Variety in Rustic Lighting

By Joseph Then

You want something different for your home and that's why you are considering making some changes, but you don't want to do a complete home renovation project. For something that is simple and easy and will change the look of any room you should try rustic lighting.

Lighting is one of the major considerations of home décor. The wrong lighting can mean a bad look no matter how much thought you put into it. Your lighting choices are really important to giving your home that cozy, welcoming feel to it and rustic lighting is perfect for doing that.

Depending on the style of your home, rustic lighting can add a whole new feel to any room. With some complementary décor items, rustic lighting can bring the feel of a log cabin right into your home.

There are many different types of lighting fixtures. Rustic lighting fixtures come in a range of designs so they can easily be tailored to fit any room. Here is a list of fixture ideas:

- Wall sconce. They can be made with a cedar log or pine cones or even made of wrought iron. They are great for an entrance or hallway. They are also a great addition to a stairway providing a bit more warmth and light.

- Chandeliers. They come in many varieties and can change the entire room with their elegance charm. You can go with very rustic, a chandelier made with cedar logs or an inverted pendant with acorns and oak leaves. There is also choices like a faux elk antler chandelier and moose chandeliers. There are actually some very elegantly rustic chandeliers which are a bit more delicate while still giving off the warmth and feel of being rustic.

- Vanities. There are so many fun styles with your traditional rustic with the mica glass, or you can go with the rust look. Another example is one where the lights are painted as pine cones hanging from wrought iron painted and shaped as a stick.

- Lamps. Artist's design really comes out in rustic lamps. There are fishing reels, faux antlers, and big chunk of mesquite wood with a copper bear shade. Table lamps made from sticks or made to look like stick chairs, buckets of pinecones, wildlife pottery, porcelain lamps painted in rustic themes, or even one that looks like your old canoe. Rustic lamps can be made with almost anything like the lamp made with the old canteens or the old boot.

- Ceiling. From flush mount lights decorated with bears, moose, fish, pinecones and more all made of iron and burnished or black to varieties of pendant lights that can be used in rooms with taller ceilings. The pendant lighting comes in oblong shapes, chandeliers, smaller lights, inverted pendants and ceiling mounts.

Rustic lighting gives a home a lived in, warm feel. They are also very artistic in nature. They bring the elements from outside to the inside warming your home with not only light, but with genuine warmth and a down home feeling. There are so many choices that finding a rustic lighting fixture for your home is simple.

Home Improvement is not easy. Joseph shares some of his experience in his website on Home Improvement. You can also read more about Lightings at http://www.myhomeresourcecenter.com/lighting/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Joseph_Then

The Benefits of Full Spectrum Lighting - An Overview

By Chuck Lunsford

Many years ago, my wife and I were health care professionals working primarily with what was then termed hyperactivity (or childhood hyperactivity). The terminology has changed over the years and the latest description of this disorder (in both adults and children) is ADD/ADHD or attention deficit disorder or attention deficit hyperactive disorder. Like many professionals, we developed an interest in this disorder because we had children suffering from it (and we later found out that we, too, were ADD/ADHD adults!).

During our research and education regarding this disorder we also discovered that some researchers were also investigating a link between ADD/ADHD and SAD or seasonal affective disorder. SAD is unfortunately one of those conditions that is often dumped into a bag of “pseudo-disorders” including chronic fatigue syndrome and even PMS at one time.

During the winter months, particularly in the northern climes, sunlight is often at a premium and this lack of enough natural sunlight is the culprit that causes SAD and what some call the “winter blues”. I, personally, see no real differentiation between the two except perhaps in the degree to which sunlight deprivation affects an individual. Fortunately, the NIH (National Institute of Health) formally recognized SAD as a bona-fide disorder in 1982.

The 40 million or so individuals who suffer from the effects of sunlight deprivation have a biochemical deficiency in the production of a neurotransmitter called serotonin that is, in part, produced by natural sunlight. SAD is not to be taken lightly because it has a pervasive affect on nearly all areas of a person’s ability to function on the job, in a relationship or just being “with” themselves. The most pronounced symptoms are generalized and often severe feelings of sadness and even depression. Without any logical basis for these feelings, these individuals often become anxious (experience anxiety) and wonder if they are going crazy. Those living or working with a SAD individual will often notice irritability, excessive eating and food cravings and a general loss of interest in social involvement. Oh yes, oversleeping or the desire to “hibernate” is also a common characteristic.

