Create a Decorating Theme That Is All Your Own with Asian Lamps

Asian Fusion is a very hot style for clothing, design and even food. Some very unique interior design ideas have developed by crossing traditional Asian icons with American influences. Asian Lamps that are included in this fusion tend to be inspired by nature, architecture, ancient dynasties and even other Asian themed lamps. Floor, table and hanging lamps resemble their inspiring counterparts but are very clearly a product of Asian Fusion. The best part about Asian fusion is that there really is something for everyone and for every room you are attempting to design.

Silk and bamboo hanging lanterns are a new spin on an old design. Traditional Asian lamps that inspired this were generally made of rice paper and painted one color. These decorative hanging lanterns are still bright colors, but they also have beadwork and embroidery, not to mention that the silk is much nicer and lasts longer than rice paper. Not only can you use these to decorate your backyard party, but you can use them again and again after that.

Asian fusion has also given birth to an entirely different breed of floor lamps that can make your room feel like a garden...sort of. These Asian Lamps inspired by flowers of the far east have a "stalk" that leads up to a flower-like light holder that comes in a rainbow of colors. Another new style Asian Lamp that resembles a flower also seems to borrow a few ideas from Tiffany lamps. It is a table lamp that is ideal as a centerpiece because it appears to be a beautiful lotus flower in mid bloom. The fusion of this Asian Lamp is it's makeup, which is similar to the stained glass mosaic of traditional Tiffany lamps.

To pull off a great Asian fusion design scheme with these inspiring Asian Lamps, you don't have to look far. It's fairly simple, really, because you are looking for furniture that is not necessarily Asian, but simply reminds you of Asian design. Even if it's only one element of the item that really resembles anything Asian at all, that is ok. You can use recognizable items, such as traditional Asian looking lamps, to draw the Asian elements out of the other furniture and actually pull the room together. Whether your lighting choices include traditional lamps, or a fusion of Asian and American styles, you can use them to create a unique and innovative style in your home that is all your own.

Perfect Bathroom Lighting - How Do That

Lighting is a great low cost way to make your bathroom stand out when decorating. A bathroom can be transformed from a simply functional room into one with comfort and style by using well positioned vanity lights and other residential lighting fixtures. If you have been thinking about redoing your bathroom, wait until you read this article. We are here with good advice and suggestions for easy and glamorous bathroom lighting.

In the last few years, bathroom lighting has changed considerably. Homeowners can use creative lighting such as cabinet lighting, hanging lamps, vanity lights, and chandeliers as illumination in a bathroom. It is not necessary to stick to boring, run-of-the-mill residential lighting. When selecting bathroom lighting, keep in mind the color of the floor and wall tiles, the type of fixtures and accessories you have, and whether it will be necessary to install more electrical outlets. Take the time to talk with a lighting specialist who can tell you what the required wiring will be.

The light fixtures surrounding the counter and mirror are where most people begin remodeling their bathroom. You will want the light to be bright for shaving and makeup application purposes, avoiding light that causes dark, harsh shadows. For maximum effectiveness, fixtures like wall sconces should be situated on each side of the mirror at eye level. Lighting fixtures and finishes should not compete with plumbing accessories, tile, paint or wallpaper, but rather complement them. So if your vanity lights are nickel finished, then do not select lighting that has a brass or chrome finish. You want the look to be coordinated, with all the accessories and fixtures complementing one another.

Bulb choice is another important decision, just like choosing a fixture and installing it in just the right place. To illuminate vanity areas, give colored or coated bulbs a try. They are designed to enhance facial features. Search for bath fixtures that shine light downwards so heat comes out more easily from the sockets and the bulb lights shine longer. As recessed or canned lighting casts shadows across the face, it is not the best choice for the main source of lighting in a bathroom. The most flattering light is provided by fixtures with incandescent bulbs behind glass or plastic diffusers. If you prefer more energy-efficient fluorescents, select those with warm white tones. They are most similar in color to incandescent bulbs. To reduce glare, utilize frosted bulbs.

By layering your lighting, you can use it as a good tool. To provide a theatrical or old-fashioned ambiance, hanging lamps with vintage glass can be used in conjunction with vanity lights. Utilizing contemporary chandeliers with chrome lighting fixtures can make the environment look edgy and very modern. It is not necessary to spend a lot of money to have fantastic bathroom lighting. Choosing lighting fixtures that you love and that enhance your bathrooms appearance will insure a room that is both functional and beautiful.

