Accent Lighting

I love hotels. Most great residential ideas emanate from commercial spaces, especially hotels. These flowers look pretty good in the Mandarin Oriental. The color is really vivid.

Now look up:

The flowers are bathed in halogen light delivered by a simple recessed light...This is very easy to do, btw.

Accent Lighting:

1. Track and recessed are the main products to use.

2. Bulbs are either halogen, low voltage or LED. The Kelvin or color rendering should be between 2700-3200.

3. Do not use incandescent. It renders too yellow.

4. If you are accenting art, use LED exclusively. LED does not project heat and will not discolor your artwork.

The Return Of Crystal

I know what you are thinking...my Grandma had this. It is true, some crystal is old fashioned and rather stodgy, but most of it is not. Crystal has evolved over the years to be more colorful and contemporary.

Most residential trends start either from Europe or from commercial spaces (my theory). Have a look at crystal in different applications...

How to buy Crystal (not even sure anymore)

1. Quality of crystal is important. Higher lead content means better sparkle

2. There are three types of crystal: Legacy, Heritage and Strauss is the best, and most expensive

New Lighting

Every January we travel to Dallas for the lighting show to see the latest and greatest. The Mart has changed greatly since I started years ago. Many of the great domestic lines are out of business or now manufacture in China (who decided manufacturing in the US was bad?).

Still in a vast ocean, there is bound to be a few pearls. Here are the highlights...



We write a monthly newsletter about lighting trends and design. Click here if you are interested in joining.

Shopping For A Light

It's tough wading through 4,000 plus lights to choose the right one. Decorative lighting doesn't light the room.

The task element, like recessed and track, are the backbone and decorative is the jewelry. So pick what you like; any size, shape or texture. Take this light for example...

You wouldn't think of placing it in a real estate office, would you?

This is the Tri State Realty group.....WWW.TriStateRealtyGroup.com

Don't Do This

You can't see in this kitchen, have a look.

Now look at the culprit...

This is a great system by Juno called Trac-12. Unfortunately, it is designed for under the cabinets, not for the main task lighting. Yes, there are 6 track heads, but they only acommodate 5-10 watts a piece. That is not enough especially in a dark kitchen

The solution: Buy regular track...This kitchen can be illuminated for less than $100.

Fluorescent vs Incandescent

Look at this curious installation in my closet...

You never see both lamp types in a closet. If you everinstall this for a client request, place them at least on separate switches

But it begs the question: Which is better in a closet? Closets are different from kitchens and baths as I will explain in a moment. Let's review the lamps.

Incandescent: 7 month lamp life is short lived, 300 degree heat is derived from only 10% efficiency. However, its color rendition or Kelvins is superb at 2500 degrees, which casts a soft yellow glow.

Fluorescent: 7 year lamp life and 70% efficiency ranks second to LED in terms of bulb characteristics. However, 5000 degree Kelvins casts a harsh, unflattering light in kitchens and bath (unless you buy it color rendering, which this bulb isn't).

Fluorescent is a better light for a closet. 5000 degree Kelvin is unflattering, but it is better for distinguishing blues and blacks or the opposite of the color spectrum from wood tones...

Your Christmas Tree

This is the front of my home.

I would take credit, but its my neighbor Owen's tree. The lights are LED. Your tree's lights should be LED, because it emits zero heat. Incandescent heats to 300, so there is less of a fire risk with better light. LED will also last 20 years, which is forever in holiday years.

LED is much harder to buy for the interior of your house. Although the efficiency is off the charts, there are not many LED manufacturers producing a true white LED.

A couple of suggestions for buying LED:

1. Kelvin temperature of 2700-3400 degrees. This will insure the proper color. Our tree is 5000 degrees, which renders a bluish color.

2. Buy it with a Cree chip. Cree manufacturers the LED drivers for many manufacturers. In my opinion, Cree manufactures the most consistent LED

So place LED all over your decorations, but be very careful of buying it for your home.

Indirectly Speaking

A little blog extra today

Blasting away with tons of recessed lights is perhaps the biggest lighting design issue. You are probably thinking you need tons of light to light.

My Question is:

Are you still sure?

How to light a room (the basics)

1. What room? Kitchens and baths need more, everywhere else needs less

2. What are we lighting

3. Layer your lighting with elements of task, accent, ambient and decorative

Ginger Park

Ginger Park is one of my favorite restaurants in Boston.



Gorgeous, isn't it? I cannot eat in a restaurant without critiquing the lighting, which in most cases is not a good idea. Restaurants typically will use ambient or accent lighting as a basis of a lighting plan. In other words, the light is directed up, or at something like a table.

Ambient and accent is only part of your lighting plan. You would need a task element like track or recessed to illuminate the space. Eating is not a task application. You can figure how to drink or eat without direct lighting...shaving, cooking, applying makeup or reading require some kind of (task) illumination to assist.

Two Rooms

Green Payback

By now most of you have figured, that I am somewhat passionate about lighting design, green technologies, induction, LED and in general spending money wisely for renovations.

When I look especially at Green, I understand people need to see a return on their investment for the higher initial price, especially now. If you search the three plus years of posts, you will read plenty of examples.

Here are a few more examples of how you can save money in your office or home.

Water

We now have our own camelbak water containers and have eliminated bottled water throughout the company. Payback to the environment is immediate as 104 people have stopped throwing away water cups on a daily basis. Payback to the company by eliminating cups and bottled water totals over $20,000.

Light

We are in midst of converting the showroom to all LED and compact fluorescent inside and outside. Ongoing savings $60-70,000 (at least)..Then again, we have 3500 lights on display.

