Home Improvement

This week, Meg shows us how-to upgrade an ancient lamp shade into a fabulous, one-of-a-kind, structural blossom lamp. Act 1 -Kate’s structural lantern from Design Sponge: www.designspongeonline.com Act 2- -For a high design lamp on a shoe-string budget, make your own hemp twine lamp as shown on Crafty Nest. www.shelterpop.com -Here is a second version by Pickles. www.apartmenttherapy.com -Pickles also crocheted a gorgeous white pendant lantern. www.pickles.no -Elle interior featured this detailed hand-folded orb light. www.elleinterior.se -And, lastly, Planet Green shows you how to make a lamp from scratch out of a recycled wine bottle. Cheers! planetgreen.discovery.com Our Website www.threadbanger.com Our Blog http Submit a Video to Us! www.threadbanger.com Our Twitter twitter.com Our Facebook www.facebook.com

Interior design consultancies know the richness of light in all its forms. In London, lighting is crucial to interior design consultancies that need to make stunning results. In this, the sixth article in my series which I call “DeLIGHTed by Design,” I continue to draw on my experience working with some of London’s Top Interior Design Consultancies to clarify this exciting area.

Six main lighting tools are considered foundational by established interior design consultancies. These are down-lighters, up-lighters, wall-washers, decorative lighting, colour and control. Many London interior design consultancies will preferentially reckon of these mostly in terms of mood and results – from daring highlights to soft textures – instead of as hardware and installations.

Down-lighters are often set back into a fake ceiling, although some interior design consultancies will prefer to install them on walls. These units will direct light downwards, and can be focused by the design team as necessary, perhaps to illuminate the floor or a favourite contoured bookcase. Most interior design consultancies recognise that this type of light is very sharp and will generate somewhat intense shadows, which can be a refreshing contrast to the occasionally dreary London weather. The most well loved units are always available in narrow beam designs, which are best for highlighting certain features. Interior design consultancies will sometimes opt for a wide beam model instead. One nice technique that I have seen used in a few London residences is to make an array of shimmering ceiling lights with wide-beam downlighters. This is appropriate when the interior design consultancy wishes to make a more general, ambient light, but with a fabulous designer feel.

Up-lighters wash the ceiling with light, and the ceiling then serves as its own lighting fixture, bouncing relaxing and general illumination back into the living area. Interior design consultancies will use up-lighters to make an engaging feeling of openness and upward motion when the ceiling is painted a dark colour, in which case the reflected lumens will be low. Up-lighters in London are often either free standing or wall-mounted, usually above head-height to eliminate dazzle. One fantastic technique that I once saw used by a well-known London interior design consultancy was to incorporate a fabulous up-lighter that was recessed into the floor as a central feature, making drama and powerful contrast for a cove and elongated column.

In the next article in this series “DeLIGHTed by Design,” I will continue explaining how interior design consultancies rely on the six core lighting tools.

Interior design consultancies know light in all its forms. In London, lighting is crucial to interior design consultancies that need to make stunning results. In this, the eighth and final article in my series which I call “DeLIGHTed by Design,” I continue to draw on my experience working with some of London’s Top Interior Deign Consultancies to clarify this exciting area.

When most schoolchildren are questioned to reckon of the countryside, they often imagine the hot, shimmering flicker of a bonfire on a crisp autumn evening or the comforting flare of a scented candle. But how is an interior design consultancy to re-interpret these fabulously earthy and atmospheric scenes for, say, an elegant central London flat? The answer is artificial light.

Interior design consultancies recognise that artificial light is available in many different shades. It is similar to the situation with paint, where buckets that are marked “white” can really contain a multitude of different tones. Interior design consultancies use colour professionals who know that the cool white light of an energy-efficient bulb makes an entirely different effect from the warm yellow-orange tones of a tungsten filament. In London, low-voltage halogen options are often used in darker flats where there is a need to add light during the daytime. Interior design consultancies will install dimmer switches that allow homeowners to reduce the brightness of halogens at night, causing them to adopt a more husky yellow-red glow that is akin to an ancient lantern or oil lamp. By contrast, lamplight is too yellow for most interior design consultancies to include for daytime use, and indeed it can lead to sleepiness or lethargy at work (one of the reasons it is nearly never seen in London offices). But at night, tungsten lamps become much more warm and welcoming.

