Tag Archives: Lighting

The Role Of Glass Lamp Shades In Interior Decorating

Are you renovating an old house or moving to a new one that is in need of decoration? Perhaps you are staging it so that it is most attractive to prospective buyers. Most people concentrate on physical elements such as selection of a new couch, placement of a rug and bookshelves. One thing that is frequently overlooked is good lighting. Good lighting is essential in many ways. Not only does light perform a functional role in enabling us to read or see everything around us, but good lighting also enhances existing decor if done correctly.

For example, with the right light the apparent texture of woodwork in cabinets, tables, and bookshelves can be immeasurably improved in aesthetics. A soft, warm light cast at the right angles turns down the stress intensity and increases the level of relaxation in a room immediately. For such purposes, overhead light fixtures are usually not the best way to illuminate a room, rather one should go for a standing lamp or a desk lamp that can be strategically .

A very popular choice that is excellent for complementing interior design efforts is the glass lamp shade. Glass lamp shades not only come in vibrant colored glass, but when they are in use the glass catches the light transforming it into the hues of your choice. The look of the glass lamp shade can be modulated further by attaching metal designs, cemented beads, or decorative trim – some of these are exemplified by beaded lamp shades. The beaded lamp shades are really a variation on all the other kinds we consider in the following discussion.

Louis Comfort Tiffany, a 20th century designer, was the genius behind the development of Tiffany light shades. He was a son of the businessman who initiated the eponymous jewelry chain that is scattered in towns all over the international world currently. At the time, Tiffany was both a creative artist and the head of an interior design company. His studies of stained glass methods inspired him to create glass lamp shades. The lamp shades that exhibit his signature are well-known for brilliance and style. A century after his lamps first came out they continue to be widely mirrored and copied.

The word mica lamp shades brings to mind a light with a rustic look and subdued illumination. Frequently mica lamp shades are used in rooms that could use diffusive lighting. The shade is frequently shaped like a pyramid that directs the bulb down at a wide angle, which means the light is diffused evenly across the area. Mica lamp shades can be bought in a number of hues and diameters. Measure the width on top to get the catalog size and also on the lower side where the lamp fitter joins to the shade.

Many shapes are widely available for glass shades. A few of the popular ones are the gas lamp shade and the hurricane shade. The hurricane design has a very special shape, its height exceeds the width, reminiscent of a vase. It meshes well with cathedral ceilings that can accommodate the high, slender profile of the hurricane. A further unusual glass shade is the traditional Victorian shade that saw itself installed in many homes in the age of Victorian England. The day and age watched over the rise of gas lighting and therefore a proliferation in usage and production.

Niche detail resources on glass lamp shade are available. This and related topics on hurricane lamp shades are accessible to all.

Outdoor Lighting That is Safe And Economical

Outdoor lighting is mostly used for security. It lights up the area around your house at night to make it easier for you to spot unwanted intruders, animal or human. Besides the security angle, outdoor lighting can actually enhance the beauty of your house and the surrounding area, by accentuating the architecture of the house or the natural scenery around it. All this outdoor lighting is expensive, expensive to install and expensive to operate on a daily basis. Maintenance of the underground wiring is expensive because you have to use armored cabling to withstand the weather, to prevent water intrusion due to normal watering operations, rain and groundwater. Electrical short circuits can cause fires leading to property damage. People and animals may suffer burn injuries. Any break in the insulation of the cabling can give rise to a potentially dangerous situation where lethal electricity can critically injure and even kill a member of the family or a loved pet. You can avoid, both, the high expense and the potential danger by installing a modern low voltage lighting system.

Low voltage outdoor lighting system runs on 12 volts which is far below the voltage that can harm us. Hence your low voltage outdoor lighting system is absolutely safe.

The low voltage outdoor lighting system is powered through a step-down transformer which steps down the 120 volt mains supply to a safe 12 volt supply. Some outdoor lighting systems are designed to use DC electricity. In case of mains outage, as in a storm, such an outdoor lighting system can be operated off storage batteries, like the ones used in automobiles. So your house is protected even in such emergencies. Most of these modern outdoor lighting systems do not use the traditional incandescent lamps. Instead they use LED lighting which is exceptionally economical to run. The high output LEDs that are available today are more than a match for the incandescent and halogen tubes in terms of brightness. Needless to say you can use these lighting units wherever you used the traditional ones. So you have safety, you have economy and you don’t lose out on the brightness! Isn’t that great?

Because the low voltage outdoor lighting system uses low voltage it is very simple to install and does not need the services of an electrical contractor. Even official regulations for this type of installation are very easy to implement. But please do check the requirements in your locality.

But getting back to the cost effectiveness for a second, consider the fact that an LED lamp uses only about 25% of the electricity of a standard lamp. How much difference would that make on your utility bill every month. Figure out those saving annually and that’s quite a bit of extra money in your pocket. And it gets even better. LED laps will last at least ten times longer than a normal incandescent lamp or even fluorescent lamps. So you’ll save money there also. Plus you won’t have the hassle of having to frequently change the bulbs.

The current load for LEDs is so low that you can use light wiring for the low voltage outdoor lighting system. You can use overhead wiring without fear of it causing grievous bodily harm to people or animals. With light overhead wiring it is easy to rearrange the lighting whenever required. This allows you to highlight different parts of the house and grounds for a change. So you can highlight the gazebo one month, and the Spanish columns the next.

Changing your outdoor lighting system to a low voltage outdoor lighting system using LED lamps will be a power and money saving idea. You’ll be contributing to environmental conservation as well by reducing the demand on large power generating stations. The main benefit of a low voltage outdoor lighting system is that you are now completely free from the risk of electrocution accidents. You can watch your children play out there and not have the teeniest fear about them getting a fatal shock. What could be better than that?

Why not make the lighting outside of your house look as beautiful as the lighting indoors? Visit www.contemporary-lighting-accents.com to discover how low voltage landscape lighting can safely light up your house’s exterior and learn how solar outdoor lighting can be a real cash saver.

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