Indoor lighting takes up about one sixth of our total electricity use - a massive quantity of energy directed into light bulbs and tubes to light our way indoors. By 2012, however, light bulbs could be a thing of the past! Light emitting wallpaper and paint will come on the market in 2012 and could potentially be 2.5 times more efficient than the more energy efficient bulbs already on the mark...
I talked in a recent blog post about light emitting wallpaper as one of the future lighting options for homes. Another lighting alternative I recently heard of is the tubular skylight.
The tubular skylight consists of a clear plastic dome that is installed on the roof and attached to a highly reflective tube, in effect a sun tunnel, that takes the light absorbed by the dome and transfers it to ...
Looking to start a landscape lighting project but not sure where to begin? Don't worry, you aren't alone. With all the different types of outdoor lighting available, it can be hard to decide what kind of lights to put where, or even how many you need. Picking a porch light is one thing, but designing a whole back yard is something else entirely. Especially if you've opted out of hiring a professio...
Been putting off the annual climb on rickety ladders in the snow to prove your holiday spirit? (But not enough that you leave the lights up all year, risking broken bulbs.) Here, have some Christmas lights ideas and Christmas lights house decorating tips. A little inspiration never hurt anybody. That I'm aware of.
Tip 1: To keep the decorations more environmentally friendly, and unique looking,...
Confession: I'm a room re-arranger. There's nothing wrong with most of the furniture in my bedroom, but I've been re-arranging it every few weeks to cut down on cabin fever. (It's a small room, with a crazy slanted ceiling). This has also been my desperate attempt to find a magic solution to my lighting crisis. What I should really do with that time and energy, of course, is suck it up and buy a l...
When you're doing a kitchen remodel, always budget cash and space for your major appliances. You'll need a fair amount of both, but then without appliances like a kitchen range, oven hood, dishwasher, and microwave, it wouldn't be much of a kitchen. You're also gonna hurt yourself cooking in the dark and squinting at recipes, so plan for the perfect lighting.
Now, remember this?
French ...
Look up.
Most people forget about ceiling design. They'll stuff a room with furniture and change the curtains twice a year, but the ceiling is lucky if it gets a fresh coat of paint now and then. White paint. I say reach for the sky.
Get Architectural
Some of us are blessed with sloping cathedral ceilings or amazing architectural detail.
The rest of us who aren't willing to pony up...
Skip garden gnomes and pink flamingoes. Those are predictable, even if they were kinda cute lawn decorations when someone first thought of them.
But there is something about backyard landscaping that brings out the fairy tale in all of us. Maybe it's because we use our yards and gardens to escape, but it's one of those rare places that you can get really playful with home decor, without it seemin...
I've been watching a lot of film noir, which isn't the best idea when you're alone in a big house at night. So I'm a little suspicious of dark places right now, and I keep peering outside the windows in my door, afraid of sneaky characters but unable to see anything. So, it seems like a good time to look into outdoor lighting.
Okay, that's a little dramatic. Outdoor lighting can help with secu...
Having the right lighting in your kitchen is incredibly important. Especially in a larger kitchen, or one where you do a lot of entertaining, just your standard bank of fluorescent lights probably isn't going to cut it. Good kitchen lighting comes in layers - that means different types of light different quantities of light, and light in a lot of different areas, not just in the center of your kit...