Some interior design consultancies have a like-despise relationship with fluorescent lighting options. These fixtures often emit various shades of white, ranging from a very cool, nearly daylight tone, which can be quite crisp, to a warm, rosy streetlight glow. Some interior design consultancies like fluorescent lights for London kitchens, where they illuminate workspaces but save on electricity bills. But, other interior design consultancies stay well away from fluorescent options because their colour does not change as they are dimmed. Fluorescents merely become less bright under such conditions, which can contribute to an unattractively dull, and nearly grey, lighting effect.

That brings me to the end of my series “DeLIGHTed by Design.” Thank you for letting me share with you about how London interior design consultancies make fabulous lighting schemes!

High quality landscaping can add so much to a home or business, especially when the landscaping brings color and creativity to the forefront. When a homeowner or business owner takes the next step and adds landscape lighting, the result has the potential to be phenomenal.

Landscape lighting really enhances attractive landscaping, and can make ordinary landscaping stand out and turn into attractive landscaping. Adding landscaping isn’t necessarily all that hard or even terribly costly, but the curb appeal which excellent lighting adds is undeniable.

Adding lighting can even enhance winter landscapes, accentuating trees, bushes, and even ornaments that really add to the visual affect that makes landscaping so appealing. Introducing this to existing landscaping is a project that is certainly worth consulting with a professional. Having this lighting installed professionally can help you avoid some very common mistakes that detract from the landscape instead of enhancing it.

Having your landscape lighting professionally installed will open up your options more than most people realize. Professionals have a very critical eye for landscape and landscape lighting and can easily pull forth the best qualities to highlight while introducing you to your best option for your lighting.

The installation of this can be done at the time of having landscaping completed or can be added to existing landscaping. Having the lighting added to landscape as it is being completed allows the landscaper an extra margin of creativity, making the lighting as an original part of the overall landscaping. Adding this to existing landscaping may sometimes require a few transplantations and perhaps the addition of a few extra plants, but most of the time landscape lighting can be added to existing landscaping without rearranging anything. But, if you’ve been considering making a few additions or changes to your existing landscaping, doing so while installing landscape lighting is the perfect opportunity.

Homes with landscape lighting attract more attention than homes without it. The better the landscape lighting, obviously, the more attention the homes or business will attract. Accent lighting and landscape lighting can bring forth a very different night time beauty that was previously overlooked. During the darker winter months, it can add a value of warmth to the look of the home or business, which will make it appealing and inviting. During the summer months when the landscaping is in full bloom, landscape lighting will accentuate the best and most appealing parts of your landscaping while making a very attractive and even festive look to the home or business.

Businesses that take the time to install it are much more appealing than businesses that don’t. This additional appeal attracts clients and customers, especially those businesses which are open after dark even if for only part of the year. When a business is exceptionally appealing to clients and customers, they tend to attract regular and repeat business. Landscape lighting can be part of that attraction. There is a visual sense of cool that people associate with landscape lighting. That visual sense of cool make clients and customers feel at ease about coming inside and spending some time or money.

Homes with the lighting are more appealing as well. Whether you are considering selling a home, having family and friends over, or simply want to make your home a nicer and more comfortable environment, landscape lighting can absolutely deliver what you’re looking for. Homes which are up for sale that have landscape lighting attract more potential buyers than homes without it.

Professionally installed it can offer a home or business owner variable options to enhance the qualities they believe are the most appealing while allowing a professional landscape lighting expert to make unbiased recommendations. This ensures that your landscape lighting will be more than adequate, it will be phenomenal. Don’t choose a lighting professional carelessly. Often professional landscape lighting experts can offer you examples of their work, which in turn can give you confidence that you are hiring the very best in landscape lighting.

Having this installed in a huge home or business improvement that will have noticeable effects straight away. It is highly recommended to have your landscape lighting professionally installed and professionally maintained. Professional installation of landscape lighting is easy and adds value to a home or business without much effort and no inconvenience. This adds curb appeal quicker than nearly any other home or business improvement.