6 Home Lighting Design Ideas for Your Kitchen

The dining area is one of the more social areas of the home. Therefore, it is important to have good lighting to make it a comfortable place to dine in. Dining room lighting has to be considered when you decorate and design this area of your home. Lighting can greatly affect the ambience of the room, giving your family and guests a comfortable atmosphere  while consuming your tasty meals. Here are some home lighting design ideas for the dining room  to help you out. Make use of natural lighting. This should be your starting point, and use every trick in the book to get as much natural light in the kitchen as possible. This means roof skylights or maybe patio doors which fold right back to flood your room with light. Have various light sources. Rather than trying to light your dining area by using only one source of light, illuminate it with various sources. Having different types of lights, they can also serve as additional decor in the area. It will also avoid creating glare. Have a chandelier. Your dining area could use a chandelier as a focal point like the Vitalia 9 Light Chandelier by Uttermost. Put it in the center of the room so it defines the space. Make sure that it is 12 inches less than the width of your table. Get good task lighting. Good task lighting is a must, over the hob and cooker, and over food preparation areas. Plan your storage at the same time as your lighting so you are sure that you see into cupboards and drawers. Try using a dimmer switch. With a dimmer switch, you can create a different ambience for various purposes.  Dim the lights for an intimate dimmer and give it a great amount of light if the kids are working on the table. Use pendant lights. Hang pendants low on the table without touching the heads of those dining so the shades take center stage. Make sure to pick one that fits your dining area décor. The Arpeggio 3 Light Pendant by Kenroy Home should be perfect for classic homes. Place wall sconces. Wall scones like the Countryside 1 Light Sconce by Kenroy Home will add décor and drama to your dining area. You can even dim the lights on a romantic dinner and only turn on the wall sconces for the perfect ambience. Use fluorescent lights. Ensure that your dining space is well lit  with fluorescent lights. This can provide a great amount of light to those who are dining. Go for those with dimmers so the room can be flexible for all occasions. Everyone should have a good dining room lighting as it can definitely make the room cozier and more inviting to guests. Aside from lights, also see to it that your dining room is a great place for social gathering with...

Amplify a Rustic Ambience with Log Home Lighting Fixtures

Cabins have this reputation for  being dimly lit dark spaces. To a certain degree, low light can add to the coziness of the space. But when it is too dark to read a book or cook a quick meal, it can be a problem. Log cabins tend to be darker because of a few reasons. For one, the rich brown color of the wood absorbs light. Also, many cabins have smaller rooms and low ceilings, making casting light throughout the space more challenging. But a cabin does not have to be a dark and gloomy space. With the right log home lighting fixtures, you can amplify its ambience. Pick a lighter interior finish. Wood walls might be a key factor in cabin décor but you can minimize the effect by choosing lighter-colored interior finish. But if you prefer a darker one, you will have to take into account your lighting schemes and its always best to err on the side of too much light. Choose ambient light. A good lighting plan starts with the selection and placement of ambient sources light like track lighting, recessed lighting and chandeliers like Belmont Outdoor Chandelier by Kenroy Home. These lights will create the scene for the architecture of your cabin. Add task lighting. After establishing ambient log cabin lighting, move on to specific task lights that will direct light onto certain areas throughout the cabin. Some great options include under-cabinet lights, or floor and table lamps like the Rodeo Table Lamp by Adesso that fit your style. Mix and match lights. When choosing both ambient and task lighting for your log cabin, the key is variety — both in properly lighting the area and to high the cabin’s unique architectural features. For instance, wall sconces like the Dakota Wall Swing Arm Lamp by Kenroy Home placed on either side of a fireplace will not only light the area, but bounce a soft and nice light into the room as well. Do not skimp on outlets. One way to ensure that there is adequate lighting in your cabin is to install plenty of power sources. Some good places for outlets are the either side of a sitting area, on the floor in larger spaces, or in an exposed support post. Let natural light work its magic. Of course, not all light that enters your cabin has to electrical. Another key component in creating a bright and cheery place is the proper placement of windows in the floor plan. East and south-facing windows bring in most of the natural light. Skylights can also be a big help with light in some design...

Outdoor Home Lighting Design Tips and Ideas You’ll Love

Aside from making your home secure and safe, proper outdoor home lighting design can make the entire household have fun, relax, and stay active for a longer outdoor living. And if you are one who likes long visits from friends and family, making unique outdoor lighting is an excellent idea at sundown. It is amazing how people can quickly settle and stay for a long chat in the midst of lovely lights glowing in the dark. With well-placed outdoor lights, your surroundings will stay beautiful, even when it rains. This should help you appreciate outdoor living as much as staying indoors. Low-voltage and inexpensive lights are pretty much available everywhere, so you can design the ultimate lighting scheme the way that you want without burning your budget. Estimate Lighting Options Before buying any lighting fixture, carefully assess your options. The easiest way to do so is to use a flashlight to simulate your actual outdoor lighting scheme. Good visualization should also help do the trick. Begin by going out after nightfall and test your flashlight in different directions. Apply this on all corners of your yard until you get the right illumination angle. Plan the Lighting Scheme Take note f the lighting details that you have set with your flashlight and draw a plan for the lighting scheme. This should help you visualize and pick the right pieces for every corner of your yard. Also plan the placement of the electrical wires with the aid of your house electrician. For convenience sake, put all outdoor lighting switches indoor. Choose the Right Fixtures There are various types of lighting pieces available in the market today. When picking the fixtures, keep in mind the following pointers. Diffused lights emulate moonlight, so they are best installed in elevated areas like posts, trees and top of walls. Lights pointing downwards will highlight your garden or landscape. Lights pointing upward will give a stunning effect on vines, shrubs and trees. Back lights will accentuate a particular structure, like a tree or wall. Here are the ones that you should use. Accent lights like the Conic Pot – Tall by Offi and Co to emphasize your garden and landscape Mushroom lights to illuminate your paths and walkways Post lights like the Cambridge 80″/85″ Single/Four Lantern Planter by Patio Living Concepts to emphasize your gazebo and deck Floodlights to outline your trees and walls Wall lights like the Beacon Large Wall Lantern by Kenroy Home to highlight architectural designs When picking light fixtures, as much as possible, use low-voltage watts to get more for less, and avoid glaring lights that could affect other...