Fortunately there is a relatively simple and inexpensive way to compensate and reverse the symptom complex of SAD. The answer is exposure to what is called full spectrum lighting. Full spectrum lighting has been used for many years as a growth enhancer for indoor plants being grown in parts of the world where there is a lack of sufficient sunshine all year.

The full spectrum light fixture(s) in essence, trick our light receptors and then our brain into experiencing the light as genuine sunlight. Sufficient exposure to full spectrum light has been scientifically demonstrated to decrease and in some cases eliminate the aforementioned SAD symptoms.

While this is a great boon to those actually suffering from SAD, what about the general population? While the non-SAD population may not suffer the intensity of symptoms experienced by those with SAD, they, too, need adequate, year-round sunlight to maintain optimum health and to avoid some of the lesser manifestations of the SAD syndrome. Studies have shown that proper levels of sunlight (real or simulated) increases the ability of the immune system to fight off disease, increases measured intelligence and even stimulates our energy levels to a higher level.

Since these facts have been published with governmental endorsement, why does the problem persist in many environments? In the workplace, there remain skeptics. These skeptics are more interested in maintaining their opinions and beliefs than they are in seriously considering the facts: “I’ve got my mind made up – don’t confuse me with the facts”. So, the place that most of us spend the majority of our waking hours, the workplace, continues to use antiquated (yet inexpensive) fluorescent lighting as its primary method of illuminating the factory or the office.
The consequent stress, fatigue and reduced morale and work productivity is written off as the worker’s inborn tendency to get away with less than they are capable of.

Upgrading to full spectrum fluorescent lighting is fairly expensive although the cost per unit has been coming down over the past few years. The interesting thing is that companies that have upgraded to full spectrum lighting have in many cases reported very positive results including decreased absenteeism, higher levels of productivity and better work performance.

If you are working in an office and have supplemental lighting in the form of a desk lamp, you can take matters into your own hands and purchase full spectrum fluorescent bulbs yourself that have adapters that will fit into your desk lamp. Your investment is in your own health and well being and if the company also benefits, so much the better.

At home, get what is called a “light box” or any device that provides full spectrum light. Expose yourself to the light on dismal winter mornings for the amount of time suggested by the manufacturer. Use the aforementioned fluorescent “bulbs” in place of the traditional incandescents in your lamps. You will notice the difference.

I’m not promoting any particular brand or specific product but I am “preaching” the benefits that both my wife and I have experienced by using full spectrum lighting.

LightnBreezy.com is a well-known source for full spectrum lighting for the home.
LightnBreezy.com features hundreds of products to choose from. To order your discount spectrum lighting fixtures , visit us at LightnBreezy.com.

Kitchen Lighting - Everything You Want To Know About Them

By Carol Wintergear

The scale of activity that takes place in the kitchen makes it an important place where use of effective practical and also decorative lighting is a must. Some things to look at;

Some questions to ask before you start lighting your kitchen
First and foremost question you need to ask while design your kitchen lighting is how much you are ready to spend. After all the light fixtures do cost something – and this are not only the wires and switches but also the type of light fixtures, shades and bulbs. Next question that should come in your mind is whether you have a kitchen lighting plan. A good plan will surely blend lighting into the architectural and decorative details of the room. A plan will help you out it investing wisely into kitchen lighting needs. If you want to go for a gradual lighting design process seeing you don't have enough budget say for example for a series of pendants over the center island or a glass chandelier at least install enough junction boxes The fixtures can then be purchased at a later date and easily added to the kitchen lighting needs. After determining the budget and a plan, you need to think about the space area of your kitchen. This is important in determining the amount of lighting required and in which areas of the kitchen need specific lighting. One also needs to consider whether the room apart from needing single central light, how many other multiple lighting options may be needed. This is determined by the area or space of the room, all the activities that are place in the kitchen and are important, as well as the placement of all interior objects such as the cooking range, counter top and the kitchen-cum-dining table if present. For example, small kitchens may require only a central ceiling pendant light and some recessed task lighting tucked under a cabinet. More elaborate kitchens will demand a blend of general, task and accent lighting.

