy and lively. There is no need to commit to memory the basics of decorative or functional lighting just to plan and be able to buy the right kind of light. Illumination can be achieved in three ways – through general lighting, accent and task lighting. Any fusion of these three is what you would call a decorative light.
Don’t think that home lighting is an unimportant subject, though. This is a crucial element of interior design because it is the very vehicle that allows homeowners to carry out tasks while providing the home with a lovely appeal.
You should consider your lighting decisions based on your chosen interior design. Pay close attention to lighting when creating new environments or when redesigning old ones. This may seem like a technical topic at first but do not be intimidated by it.
To simplify matters of lighting, let’s cut down the basics into three – the purpose of light, how man perceives color, and the three kinds of lighting.
Lighting Purposes
Lighting in homes and offices are there for people to carry out their daily work. Also, light provides a level of comfort that cannot be felt when in a dark setting. Aesthetically, light can emphasize artwork, displays and define shadows.
Lighting is also there for safety reasons.
Maitland-Smith Lamps and Lighting Pair Of Aged Regency Solid Wooden Plaque Wall Lamps 1930-112
Color Perception
The human eye responds to different kinds of colors. It is most amenable to the green and yellow spectra and less to the red and blue violet ends. When you come to think about it, this is relative to the spectrum of moods that humans feel.
A well-lit room creates happiness and a sense of well being. Dark rooms, on the other hand, elicit serious moods, even depression.
Light that falls on an object will be absorbed by the surface of that object. The colors that it reflects will be the color that will be perceived. So, in essence, purple is every other color in the universe except purple.
‘Confused already? Don’t be.
Okay, you do know that black absorbs all light while all light that is reflected is done by the color white (which is not even a color!).
Decorative lighting pieces can create serenity or cheerfulness depending on the mood that it depicts. Functional lights – like the ones found in offices – make people more alert. Decorative lighting is different because it makes you feel texture, patterns, even shapes.
Decorative lighting also comes in different levels. Dimmers are used for bedrooms while bright lights are left inside playrooms and the kitchen. Sometimes, the lighting fixture can serve as the focal point of a room. Such is the role of chandeliers and pendant lights.
Lamps and Lighting Uttermost Metauro Wood Desk Lamp 26577-1 is both decorative and task lighting.
The dining room, for instance, can look more elegant when a chandelier hangs right above it. Attention will surely be drawn towards this set up. Pendant lighting over a table can provide a more concentrated light. Chandeliers spell traditional and classy while pendants are more contemporary.
Lighting Types
You already know the three types of lighting which is spearheaded by general lighting. Also known as ambient lighting, these are up-lights that illuminate from the ceiling. Wall sconces are also general lighting fixtures as are floor lamps, table lamps, recessed lights, and track lights.
Task lighting is for areas that are in need of intense lighting. This is technically 300% brighter than general lighting. Such lights are used in offices, kitchens and other busy areas.
Accent lighting can add a level of shimmer to paintings, objects, architectural features, and sculptures. Halogen is the best known accent lighting that can provide brilliance and intensity.
Tags: accent lighting, ambient lighting, floor lamp, floor lamps, general lighting, home lighting, improving home lighting, interior lighting, light, lighting architectural features, lighting fixture, lighting interiors, lighting plan, lighting types, McCreerys, McCreerys Home Furnishings, recessed light, recessed lighting, recessed lights, table lamp, table lamps, tips
Posted in Decorative Elements, Interior Design 101, Interior Design Elements, Lighting | No Comments »
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