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Hi, I'm Lisa Lambson, one of the hundreds of writers here at LifeTips.com. Enjoy these 208 Lighting Tips! If you’re a business, why not hire the expert writers at LifeTips? And if you’re a writer, apply for freelance writing gigs.
Adjustable Pendant Lighting
Adjustable pendant lighting is especially valuable in kitchen, dining and restaurant situations, where the food preparation and eating areas may not be a standard height off the floor.
Being able to adjust the height of pendant lights allows for the best possible view of the food without either endangering people's heads or diffusing the light's focus too far.
Some adjustable pendant lights go up and down on poles; others can be pulled up and down on a wire or chain. Still others are hung on rods that can be easily cut to the desired length.
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How to Make a Lamp shade
Lamps Plus Tip: Not good with arts and crafts, but still want a personalized lamp shade? If you want an inexpensive way to make your decor unique, consider a custom lamp shade. An "art" lamp shade is an attention-getter in bright colors and vivid designs, but custom shades can go a step further, incorporating photos you choose -- pictures of your grandchildren, your honeymoon or your favorite places. These can be made into a custom giclee shade that glows with your special images. Whether you're decorating a room with fresh lighting or just getting a replacement lamp shade, a custom lampshade can be the unique touch that makes a room truly your own.
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Kitchen Ceiling Lighting
A dramatic alternative to traditional kitchen ceiling lights is to use indirect lighting. An open channel around the ceiling might be used to conceal rope lights that point upwards and have their own dimmer switch. When it's turned on, the light reflects up onto the ceiling and into the room for an effect that is both soft and bright. This can be combined with kitchen island pendant lighting for a versatile and attractive look.
Whatever your choices turn out to be, it's a good idea to have a kitchen lighting layout in mind. This may take some time to plan, but the time will be well-spent when you are enjoying your kitchen without worrying about cutting up carrots in a dark corner.
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Ceiling Light Flush Mounting
Lamps Plus Tip: Ceiling lights are a standard in many homes, and most people go for years without giving them a second thought. If you're looking to sell your house, though, it's a good idea to look up! An outdated, dirty or cracked ceiling light will turn off buyers. Replace them with white or light-colored neutral ceiling light fixtures. While you're at it, update the controls for your ceiling mounted lights, so that switches are within easy reach and have dimmers where appropriate. You might enjoy the new view of your house so much that you don't want to leave!
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Mixed Wattage in 3-Light Fixtures
You're concerned that mixing wattage in light fixtures is like mixing electricity and water, but some lighting experts say you can do it safely.
Most lighting fixtures use a single wattage, and the manufacturer usually has a maximum wattage recommendation. However, if you do mix 40, 50 and 60 watt bulbs, don't exceed the maximum wattage of the fixture or the capacity of your transformer. Sometimes you can mix bulbs to create a light output that suits the room or the outdoor area.
You can generally use any type of bulb in any type of socket, whether you're using a floodlight or a halogen bulb for recessed lighting.
With different types of bulbs, you get different types of light--warmer or cooler, depending on the bulb, so you want to be sure that you will get the desired effect for your three-light fixtures when choosing bulbs.
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Wall Sconce Ideas and Options
Lamps Plus Tip: Wall sconces are an underused form of lighting, best suited to lighting small spaces, such as an entryway or providing ambient, indirect lighting for an entire room. Unless your room is very small, you'll want to supplement wall sconces with ceiling or floor lighting so the middle of the room isn't too dark. Still, there's no reason a set of sconces can't provide the primary source of lighting in a room, particularly one used for conversation rather than task work. Try these ideas:
For a home theater, connect a set of chrome wall sconces in a '50s retro style to a dimmer switch to create a movie-theater effect.
Use a pair of brass wall sconces to visually welcome your guests and show them the way from the foyer into your entertainment area.
Try an alabaster wall sconce as incidental lighting in a bathroom.
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Dimmer Switch
We've all seen a dimmer switch before but do we really need to set our home lighting on a dimmer? Well, that all depends on how versatile you want your lighting quality to be. These devices be put in any room of the house (bedrooms, bathrooms, home offices, etc.). The beauty of them is that they can change dimmers can change the type of light given off at any time.
In the bathroom, for example, a dimmer allows you to have direct task lighting when doing intricate tasks such as applying make-up and shaving. But, the lighting can be made softer for say, providing a night light so you can find your way through the bathroom in the middle of the night without getting blinded. In the bedroom, a dimmer enables you to change from direct lighting for reading, to soft lighting for hanging out and watching television.
Want some lighting advice? Invest in a dimmer and give your rooms multiple personalities.
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Chandelier Light and Shade
Lamps Plus Tip: A crystal chandelier is in a category by itself. When lead crystal became cheaper to manufacture in the 18th century, crystal chandeliers were created. A chandelier hung with crystals did a better job of reflecting candlelight into a room, and quickly became the lighting fixture of choice for the well-to-do. Today, true lead crystal is one of the most expensive choices, but also one of the most beautiful. The well-known Swarovski company makes a brand of crystals called Strass especially for chandeliers.
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Bath and Shower Lighting
Slipping in the shower? Not getting your back adequately clean? Did you forget to read a bathroom lighting guide?! When designing your bathroom lighting, you probably forgot to shed some light on your bath time.
There are many bathroom lighting options around so don't settle. Adequate bathroom lighting should be set up so that it brightens the room without casting shadows under your features (eyes, nose, cheeks, chin, etc.). Install central lighting and, in addition, add lights on the walls (especially around mirrors).
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Decorative Kitchen Lighting
Kitchen Lighting Guide: The great singer Pearl Bailey once said, "My kitchen is a mystical place, a kind of temple for me." It's a safe bet that Pearl Bailey's kitchen had mood lighting. Lighting for kitchens creates an atmosphere, a homey feeling, as well as a safe and efficient environment for cooking. You have recessed lighting with dimmers to provide overall light, and there's a little thing known as the sun. But those pine-cone or rooster wall sconces look so great with your country cottage kitchen theme.