Know the types of Kitchen lighting
Lighting a kitchen is a different ball game compare to lighting other rooms in your house since no single light source can provide all the necessary kitchen lighting needs. It is very important to know that good kitchen lighting is not only considered from an aesthetic standpoint, but also from a functional standpoint. This will allow us to make sure that we incorporate different types of lighting and nowadays techno paced LED lights to fulfill the various levels of Kitchen activities.
This is commonly referred to as layering of lights which instead of single lighting, demands a blend of three to four varied types of lighting. To meet these demand of layered lighting, there are basically four types of lighting that meet up the mark;

Task Lighting or Chore Lighting:
It illuminates the most functional and practical part of your kitchen by providing adequate lighting for kitchen core tasks like chopping vegetables, cooking food and yes, reading recipes. Most of the accidents which occur in kitchen are mostly due to this tasks and proper task lighting design can really prevent them. Task areas should have sufficient light so you can easily see what you're working on without too much brightness or eye-straining dimness. The main thing to remember here is most of the time task lighting instead of brightening up a task area, shadows it. For this to not take place, task lights is best placed between the actual work place and your head which makes lighting located say below the upper cabinets very helpful. For example, task lighting is placed over the sink, gas cooker and food preparation area, where close work is done regularly. Most of task lighting is achieved by using conventional recessed lights that assure even illumination, surface lights or table tops lights.
Remember that each task lights if possible should have its own switch and honestly you will be pleased with the result. Considering the types of bulbs for task lighting then halogen and CFL (in energy efficient bulbs category) being bright and shadow less with large surface area are best to go for. It electrifies the look of granite and marble counter tops and it even let you enjoy your food cooking task, seriously.

Ambient or Glow or Indirect Lighting:
This type of lighting lends a pleasant glow to your kitchen, thus giving a warm welcome to the people entering into the kitchen. It plays a major role in softening unwanted shadows, reducing kitchen room contrast and lighting vertical surfaces to give the space a brighter feel. It is generally observed that out of the four types of lighting, ambient is most often overlooked. In fact, the most dramatic and soft look you can achieve in a kitchen is by blending indirect lighting with other types of lighting. It is often created by hiding the light source from view where it bounces off a ceiling or a wall and produces a warm glow that adds enormous amounts of ambiance if done correctly. Best places for ambient lights can be hidden on top of wall cabinets if the ceiling is bit high or they can be installed in layered ceiling areas that surround the entire kitchen space. In case your kitchen has light colored surfaces and lots of windows then you can desire to have plenty of natural ambient light during the day. CFL based lights tubes (light link) are well suited to the job of providing ambient light.

Accent or Prominent lighting:
This type of lighting gives a depth and dimension to your kitchen. It helps you to display your most decorative items in your kitchen like a fancy glassware or tableware, stylish luxury cutlery sets, beautiful canvas art prints or may be your nicely prepared food. For example lighting fixtures can be placed inside glass-front cabinets to illuminate glassware, and other collections as well as recessed, adjustable low-voltage fixtures used to spotlight canvas art prints. You can put to use spotlights to illuminate your cooked food which will also help it remain hot for longer period of time.

Decorative or ornamental lighting:
This type of lighting is basically used for adding sparkling effects to the kitchen that can be envious to your neighbours. It can be further helpful to look at this type of lighting especially if kitchen is also used as the dining area of the house. Nowadays due to wide range of lights available, you can opt for decorative lights which can be functional also. For example, many functional lighting fixtures come in a number of finishes like wrought iron, rust, nickel which will provides an aesthetic feel to your kitchen. Painted finishes are also popular along with catchy colored glass bypasses plain white. You can also consider a decorative fixture with three or more lights. Like a trio over an island provides good light since it breaks up the kitchen into decorative module areas but you can still see through it. Some other decorative lighting ideas could be like dinner table space is illuminated with a decorative candelabra-style fixture, which provides ambient light during meals.

Finally some tips and common mistakes to avoid

No matter how many lights you install in your kitchen, it is recommended to circuit them separately so the lighting is zoned. This allows you to create ambience by mixing the various lights which is turned on.

If possible even while you shop online, take a picture of your kitchen or at least know your kitchen dimensions. How tall is the ceiling? How much space is there between the cabinets and the ceiling? How much space is there between the cabinets and the countertop? To make sure you cook up the best lighting scheme for your kitchen, use some free advice from light shop professional. The best thing is to do some window shopping before the actual purchase.

