Outdoor Home Lighting: Top Trends for Spring

Fall is one of the most popular times of the year for outdoor entertaining, but the shortened daylight hours mean that you will have to get creative with your outdoor home lighting. If you home is on the market, adding outdoor lighting is a quick and cheap way to add safety and value to your home while making it stand out from the others for sale on your block. Many families do house hunting in the evenings when they have more time and to get a night perspective, and seeing your yard attractively lit with ambient lighting can make potential buyers stop their car. If you are thinking of adding outdoor lights this fall, there are some ideas to give you inspiration. Keep in mind to always call a qualified landscape architect or electrician to do the installation of electric lighting. Porch and Patio Lighting When everyone gathers at your house to watch the game, chances are that you will do so on  your porch or patio. While fire pits remain to be a staple for giving outdoor warmth, they do not exactly give continuous and even light for hosting evening gatherings. Deck post lights or lanterns like the Sacramento Lg Wall Lantern by Kenroy Home are popular options, and are available in LED, traditional electric bulb and gas flame. Recent innovations in outdoor lighting have provided many energy-efficient and weather resistant options to choose from. Landscape Lighting Garden and yard landscape lighting, when combined with deck lighting, can extend your available space for entertaining or simply  add curb appeal to your home. Traditional staples like spotlights and floodlights might still be viable options, but the current trend for landscape lighting is LED lighting. These lights use a fraction of the energy that traditional lights use, and have a greater level of control.  With dimmer switches and timers like the Milano 84″ Resin Construction with Globe Lantern by Patio Living Concepts, you have complete control over the mood of your outdoor event, choosing the light those areas you need to on a day-to-day basis. Water and Fire Features Many homeowners take the focus of their landscaping away from decorative ponds during winter, since water plants and fish do not exactly look their best during the colder weather. LED floating water lights like the LED Lighting Ball by Infinita are a great way to make your pond an attractive accent to your outdoor décor. Also, fire features are a hot trend this year, with many options outside of the conventional fire pit. These gas-operated features look like they are part of the design of the décor, but will actually help stabilize the temperature for outdoor entertaining as...

Contemporary Home Lighting: Room by Room Lighting Guide

Looking to update your room lighting? Or perhaps you intend to give your home a major overhaul? Here are some contemporary home lighting tips on how to furnish light fixtures for each room of your home. Hallway This is the room that gives your home guests their  first impression; so creating warm and welcoming is very important. Chandeliers, lanterns, wall sconces, and hanging pendants are appropriate here. By mixing the right type of lighting in your hallway, combined with large mirrors accentuating the effects of the light, you can make a spacious area that is instantly bright and welcoming. Living Room Because this is a place where you spend your leisure time, light in this room should be easily functional, controllable while taking into consideration natural daylight and furniture position. A great mix would be track lighting or a ceiling pendant like the Clementine Modern Orange Shade Pendant by Nuevo Living with strategically placed floor-standing uplighters that you can switch on and off if desired. Dimmer switches would also be great where TV screen glare  is an issue. Kitchen Lighting the kitchen has to be task-oriented and utilitarian. Focused under-cupboard lights pointing down on work surfaces along with recessed ceiling spotlights can create a clean and clinical effect that will perfectly jive with such a heavy domestic work area. If you use your kitchen as a social area as well, consider getting a dimmer option to create a less clinical lighting effect. Dining Room This should be a place for relaxation where family and friends can gather for dinner parties and meals. Giving adequate above lighting like track lights or a pendant like the Axis 71 Memory Pendant – Small/Medium/Big/Rectangle by Tango Lighting positioned directly over the table should ensure that the people can see each other during mealtimes as well as their food. And by adding soft floor-standing or wall uplighters, you can create a cozy and ambient effect. Bathroom Modern bathroom lights should offer a mix of effects, depending on the layout and mood of the room. Bright, white and clean light like halogen spots creates maximum light. You can also have an exteriorly controlled dimmer switch to create a warm glow when you want to take slow and relaxing bath. Alternatively, when the mood takes you, do away with electricity and use candles. Bedroom This is another room that requires a thought and mixed variety of lighting options: wall lights or bedside lamps that you can switch on and off for reading, soft lighting to help you relax and unwind, and tack lighting or bright pendant like the Carpyen Petra Pendant Light by Tango Lighting to help you dress up during the evenings and early winter mornings where there is no natural...