Accent Furniture Pieces: Arranging Books on Your Bookshelf

Without bookshelves, our homes will be filled with piles and piles of reading material. But what if there is a way for you to make them functional and fun at the same time? Let’s explore ways on using these accent furniture pieces to heighten our design possibilities. Below are some decorating tips to get your started. From shelves teeming with books to the strategic use of space, you are bound to find one area that will meet your design needs. Balance books with decorative items. If you have some space to spare, throw in some decorative items. Statues, framed art and vases in colors similar to your displayed books will help unify the display. Create symmetry. A sense of balance can be very powerful, and symmetry can definitely anchor a room. To achieve such a look, see to it that you do not pack one side with books and an abundance of empty space on the other. This unifying strategy should work for a bookcase with multiple shelves like the Cappuccino Hollow-Core 55″H Modern Bookcase by Monarch Specialties. Keep things simple and ensure that big items are balanced by big items on the other side, and that no one area is strangely empty. Leave some empty space. If you can leave a portion of the shelf unoccupied, you can create a clean-lined effect. Smaller rooms can benefit from such minimalist look as clutter makes the interior look smaller. Also, some emptiness creates the illusion of a bigger space. Add interest with leaning books. While you can arrange all your books vertically, it might be interesting to change things up a little bit. Try leaning your books to vary the design. Lean them away from the center of every shelf compartment to leave room for decorative items in the middle. Stack books for variety. You can lean and you can stack. Stacking your books horizontally crates a modern look that will add diversity to your arrangement. This is a nice alternative for shelves with room for little else than books like the Titian Bookcase by Linon Home Decor. Cover books with uniform paper. If you love monochromatic designs, consider covering your books in paper. You can go with any color that matches your décor scheme, and achieve dimension by varying the shades. Arrange books by color. On the other hand, if you want to see the titles of your books, you can leave your reading materials exposed. Consider arranging them by color. Rainbow colors can spice up any room so color coding your books will add order to a shelf that is packed with paperbacks and hardbacks. Use books as decorative pops of color. With all the talk of helping your book collection tastefully blend into your space. In a wooden bookshelf like the Samantha 4-Shelf Bookcase by Allan Copley Designs, for instance, blue, red, green and yellow books are...

Get the Most of Your Money from LED Home Lighting Fixtures

The inefficient light bulb phase out has started, and CFLs are not your only alternative. Another mainstream option is LEDs. LEDs use up to 75% less power and last 25 times as long as traditional incandescent. They are also marginally more efficient than CFLs and can last anywhere from 3 to 10 times as long. Here are a few great LED home lighting fixtures that would do a good job of gracing your home while saving you money: Pixie LED Desk Lamp by Adesso A small 3-watt desk lamp, the Pixie LED Desk Lamp by Adesso gives you a small footprint. Extending from the flat base, a thin pole drops to hold a small horizontally and vertically rotating cone shade. The LED is covered with a clear glass magnifier shield and a decorative frosted acrylic trims. Seek LED Wall Light by Adesso Each gooseneck of the Seek LED Wall Light by Adesso has a 3-watt LED pinpoint light with on/off toggle switch located on a rectangular wall plate. It has a vented shade and is available in your choice of shiny black or satin steel. Alexander LED Floor Lamp by Adesso The Alexander LED Floor Lamp by Adesso exemplifies the union of traditional design with cutting edge technology. It has a satin steel finished traditional design that is paired with a 5-way LED light. it measures 60 inches in height with a 9-inch diameter base. A problem that you might find, however, is that LEDs can be quiet expensive for the average homeowner. To help you out, here are some tips on how you can make the most of your money from LEDs: Buy LEDs slowly overtime. Now that inefficient incandescent is restricted, prices are bound to drop as competition increases among LED manufacturers. A 50% price reduction is seen over the next five years. Buy LEDs once the price drops below 3 times that of a comparable CFL as they last three times as long. When you do the math, LEDs will save you money, breaking even after two or three years. Combine sale prices with rebates from your utility or your state. This should give you even more savings. Replace high-wattage and frequent used incandescent lights with LEDs. Start with recessed can lighting in areas where usage is high, such as kitchens. Hold off replacing lights in enclosed fixtures. These residential fixtures tend to burn out faster. But because the quality of LEDs widely varies, make sure to choose one with the Energy Star...