Fall and Winter Lights Indoors

It is important that you make your home conducive to the seasons so that you have a comfortable atmosphere to return to. It is nice to return to dim lighting on a fall or winter evening so that you can read and drink tea with your family. However, if it is too dark in your home, it could lead to negative feelings. A good lighting balance will leave you with a life balance. When purchasing new lights, it is good to keep these home decoration thoughts in mind.

Indoor lighting needs generally includes floor, table and wall lamps, while overhead illumination is achieved with recessed, suspension and sometimes even track lighting. While usually people think of reading lamps as task lighting, the darker fall and winter months turn much of our home indoor lighting into task lighting solutions. December is a glorious time to be sure you have home lighting needs in place. Struggling through the short days of autumn with inadequate home lighting invariably means temporary eye strain at the least and, in the extreme, a seasonally influenced feeling of depression.

Each room of the home has unique lighting requirements at this time of the year. While some of us may appreciate a bright bathroom light to help us wake up on a dark morning, a harsh living room light in the evening doesn't lend itself to relaxation at the end of a challenging school or work day. Lighting professionals recommend a variety of light source heights in a living room, for example. A table lamp can provide light for reading, while wall sconces and overhead lights can provide gentler ambient lighting. When having guests for dinner, generally robust overhead lighting in the dining room inspires conversation, but a central light source should also be complemented by surrounding ambient light to lessen distracting shadow at the dinner table.

Current lighting design trends seem to be emphasizing energy efficiency over innovative form. The actual light source has become the main concern.

Incandescent and halogen lights are not as common, while compact fluorescents and light emitting diodes are being touted as a new easy way to trim home energy costs LED lights are becoming increasingly ubiquitous thanks to their usefulness as year-end holiday outdoor lighting. A small task light has become popular recently. It looks like an old-fashioned candle and holder, but a closer inspection reveals a single white LED light topping a thin metal or transparent plastic stem. The Italian designers revisited LED technology again last year and devised the new Mix task lamp. The source in this instance is a series of LEDs and the minimalist support is lit by a blue stand-by light so the lamp can be easily located in darkness. Some new lighting designs that are ready-made for energy-efficient compact fluorescent bulbs.

One such design is the Agave suspension lighting series by Diego Rossi and Raffaele Tedesco. The hanging lamp is made of a series of injection-moulded transparent methacrylate ribs that allow the design to change shape, alternating between a tight orb when the ribs are closed and a spider-like effect when they are opened. Colour filters provide another design option in the Agave series. Lighting design classics are being retrofitted for compact fluorescent bulbs, as well. The acid-etched opaline glass diffuser of Achille Castiglioni's famous Brera suspension lamp for Flos now accepts the more energy-efficient bulbs.

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Garbe Industries, Inc. Tulsa, Oklahoma (800) 735-2241