As an architect who knows the value of first impressions, Owen Eastyn appreciates custom lighting that makes an architectural statement in an entryway. Owen recommends Hinkley's Lighting to anyone who has an idea for a custom fixture or is just looking for a wide selection at a quality Phoenix lighting store.

Architectural Lighting - the Varieties

Architectural lighting is often used to highlight the unique design elements of a home, garden, or professional building. It is generally placed around and near entryway porticos and arches, on and around columns and the textured exteriors of buildings including walls and other structures and to highlight statues, ponds or other structural features.

When used appropriately in any garden setting, architectural lighting can accentuate the asthetics of a selected garden bed, a swimming pool, patio or decking around the house.

The coach light is one of the more popular and widely used styles of architectural garden lighting. It is a reminder of the old fashioned gas lights that were used to light the paths, streets and driveways of the past and lends a romantic charm to the setting. The typical coach light is placed on top of a pole and allows a dazzling light display through clear glass or perspex panels and can often be installed along one side or both sides of a driveway or at the corners of an outdoor deck. Coach lights may also be used in a garden or used to accentuate a flowerbed or pathway.

Another example of popular architectural garden lighting is the hanging lantern. These are usually attached to a pole inserted into the ground with a spike. These lanterns are now made as works of art as well as serving a functional purpose and are constructed from durable materials including high-impact plastic, stainless steel or even copper. Some include the use of solar lighting as an economical and environmentally friendly choice of lighting and all are easy to maintain.

Walk lights are quite often used to accentuate the beauty of a flowerbed as well as providing illumination for safety purposes along a walking path. These lights are set low to the ground and usually attached to a short pole or sit on top of a spike pushed into the ground. Many of these also incorporate the use of solar lighting. This eliminates the need for awkward cables or electrical boxes as well as costing virtually nothing to run.

LED garden uplights are used in architectural garden lighting to highlight elements of the garden that are attractive or a main feature. They are usually inserted into the ground and the light source is directed upwards. Elements such as trees and other tall plantings are thus showcased. Uplights can also be used to light an entryway or arch entrance.

Floodlights have similar characteristics to uplights, the difference being that their light can be directed either up or down. They can be used to illuminate entrances and to highlight exterior architectural elements such as archways, porticos or landscape elements.

World Architecture - Architectural Landscape Lighting

Architectural landscape lights should work to unite the manmade and the natural in a manner that is compliant with regulatory codes and affordable for your clients. While landscape lighting represents a focus on illuminating and magnifying points of interest in the natural scenery, architectural landscape lighting creates the sense that buildings and technology are in harmony with Nature and establishes a more unified presentation to anyone viewing the facility at night.

Developing an architectural landscape lighting system that will remain true to this intention without costing additional money down the line requires a great deal of planning and research. You will have to determine all the necessary photometric requirements of the system, locate specification grade equipment made in the United States by manufacturers who emphasize quality over quantity, and be willing to use pioneering technologies that many of your clients may not yet understand, but can quickly be educated in if you can just find the time and resources to show them all the benefits you can bring to their table.

For example, one of the most costly components in any architectural landscape lighting system has always been any type of incandescent luminaire, such as a quartz floodlight, that consumes too much electricity in comparison to the light it produces. Not only does this waste money, it violates recent dark sky laws in most places, and it also results in ongoing replacement costs as they fixtures inevitably burn out. Newer fixtures that rely upon electronically ballasted fluorescent lamps, improved HID sources, and now LED light bars deliver a better quality of lighting and comply fully with the recent crackdown on light pollution.

By investing now in specification grade architectural landscape lights, you can save your clients money on excessive energy bills and help them avoid a possible parts shortage that could hit those who wait until the last minute to replace mercury vapor and incandescent lamps. Instead, propose to them architectural landscape lights that feature fluorescent lamps and ballast controls with superb CRI, LED's that can save as much as 80% on power consumption, and HIDs featuring higher than ever LPW efficiency rating, you generate savings that translates into ROI and recession proofing the Spartan budgets of a very cautious and somewhat nervous customer base. You can do this too without sacrificing the visual component of the system as well. Our new generation of architectural landscape lights not only performs better than the previous generation of technology, but it actually features more attractive, diversified and decorative fixture housings in a variety of fixture housings and finishes heretofore unimagined.

RLLD Commercial Lighting's inventory includes everything from decorative fluorescent bollards, post mounted lights, LED Street lighting for industrial parkways and private thoroughfares, super energy saving low voltage landscape lights of every variety, and HID floodlights that can output more light with less energy than ever. All of our lighting fixtures, without exception, are made by world-class US manufacturers who produce them in domestic factories located within our borders. Because our sources are exclusively American, we ensure both quality and compliance and also pass on manufacturers' warranties unavailable to cheaper parts procured from overseas channels.