Modern Home Lighting: The Three Main Light Effects

Today, the available choices for modern home lighting are as endless as the imagination of designers creating them. From Scandinavian, German and Italian, form and function is pretty much at the forefront of the thinking of every innovative designer, giving you every option for every situation and every room. With such choices, it has become too easy for customers to get confused, especially during  the planning stages, making it very important to know before purchasing how the light works and the current setup of your rooms where you intend to change the lighting configuration. As far as room lighting is concerned, mood also plays an important role. In every room, you may want to create various moods and effects with the use of light. There are generally three types: ambient light, accent light, and task light. Ambient Light Mimicking the effects of natural light, ambient light just might be the most basic of all illumination. Ambient lamps and wall lights are softer than harsh halogen lighting, and are used to create a calming effect in the room. Just like the Duet Two Poles Extended Modern Table Lamp with Oval Base by Adesso, they are usually used in living and dining room, and even in bedrooms, where soft focus light for relaxation is needed. Accent Light The most creative of lighting options, accent light is not intended for functional use. Rather, it is used to add drama in the room by highlighting key features, like a fireplace, a display or an alcove. Accent light is ideally used in a living room, along with ambient light to give greater flexibility, like when family and friends come visit and one needs a higher overall light level. One example is the Garland Shade Light – Black Chrome by Artecnica. Task Light Task lighting emits bright and focused light that is fixed on a single position or work surface, like in a study or the kitchen where under wall unit lighting and recessed ceiling downlighters are used to directly focus on countertops and food preparation areas. In a home office or study, task lighting  mostly takes the form of a halogen desk lamp like the Basis Desk Lamp by Kenroy Home for reading, working, or using the...

7 Home Lighting Trends You Should Watch Out For

Often overlooked, many do not realize that lighting is pivotal component in design, and it is quickly taking its place as the centerpiece of the room. Here are this year’s home lighting trends along with the inspirations behind these breathtaking designs. White is red hot. Considered as the little black dress of interior design, white is the most versatile shade that can look perfect with any design scheme. Hand-cut white crystals and all white glass will bring a vintage feel to a chandelier while white wrought iron gives retro. Sculpture for the home. Similar to art, sculpture lighting makes for a great focal point. Just like the Oty Series Incandescent Glass Pendant – KIOTOS by Illuminating Experiences, these fixtures can be varied as the art itself, helping express your unique design choices and personal style. Mixed materials. The mix and match of colors, crystals, metals and finishes in light fixtures bring a room to life in new and unexpected ways. If you style is difficult to categorize,  a lighting fixture with fixed materials just might be the decorating solution that you need. Jewelry for the home. Draping beads, beautiful crystals and glittering metals that catch the light are elements of fine jewelry and fine lighting fixtures. Just like the Facet 1 Light Mini Pendant by Kenroy Home, it will be the finishing touch to a room, adding glimmer to catch the eye. Color-infused glass. Fixtures made of solid glass appeal to homeowners with a modern eye for design. Neutral and soft colors accent the room without overwhelming it. All glass chandeliers are a great alternative, with blue as the newest neutral lending quiet elegance to any room. Shade characters. The addition of luxurious fabric shades to a lighting fixture results in a breathtaking piece. Pair structured shades like the Alberoni Lamp Shades by Uttermost with draping crystals. You can also soften the glow of your light source with fabric shades. Location is everything. Pendants and chandeliers have gone mainstream and are now found all over the house. Use lighting fixtures in unexpected places like hanging two pendants over a breakfast buffet, mini chandeliers over bedside tables, or a vintage chandelier in a child’s room. So you are looking to upgrade your lighting fixtures these year, you now have a great set of ideas to get inspiration...