Don't Do This

Kitchens and baths are really the only rooms which need proper illumination. Guess what, a real lighting plan is not difficult for any room. It includes elements of Task (recessed and/or track), Ambient (uplighting to wash the ceiling), Decorative (pendants and sconces) and Accent (highlighting objects). It is very hard to err.

Then I saw this bathroom...Do you see the problem?

In theory, there is enough light. However, by placing the light directly over the sink, your face becomes engulfed in shadows. If you have any task area; bath sink, kitchen sink or even the shed area out back, you want to cross illuminate.

Let's fix this: (you can do any one of these)

1. Shift the recessed, so it is on the either side of the sink

2. Place sconces at 65-66" high on either side of the sink

3. A less desirable option is to place a double sconce above the sink

Bulbs

So many bulbs, so many choices...LED, Low voltage, halogen, incandescent. Let me explain.

Incandescent: Regular light bulb still renders (at 2500K) the best in terms of quality of light. It is however, really bad with 10% efficiency, 7 month life and 300 degree heat emission.

Halogen: Halogen is an incandescent bulb with halogen gas on the filament. It is a whiter beam, which is desirable in kitchens (2700-3000 Kelvin), but it is an incandescent so it is generally an inefficient bulb.

Low Voltage: Low voltage is another incandescent white light. The light and the beam can be controlled more readily, because it is converted to 12 volt from 120. Although there are a few high quality low voltage bulbs with life of up to 18,000 hours it has the characteristics of the aforementioned bad incandescent light.

CFC: Compact fluorescent bulbs have a better longevity at 7 years with less heat emission. You can buy dimmable, color rendering fluorescent bulbs, but typically a basic fluorescent cannot do either.

LED: Light emitting diodes (LED) are the best with a 20 year life, zero heat emission and 90% efficiency. It even renders similarly to an incandescent. Payback is 2.5 years, but the initial outlay is expensive. Be VERY careful with LED lights: buy them with a CREE chip, so the quality of the light is good.

This post is somewhat complicated, but search LED and Kelvin posts for a better understanding

BTW, thank you to Christine from Canton...appreciate the Twitter mention.

Pendant/Decorative Lighting

The videos are a bit confusing....However, there are two essential points:







A. Pendants have become the main style of decorative lighting. As dining rooms and kitchens have merged, bigger islands and "great rooms" call for more yet smaller lights.

B. Decorative lighting doesn't or should not be the main lighting source. It is simply part of an overall lighting plan especially if the other elements (task, accent and ambient) are present.

Ceilings

I had a great post all queued about bathroom lighting and forgot to snap the corresponding picture. With tons of pics on the phone, it shouldn't be hard to find a suitable alternative (or not).

For now, look up...the ceiling is actually a good opportunity to be unique for not a ton of dough. Let's look at some different ideas to perhaps distinguish your home or property.

Have a look:

This is a large ornate ceiling medallion I saw at a house designed by Tocci Development in Needham. You can buy them much cheaper in plastic instead of wood. A similar medallion in plastic will cost $250-500.

"Never waste a ceiling" to quote Cliff Long, yet another upscale developer from my hometown. By designing this grooved ceiling, he will be able to provide ambient (read last weeks post) lighting throughout the space.

Or you can do everything like the Lennox hotel....Light the diameter of the dome and hang lights (they have about 12 in this installation).

Once again, you don't have to break the bank on stainless appliances to highlight your property...sometimes it's the simple ideas.

Out Of The Closet

We know the evils of fluorescent. It produces a harsh, hospital grade light. To review, the beloved, yellow incandescent is at 2500 degree Kelvin, and the evil fluorescent is at the other spectrum of 5000 degree. This white light is bad everywhere but one place.

Place fluorescent in your closet...Fluorescent and high kelvin lighting are better for distinguishing blues, blacks and darker colors. Incandescent is softer, and is therefore better everywhere else.

Ambient Lighting

As we have posted, there are four elements of lighting: Task, Accent, Decorative and Ambient.

Of the four Ambient is the most overlooked. Ambient is uplighting or light which illuminates the ceiling. It adds a dimension of color and texture to your room.

Kitchen: Let's look at a practical example...

Cornice lighting: Lighting the tops of cabinets or as displayed here. Basic undercabinet lights or any mini track systems can render this type of light.

Pendant: Any type of semi flush or uplighted pendant can light the ceiling.

Just remember before you blast away with 30 recessed cans, add some ambient lighting to your plan. It is simple to do and will soften and beautify the environment.

Extreme Decorative

Walked by Long's Jewelers and snapped a couple of pictures...

Have a look:

The crystal chandelier is actually a Schonbek Trillian, which is sold between $5,000-8,000 (depending on the lead content of the crystal)...They have 6 of these in the store.

But do they need them among the hundreds of recessed lights as well as the lights in their jewelry cases?

The answer is complicated. Decorative lighting in a proper lighting plan does not actually light the room, the recessed does. Decorative lighting does provide depth, personality and visuals to the room.

Beautiful, Beautiful Lights

Why do we not sell these lights...other than they are too big and probably too expensive (Euro is at $1.21). Italian fixtures like these are hand blown in Murano.

These fixtures are hanging in hotels, churches and The Spanish ruler in Sardinia. No how-to's today....let's just gawk.

If you want to import this type of light, you would have to rewire for 120v electricity

Art Light

Welcome to The Colonnade in Sardinia. I love this place. They have their own art gallery, among other amenities.

Have a look:

Now look at the light...

They use LED. Throughout this blog I refer to heat exfiltration, which is a fancy way of saying incandescent throws 300 degrees of heat. You can't touch an incandescent bulb for this reason. I have always mentioned this as an additional cost to your HVAC.

Over time, low voltage, incandescent will also discolor artwork, because of the heat. LED emits very little heat, and is thus the bulb of choice in most galleries.

So be careful of how you illuminate art and other objects.