One additional benefit we deliver to both small and large companies alike is supportive, adjunct lighting design services with every purchase of architectural landscape light fixtures. We have invested a great deal of money in proprietary lighting design software that enables us to calculate the precise photometric requirements for optimal foot candle density and directional lighting control that you need to build a truly winning proposal. By nailing down the technical and regulatory details first, we can then help you focus on finding fixtures and accessories that add aesthetic value to your client's location. This in turn enables you to creating an architectural landscape lighting system that is customized to the exact parameters of your client's site and guaranteed to perform reliably with a minimum of maintenance for years to come.

Architectural Lighting | World Architecture

In today's marketplace, general contractors, electricians and property managers are routinely engaged in competitive bidding on commercial construction and architectural lighting projects. Working with a commercial lighting distributor who specializes in architectural lighting and who represents multiple manufacturers, gives the commercial designer more freedom to bid specific items without fear of limited options, restriction to only one or two manufacturers, or equipment that fails to meet all necessary safety and light pollution regulatory codes.

Architecture lighting specialists will help you carefully balance the major considerations of safety, security, aesthetics, and regulatory code compliance by helping you precisely match fixtures to exact client specifications, and by accessorizing your system to remain as maintenance free and energy efficient as possible. Extensive planning and consultation with a specialist can be obtained at a small, reasonable fee if your team requires assistance with advance planning or ongoing consultation in developing the specifics of your proposal.

Architectural Area Lighting

Architectural area lights are heavily regulated due to their high lumens output and must illuminate only the intended area(s) without generating light pollution that will create a hazard or a nuisance to a nearby business or residence. It is generally advisable that you plan a proposed architectural area lighting system with specific guidance in the following general areas:

1. Parking lot lighting must meet local foot-candle minimums, minimize glare for motorists, and avoid shining lights into adjacent facilities. Working with a source that can accommodate the Spartan preferences of strictly industrial sites and the more decorative needs of municipalities, corporate headquarters, and hospitality clients can go a long way toward impressive line items that can tip a bidding war in your favor.

2. Parking garage lights must be configured in such a way as to balance vertical foot-candle intensity with horizontal foot candle intensity. This often requires working with a specialist who can input the dimensions of your garage into special software to help you determine which lamps, wattage outputs, and light fixture locations are required to achieve optimal, safe lighting levels in your garage.

3. Outdoor building lights must accent architecture without overpowering it. Different buildings may require anything from wall mounted architectural lights, canopy lights, and wall packs in a wide range of size, voltage, wattage, and color options.

4. Security lights of some sort should always be installed whenever architectural patterns vary or diverge and shadows form under eaves, canopies, walkways, or connecting structures can serve as a hiding place for criminal mischief.

Oftentimes, contractors are hired by offices, churches, municipal buildings, institutions, hotels, restaurants, resorts, and country clubs that require a highly customizes architectural lighting system that will speak to all the many considerations that contractors must factor into developing a truly effective outdoor lighting presentation. These clients often have tight budgets both for equipment and for power requirements, so it is necessary as well to have a wide range of line and low voltage options ready to offer the client at the line item level to make the invoice legally compliant with dark sky and foot candle regulations, practical safety and security concerns, decorative needs, and cost effectiveness through reduced power requirements and minimal long-term benefits.

In these situations, both pre-packaged kits and highly specialized architectural lighting equipment can often tip the balance in favor of a truly comprehensive architectural lighting design that goes beyond the basic cornerstone elements of standard configurations.

Sign and Building Edifice Lighting

Sign lighting can set the tone for the entire site's lighting system and help your clients more effectively brand their facility. Larger buildings that feature the company brand or logo painted on the building wall itself can be lit with specialty edifice lighting fixtures that will highlight colors and lettering without creating light pollution for surrounding areas. Flagpole lights can be installed very cost effectively to showcase a client's patriotism and keynote an important element of the landscape in general.

Architectural Landscape Lights

Architectural landscape lighting delivers a more robust illumination to larger campuses with a great deal of area between the property line and primary structure(s). Certain landscape features such as waterworks, decorative sculptures, outdoor break facilities, and recreational areas can be highlighted in such a way as to compliment the architecture of the main building.

Some commercial lighting vendors, such as Easy Rack in Houston, Texas, furnish architectural landscape lighting kits and specialized landscape and building exterior lighting fixtures appropriate for more high-end projects such as resort hotels, five star restaurants, country clubs, and outdoor recreational facilities.