In Joan Kohn's IT'S YOUR KITCHEN, a pair of candle wall sconces enhance a kitchen desk inside an arched recess. Sinuous curves of a pendant light fixture with a white lamp shade echo a graceful flower in a countertop vase. Study kitchen design books to get kitchen lighting design ideas. Also, think back to your own childhood. What was the lighting like in your grandmother's kitchen? Your childhood kitchen memories or even restaurant interior design can also give you great kitchen lighting ideas. Some of our suggestions:
Homey is better. Wooden or rustic-looking table lamps and wall sconces create the image that, like Martha, you designed and built your own kitchen.
For white cabinetry and appliances, the more kitchen light, the merrier. Feel free to use kitchen lighting fixtures that contrast with the light colors.
Choose country French or Mediterranean decorative sconces and lamps if you're recreating a kitchen from a chateau in Normandy, a villa in Tuscany or a house in the Greek islands.
If your kitchen is all-metal, choose steel or iron finish for your lamps, chandeliers and wall sconces.
You can't go wrong with a Tiffany chandelier or sconce to add color. The stained glass echoes some of Pearl Bailey's mystical aura. For many people, cooking is a spiritual experience.
Don't be surprised if, after installing your decorative lighting, you sing while boiling water and hear the wings of angels.
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Colonial/Victorian Style Exterior Lighting
*Exterior Lighting Tips: "The old lamplighter, from long, long ago..." That's a line from a song your grandparents probably sang, and you've always had nostalgia for a time before you were born. You own the colonial or Victorian-style home so why not complete the period look with period exterior lighting? You don't have to break the bank at antique stores, either. Lighting retailers offer antique-looking outdoor lighting fixtures for exterior lighting design. Check out these exterior lighting tips:
Try post lights that look like old-fashioned streetlamps to line your front walk.
Antique-looking black scroll wall sconces paired with a solid wood door (maybe one with a stained-glass insert) will give the illusion that you've just stepped into a Currier & Ives or Norman Rockwell painting.
European-style lighting was in vogue during Victorian and Colonial times. Try Rue De Paris Collection Outdoor Hanging Lamp above your doorstep.
A bathysphere globe copper outdoor lantern puts you in a Jules Verne frame of mind.
In general, stick with pewter, black, bronze, and iron veneers.
Frosted glass housing with candelabra-style bulbs simulate old-fashioned gas lamps. Your lovely vintage home is now lighted in authentic style at an old-fashioned price—lamplighter not included.
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Deck Lighting
Your deck is probably one of the more fun parts of your home. Perhaps you use it for barbecues or to hold a hot tub. Good deck lighting can showcase your deck, while keeping you and your guests safe.
Focus accent lights on tricky areas like walkways and stairs. Recessed deck lighting -- lights that are set into the surface of the deck, and are strong enough to be stepped on -- is a great way to mark the edges of a deck (also useful for boat docks!).
For security's sake, you may want to invest in low-voltage deck lights that automatically shut themselves off at dawn and on at dusk. Solar-powered deck lights may be an even more economical choice.
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Emergency Exit Lighting at Home
Theaters, hospitals and offices are among the buildings required by law to have emergency exit lighting to help people get out in case of a power failure. Though such lighting is not a requirement for homes, a moderately handy homeowner can install such a system.
Emergency exit lighting is hooked into the building's power system. When it detects a loss of power, it triggers a relay that turns on the floodlights, powered by batteries.
It's a good idea to install two lights on every emergency exit. That way, if one bulb fails, the other will still do its job.
It may seem to make sense to put the emergency exit lights just over the front door. However, this can blind people who are trying to flee the house. A better solution is to put them close to eye level, on one side of the door.
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Chandelier Placement
There's no denying it, chandeliers are beautiful and can add elegance to any room. The trick is, however, that they need proper placement to really shine. You can't just dangle a chandelier anywhere and expect people to swoon. Here are some chandelier tips to help you get your great fixture situated in your dining room:
Center the table directly under the chandelier. This is pretty well-known rule of thumb. To be different, try angling the table diagonally to conjure up a more dramatic effect.
If a contractor or builder has hung the chandelier in the middle of the room you should move it. Placing a large table in the center of the room will likely force you to clump furniture together, creating a crowded area.
Put a dimmer on the chandelier fixture to create versatility and avoid glare. Use peripheral lighting to increase ambient light.
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Party Lights
Party lights are strings of lights similar to those on a Christmas tree, except that each light is decorated with a plastic shape to represent a fun theme.
The possibilities are endless: Football lights for a Super Bowl party, lobsters for a Mainer's birthday, parrots and palm trees for the Jimmy Buffett fan.
They're not just for parties, either! Try party lights as a fun touch in an informal room like a den or a teenager's bedroom. For the RV crowd, there are party lights that plug into a 12-volt power adapter; for the energy-conscious, solar-powered night lights lend a charming atmosphere to a backyard get-together.
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Types of Wall Sconces
There are a variety of wall sconces out there, so which one is right for your home?
A contemporary wall sconce can be stark or ornate, but always with an up-to-date sensibility that works well with today's open floor plans and neutral colors.
A traditional wall sconce offers an air of heritage and stability, blending into a room rather than standing out.
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Contemporary Table Lamps
Contemporary table lamps can be smooth chrome or heavy wrought iron, abstract in shape or evoking nature and science fiction.
For a colorful, whimsical room, consider a chrome base with a shade featuring tiki mermaids. In a warm, comfortable modern room, a wooden lamp base with a square shade creates an up-to-date, low-profile look.