You might have found the perfect light fixture, but we can’t forget the equally important light bulbs. To make the most of your lighting, try using bulbs with different beam spreads for different effects. Flood lights are great for creating widespread lighting like a on central ceiling, while spotlights are ideal for shedding light on specific areas like for accent lighting.

No matter how many types of lighting or fixtures you install, use lights of the same color for all the kitchen lighting

If you are spending the money on nice cabinets or a dinner table in the kitchen, for example, you want to make sure they are lit properly. If not, the light actually creates gray shadow areas. If you have deep cabinets in dark corners, you might even want to consider installing lights inside them so you can see what's hiding in the back

When it comes to kitchen lighting, the most common mistake is trying to light the entire room with one ceiling-mounted fixture. The result ends up visually overpowering everything in the kitchen space. Recessed lighting, if installed in a generic grid, isn't much better. A lot of people do it incorrectly, and they'll end up with too much light in some areas and shadows everywhere else
On the other end, another common mistake we all do is over-lighting and result is, the kitchen gets too hot. The goal here is to have moderate, even lighting and more importantly blends of different lightings. For example, you just can’t keep on adding recessed lights for the sake of visual look, instead of mixing various lighting types.

We at in trying to make your better homes gardens really hope the above provided information will help you to make a sound decision on your kitchen lighting design and let you enjoy your food more. So when are you inviting us over a meal!!

You can also view the article in our news and articles section at;

http://www.foryourhome.co.uk/how-to-prepare-good-recipe-for-your-kitchen-lighting-needs/articles/34.html

We at For your Home are specialists in helping you make better homes and gardens by advising, collecting and selling quality products at prices you will love. You are welcome to visit our better homes and gardens shop at http://www.foryourhome.co.uk and also visit our home lighting section at http://www.foryourhome.co.uk/home-lighting/c/373.html

Tips for your Outdoor Stairway Lighting

By Frederic Madore

With the proper Outdoor stairway lighting you will have both an aesthetic and security access to your property or business.

In our modern Society there is a wide variety of outdoor stairs and there is also a very wide choice of outdoor stairway lighting. Your first concern should be to provide security. Nobody likes traversing stairs in the dark, especially if your not empty handed. As the years goes by many people renovate their houses by adding decks. Adding Outdoor Stairway lighting to these dark areas might be a very good aesthetic and safe choice.

The amount of outdoor stairway lighting you want will determine the type of light you need. There are multiple types available:

- Poles attached near the steps- Wall mounted stairway lighting- Miniature flood lights- And lots more…

One of the most common problems associated with outdoor stairway lighting is to have a power source available which can be hard and impossible for some. If this is your case, and you don’t want to spend the extra money it would cost to get a power source, you could look for solar powered lamps. They are very easy to install and they require no knowledge of electricity.

Automation is the way to go for low cost Outdoor Stairway Lighting

Even if you are not using solar power lights, there is a real advantage to having your outdoor stairway lighting connected to an automatic sensor. Having them turn on at dusk and off at daybreak can provide the light you need, but only when it is most needed. And in the case you don’t want to use or burn your lights when no one will see them or benefit from them, you can always use a timer to solve that problem. On top of that most of them can be connected to a simple on and off switch, so having an automatic sensor really is a must.

One very popular choice would be to add flush-mounted lights that can be fitted into the riser of stairs. Unfortunately installing this type of outdoor lighting is not without problems. TO do this you will need carpentry skills and electricity skills. This type of installation is usually the business of professional which makes it more expensive. If you intend to do this alone make sure you do it properly otherwise you could experience electrical problems.

Another popular outdoor stairway lighting would be the use of short lamp-style fixtures. Depending on the style of your house and your landscape this could be a very wise choice, providing you with safety and security to your outdoor spaces. Whatever style you choose you can only benefit from outdoor stairway lighting it will make your house look better at night but most importantly you wont have to navigate steps in the dark.

If you liked this article about Outdoor Stairway Lighting and would like more information about Outdoor Lighting, visit my website at http://www.outdoor-lighting-tips.com. We provide useful information about the various aspects of outdoor lighting.