Main Street Lighting - Lighting Tips

Lighting Tips

Bath Light Solutions

Finding bathroom lighting fixtures that are both functional and esthetically pleasing can present a real problem. Functionally, few fixtures can beat the standard bath strip over, on, or beside the mirror.

For bathrooms with ornate sink and mirror designs, wall sconces are a natural choice. For general bath lighting, consider a small chandelier or lantern.

Candlestick Lamp Solutions

Use candlesticks on a sideboard, an entry hall table, sofa table, or a bedroom dressing table. Color and shapes can be matched to other accents in the room such as finishes in the chandelier, picture frame, fabrics, art, etc.

Candlestick lamps are used to supplement lighting in a room by filling in gaps left by primary lighting sources. Gold-lined shades provide a wonderful warm glow to the room and direct light down to the table surface. Translucent light shades increase the overall light in the room.

Ceiling Light Solutions

Most homes have a center ceiling light in bedrooms, bathrooms, and hallways. Typical ceiling lighting choices include:

Twinkling candlelights from small chandeliers or lanterns,
Diffused light from translucent glass covered flush-mounts,
Opaque fixtures that reflect light off the ceiling,
Small pendant fixtures, usually used in multiples.

Most ceiling lights have at least 2 light bulbs to give you more evenly spread light without hot spots. Dimmers are always recommended to alter the light levels to suit your needs.

Chandelier Solutions

Available in every decorative style, chandeliers add both presence and weight to a room. Whether hung above a dining room or kitchen table, or used as general lighting in foyers, powder rooms, bedrooms, etc., they bring the glow of candlelight to any setting.

Desk Lamp Solutions

Use desk lamps on desks, pianos, sewing areas, and other "work" areas. They are designed to focus maximum light down on a table with the least amount of glare.

Consider the scale of the desk and the style of the room when selecting the perfect desk light. Two light bulbs are superior to a single bulb because you get more light with less glare. When working on a computer, it is best to place the lamp in a location that lights the work surface but does not reflect off the screen.

An opaque shade on the desk lamp helps to reduce glare.

Floor Lamp Solutions

Floor lamps can be used in any room. Try two to frame your entrance door in your foyer.

They illuminate dark corners, provide great reading light, or can add the perfect decorative accent to a room. Torchieres (lamps with upside down shades) provide an interesting alternative by focusing intense light up to illuminate the ceiling and architectural features or flood a dark corner with softer reflected light.

For reading, floor lamps should be used behind or to the side of a sofa or chair, casting light directly on the work area. Floor lamps are most effective when glare is reduced by placing the bottom of the lampshade at the reader's eye level.

Wall Sconce Solutions

Sconces are perfect as a framing device for French doors, mantels, mirrors and paintings, so they are equally at home in the living room, dining room, bedroom even a bathroom. They add decorative interest while lighting up artwork and other eye-level details.

Sconces can add elegance, whimsy, sparkle, interest, and beauty to your walls. Wall sconces are an often overlooked solution for brightening dark spaces. Compact but decorative, they add just enough extra light to complement other lighting sources.

Swing Arm Wall Lamp Solutions

Swing arm wall lamps can be the perfect lighting solution when tabletop space is not available: beside beds, behind sofas, between bookshelves, over dressing tables, and even in bathrooms. Because these lamps have adjustable arms and can be hung at any height, they are excellent task lights for functions such as reading and needlework.

Table Lamp Solutions

Unless you have provided lighting from another source, a table lamp should be placed beside each seating piece. Although table lamps on either side of a sofa need not be identical, they should have the same "visual" weight and height. The correct height for a table lamp is determined by the chair/sofa and the height of the table beside it. To avoid glare, the lamp should be tall enough for the bottom of its lampshade to reach the eye level of the person seated next to it.

Outdoor Lighting Solutions

Outdoor lights should be compatible with the look and lines of a house. Open bottom fixtures are better for down-lighting an area, and glass topped lanterns are the better choice for accenting architectural elements above and around the door. Wall-mounted fixtures with arms or brackets can fit into tighter spots in areas between moldings. Fixtures with several low wattage candle bulbs are superior to those with a single bulb since they provide more light with less glare.