Let There Be Light in Your Bedroom!

Winter Solstice is the shortest day of the year, and then the light slowly starts returning to the northern hemisphere. But that still means we have many months of the year when our bedrooms get very little or no light in the mornings, when we get up, and are dark long before we go to sleep. If you’re someone who gets blue without enough light in your life, try brightening up your bedroom by making it feel like summer!

Think summer. Light colors, light fabrics. Take down the dark, heavy drapes and let the windows bring in as much light as possible during the day. When evening approaches, pull down the blinds and close the sheer curtains, which will look delightful in the glow of your warm bedroom lighting. Use soft white or pink-tinted bulbs in your lamps, or the full spectrum bulbs that replicate natural sunlight. They can make a huge difference in how you feel!

One way to optimize the light that comes in during the day is to position a large mirror on a wall across from or corner to a window. The mirrors will reflect sunlight and bounce it around the room. Hanging crystals in your windows is another way to bounce light around the room at certain times of day — except this will be like having rainbows all around you!

Make your bedroom feel lighter simply by eliminating or moving around your furniture to have more open space available. Use colors for your bedding that complement the summer scheme, such as celadon, aquamarine, a hint of orange and yellow, or nautical navy blue and white stripes. A floral-pattern or green rug on the floor will evoke summertime thoughts, as will adding some flowering plants, greenery, or vases of flowers. A large tropical plant with palm leaves gives an instant feeling of warmth!

If you have a fireplace in the bedroom, try decorating the mantle with shells or framed photos taken in the summer. A painting or photo above the mantle of the beach, a boat on water, or lush foliage can add to the effect.

Try a few of these suggestions to brighten your bedroom and give you a taste of summertime — even during the dark days of winter!

Tips for Indoor Lighting

Nothing impresses us quite the way lighting does. And if you’re entertaining nothing could make your guests feel more welcome that the good lighting in you home. Create a warm and inviting feeling for your prestigious guests and let them also enjoy some good food and conversation. Designing with light has never been an easier task, and it is always enjoyable.

When is actually comes to villa lighting, the potentials are limited only by your imagination. A good lighting plan could help in making you villa more attractive by combining both style and function.

Few type of Indoor lighting are listed below

Ambient Lighting – It provides overall lighting and a comfortable level of brightness, and allows you and your guests to see and move about safely.

Task Lighting – Task lighting helps you perform a precise activity, such as reading or playing games as well.

Accent Lighting – It creates an awesome mood and adds interest to a room by highlighting certain areas and objects, such as paintings, walls, and collectibles.

Decorative Lighting – It become essentials for chandeliers and candles.

Tips for Dining Rooms

•Use more chandeliers or just one fixture to light the room.  Layer with light from a selection of sources to get the most flexibility required for creating special moods in the same room.

•Using dimmers and layering with light allows you to use the brilliant light you require while setting your table, and then carry the light down when your guests arrive.

•For a stylish setting, blend candlelight and lesser levels of electric light sources all over the room.  Dim every group of lights separately to make a variety of dining moods.

Tips for Living Rooms

•Use Layers of light, wall washers, down lights, and accent lights on dimmers to make a medley of possible effects – from spacious to intimate.

•Place light sources at a variety of heights within the room (ceiling, table, floor) to add image interest and human scale.

•Use translucent shades on table lamps to add to the ambient light level.

Tips for Kitchens

•Use White fluorescent bulbs to improve cool colors like gray and blue, use White bulbs to enhance warm colors like yellow, red, and beige or to balance wood cabinets.

•Try fluorescent under cabinet fixtures at the border of your cabinets to illuminate your workspace and decrease shadows in food preparation areas.

•Consider dense fluorescent down-lights for universal lighting to help reduce heat and electric bills.

Tips for Bedrooms

•Break the room into several zones by lighting and switch them separately, and then regulate accordingly for the mood you want to set.

•Provide light for reading by selecting swing-arm or flexible bedside lamps.

•Use night-lights to give guests the facility to see in the dark if they require getting up during the night.

Tips for Powder Rooms

•Place strip lights to either side of the mirror other than above to improve visibility and reduce shadows for shaving and applying make-up.

•Select a couple of decorative wall scones to flank the mirror in a powder room.

•To make the room more inviting, try to dim all incandescent and halogen sources and keep a candle burning.

When amusing family and friends at home, lighting for safety and security is forever a priority.  Keep these tips in mind as you believe how best to protect your home – and your guests – from accidents and crime.

Home Lighting - Creating Illusions with Window Treatments

Windows come in all sizes, shapes and construction.  You can create illusions using standard curtains or other window dressings available today.  Long drapes are more formal, short curtains tend to be more casual.  You can use different styles to add to your interior decorating, such as country, with wide tidebacks and ruffles.

Curtains can help the following problems:

1.    Small window – extend the rod beyond the window frame.  This will create the appearance of a larger window.  More light will filter through the opening.

2.    Large window -  Attach your rod in the normal position.  Try using tiebacks on the curtains.  Use a valance. 

3.    Short/Tall windows -  For short windows attach your rod above the window frame.  Taller windows will appear shorter if you use a draped valance.  It will soften the window.

4.    View – If your purpose is to hide the view, match the window color to your wall covering.  It will reduce attention to the window.

Today there are so many choices - Vertical blinds, mini-blinds, wood blinds, shades of all types. You can keep it simple or layer the materials.  Investigate the choices before you finish your room.  If you give this some forethought, you can design your area to allow for changing window dressings each season.