Archive for the ‘Seasonal’ Category
As the holidays approach, many of us will be entertaining guests in our homes. We want our homes to look just perfect for these celebrations. However, we also don’t want to spend a lot of time on getting our houses ready since we need that time to cook, prepare gifts, set up decorations and plan out our events. One quick and easy way to make sure that your home looks right for the holidays is to focus on selecting the right lighting for holiday entertainment.
Start with a dramatic entry
The first thing that your guests will see when they enter the home is your foyer, entryway or front hall. This is the area that you should concentrate on for your most dramatic lighting. That way your guests will be impressed as soon as they enter your space. Top lighting ideas for making your entryway more dramatic include:
- Add wall sconces. You can select very powerful dramatic wall sconces for your entryway to attract the eye of your guests as soon as they enter the room. Because sconces are relatively small, a very bold sconce will be beautiful rather than overwhelming in this space.
- Show off an amazing lamp. Is there a corner of your entryway that is empty? Place a stunning floor lamp there that your visitors won’t be able to miss when they walk in the door. They will immediately notice your exquisite sense of style.
- Use track lighting to show off entryway art. If you have a favorite art piece then highlight it. Alternatively, hang special holiday art to set the mood. The right track lighting will make the artwork look perfect.
Focus on kitchen and dining room lighting
The focus of almost all of our holiday celebrations is food. Thanksgiving dinner and Christmas dinner are both major events during the winter season. Often if we’re entertaining we may have people assisting us with the cooking in our kitchens. We’ll certainly have guests enjoying the food in the dining room. Since these areas are the focus of the holiday events, it’s smart to pay attention to updating the lighting in these areas.
One of the most wonderful things about summertime is that the sunlight stays out longer for us to enjoy it. That’s one of the reasons that summer barbecues are so popular. You can start dinner outside in the evening and still have plenty of time left to enjoy it before the sun goes down. If your barbecue is a good one, though, the party will still be going as the fireflies begin to come out. You don’t want to have to end a great barbecue just because the hour is getting late. That’s why it’s important to make sure that you have good outdoor lighting for summer.
The first thing that you will want to do is to consider updating your outdoor lighting to suit both the mood of a barbecue and the style of your home. Some great summer options for updating outdoor lighting include:
- Outdoor hanging lanterns. These lanterns will beautifully light up your outdoor seating area all year long. They add a gorgeous glow that enhances the spirited mood of your barbecue.
- Pathway lights. You don’t want the latecomers to the barbecue to trip over themselves when they arrive. You also don’t want to shock them with your usual bright outdoor lights. Add some modern, fashionable pathway lights to the arrival area for your guests.
- Deck lights. If you have an outdoor deck for your summer barbecue then small LED deck lights are a must-have. They provide an energy-efficient way to keep the area safely lit without making it too bright for you to enjoy.
In addition to these more permanent changes, you will want to get some temporary outdoor lighting just for your summer barbecues. Top choices for temporary lighting include:
For 100 out of the last 102 New Year’s Eves, people from around the world have rung in the New Year by watching a lighted ball drop over New York’s Times Square (the two exceptions being during WWII, when the New Year was instead met with a moment of silence followed by the ringing of church bells).
Although the tradition hasn’t changed, the ball itself has gone through a lot of changes over the century, the most recent being to go green by replacing its combination of incandescent and halogen bulbs with energy efficient LED lamps. As we prepare to ring in not just another new year, but a whole new decade, here are some facts about this year’s New Year’s Eve Ball to keep in mind as we approach its annual hour to shine.
‘Tis the season for entertaining guests. Whether hosting a big holiday bash or a small, intimate dinner party, you want your lighting to set the right tone and to feel as special as the holidays themselves. Although the season brings to mind all things “merry and bright,” that doesn’t necessarily extend to your lighting. Follow these tips to achieve an inviting lighting scheme that will make your guests feel reluctant to leave.
The key to party lighting is to combine softness with sparkle. Soft light sets a warm, inviting tone that makes your guests want to linger. Dim or darken overhead lights, and allow accent lighting to create warm pools of light around conversation areas. Dimmed lighting will also let your Christmas tree or other holiday lights shine more brightly, creating a festive holiday mood.
Add to the ambience with candlelight by spreading votives or pillars around the room’s perimeter. If you have a fireplace, light a fire (if it’s a faux fireplace, light a grouping of pillar candles in the hearth). If there are children in attendance, consider battery-operated flameless candles or LED tea lights. You can also emulate candlelight by stringing clear holiday twinkle lights across the mantle or along bookcases, creating soft, ambient light with a hint of holiday glitter. Read the rest of this entry »
If you’re not one of those people who had their holiday gift shopping done by September, don’t feel bad. You’re not alone. The pressure of last-minute shopping can make gift ideas even harder to come by. We’re here to help with some ideas for giving the gift of light this holiday season.
This time of year, when it comes to lighting, many people’s focus turns to holiday lights. As much as holiday lights can be a source of joy and wonder throughout the season, they can also be a source of frustration, as well as a safety hazard. Below are some tips to help take the frustration out of lighting up the holidays, and to help ensure that your holiday season is a safe and happy one.
Indoor lights – one common source of holiday frustration is putting lights on the tree only to find that there aren’t enough to cover the whole tree. A good rule of thumb is to plan on either 20 large 60 small bulbs per foot, so when purchasing new lights, pay attention to bulb count, since the number of bulbs per string vary according to manufacturer and style. A six foot tree will need 120 large bulbs, or 360 small ones, so plan accordingly.
Before putting lights up, it’s a good idea to plug them in and check the string for any frayed wires or broken bulbs. If you need to replace worn out lights with new ones, consider selecting LED lights. They cost a bit more up front, but the light they provide is clearer and brighter than that of incandescent bulbs, and they use so little power that they’ll more than make up the difference in your electric bill. Better yet, they burn cool, which makes them a safer choice as there’s no chance of them overheating and igniting the tree on fire. Read the rest of this entry »
