Chandeliers:
They add style and a decorative focal point to almost any room in the house. Recent lighting design trends have focused on the value of chandeliers in many spaces throughout the house. They have been traditionally used primarily in the dining room, but are now commonly used in bedrooms, kitchens, family rooms, living rooms and bathrooms.
Some chandeliers are designed with downlights to provide task lighting for homework, table games or to accent table settings. Many chandeliers today also are available with either fabric or glsas shades, which provide excellent lighting while reducing glare and providing an artistic element to the space. They also are available in a variety of light sources, including incandescent, tungsten-halogen and energy efficient bulbs.
The addition of a dimmer lets you alter the intensity of the light to suit the mood or activity. Dimming incandescent bulbs will save electricity and will also extend the life of the bulb. All incandescent sources and regular voltage halogen can be dimmed with standard dimmers, but low voltage halogens require special dimmers.
Hall/Foyer fixtures:
These will create a beautiful focal point at the entrance to your home.
They can provide the ambient lighting that you need to greet guests and to assure safe passage into other areas of your home. The ceiling height of the space will determine the type of fixture that you should use. In taller ceilings and over stairways, large chandeliers and chain-hung foyer fixtures are most appropriate. Use surface-mounted and close-to-ceiling fixtures in lower ceilings and in hallways.
Pendants:
this can provide both task and ambient lighting. They are extremelynpopular and available in an unlimited range of styles, shapes and colours. Equipped with shades or globes to avoid glare, they are suspended from the ceiling over kitchen counters, breakfast areas, game tables or other work areas. When used over bedside tables, they provide good task lighting and also free up the space occupied by table lamps. The use of a dimmer provides you with the flexibility to vary the light to suit the occasion.
Track lighting:
Track has undergone many changes in recent years. The trend in track lighting has been toward smaller fixtures, which are much less noticeablein the space. Track lighting is excellent for its flexibility, and can provide ambient, task or accent lighting in a flexible lighting system. You can move, swivel rotate and aim the individual fixtures in any direction along the track, giving you the veersatility to change the lighting scheme when the need arises.
With special attachments, you can also hang chandeliers and pendants from the track. The fixtures are available in either standard voltage (120V) or low voltage (12V) current. Newer low voltage track systems are very small, and are available in many interesting shapes, colours and styles. They are visually appealing and can provide the focal point in any room where they are used. Track fixtures also are available with a choice of incandescent, halogen and energy efficient compact fluorescent light sources.
Ceiling fixtures:
These are excellent as a source of ambient lighting. They are very practical in areas with much activity such as foyers, hallways, bedrooms, kitchens, baths, laundry rooms, playrooms and dens. They are available with incandescent, fluorescent and compact fluorescent light sources.
Wall mounted fixtures:
This will provide a unique sense of elegance and sophistication to any home. They can also furnish ambient, task and accent lighting. Many are designed to match and supplement chandeliers and other fixtures in sets or families.
They are excellent sources of light in foyers, hallways, bedrooms, living rooms, home offices and home theaters. Wall brackets also are often used for task lighting at the sides of bathroom mirrors.
Bath/vanity lighting fixtures:
Vanity lighting will supply task lighting while supplementing the general lighting provided by ceiling fixtures. They are available in a wide range of styles, colours and shapes, and are being used much more frequently today than the older bath/vanity lighting strips. Newer versions of bath/vanity fixtures are available with either glass or fabric shades, which provide excellent glare control while providing excellent task lighting for grooming, applying makeup and shaving. They can be mounted either above or at the sides of the mirror.
Portable lamps:
These can deliver ambient, task and accent lighting while giving you the flexibility to move the light wherever you want. Table lamps, floor lamps and torchieres (floor lamps with an uplight component) are available in a variety of styles to complement your interior design. Small specialty lamps, such as clip on lights, adjustable task lights and desk and accent lamps, fill a variety of task, anbient and accent lighting needs. Lamps today are available with incandescent, halogen, energy efficient compact fluorescent bulbs and LED bulbs.
Recessed Lighting:
This can provide general, task and ambient lighting in a very subtle manner. Installed in the ceiling with only the trim showing, recessed fixtures can be used anywhere in the home, including outdoors, under eaves and on porches. They are ideal for any type of ceiling, including tall ceilings, shorter ceilings and sloped ceilings. They are available as downlights foe ambient and track lifgting, and as adjustable accent lights or wall washers for accent lighting. They are available in standard or low-voltage current with a choice of incandescent, halogen and energy efficient lamps.
Undercabinet lighting:
This fixture offers both task and accent lighting. Mounted under kitchen wall cabinets, they provide excellent task lighting at the countertop. Used in display cabinets, they provide accent lighting for three-dimensional art and sculpture. In workshops or laundry rooms, they are an ideal source of task and ambient lighting. They include slim, energy efficient fluorescents, miniature linear lighting and strips of line or low-voltage xenon or halogen mini-lights.