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DecoDreams
Your Guide to Creating Beautiful Spaces, FAST!
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August 9, 2004
Issue #022
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THE MISSION...DecoDreams is the home-decorating-made-
easy.com e-zine that delivers interior decorating tips, ideas, and solutions to enhance all rooms of your home. Staying on top of what's hot in decorating has never been so easy or fun!
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DON'T FORGET Your Friends!...If you like DecoDreams, please do a friend and me a huge favor and "pass it along"...
...or ask them to subscribe by visiting
Home Decorating Made Easy.com
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***********************ACKNOWLEDGEMENT********************
Diversity of creative ideas has always been the hallmark of home decorating. That's why I've asked designer, artist, educator and writer, Marney Makridakis, to share her own unique brand of decorating advice in our "Ask the Decorator" column. I think you'll enjoy her wit and original insights.
Submit your questions to Marney by clicking here.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
o Featured Article
1) Lighting Tips for Fantastic Decorating!
o Turning Ideas Into Action
o Today's Quote
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FEATURED ARTICLE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Lighting Tips for Fantastic Decorating!
Most people are not aware of how important lighting is to a room. Changing the lighting is one of the quickest ways that you can give a room a makeover, and it is a lot easier than you might think. While some lighting systems require an electrician, most basic lighting upgrades are things that you can do yourself.
This article will present some basic tips, tools, and tricks for using lighting strategically for both decorative and practical purposes. But first, let’s review the four main types of lighting:
- Ambient lighting, which is also called general
lighting, is used to illuminate an entire room. This is basic, practical lighting, often from a standard ceiling fixture.
- Task lighting is used to give the appropriate
lighting needed to perform tasks in certain areas of a room. This usually takes the form of a bright light directed onto a specific, limited area, such as a desk light, recessed light over a kitchen counter, or a bedside reading light.
- Accent lighting is used to give focus to a
particular object or to create a certain mood. For example, a light directed to shine on a crystal vase, a light hanging over a painting or collectible, or an up-lighting sconce fixture that creates an interesting pattern on a wall. One kind of accent lighting is called wall-washing, which refers to an evenly dispersed lighting focused on an entire wall, usually to accent a special faux finish or art collection. - Natural lighting refers to sunlight that comes
in from the outdoors through windows or skylights. The flow of natural lighting can be controlled by window treatments so that it works nicely together with the artificial lighting in the room.
There are many ways that lighting can be used to solve common decorating problems. For example, if you want your room to feel larger, you should use ambient and/or accent lighting that is pointed up toward the top of your walls. A general wash of light aimed high on the wall creates the illusion that the line between the wall and ceiling disappears, make a room appear taller and ceilingless. Down light (i.e. table lamps and floor lamps) should be aimed toward the outer edges of the room to expand the sense of spaciousness.
On the other hand, if you want your room to feel lower and more cozy, use down light with floor lamps, table lamps, and low pendant fixtures that are aimed toward the floor and the center of the room.
To illustrate more ways that lighting can be used to solve common decorating problems, I’ll turn things over to Marney to share her "bright ideas" to solve real decorating dilemmas submitted by visitors to HomeDecoratingMadeEasy.com!....and our new web site
Kids Rooms and Crafts.com
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~TURNING IDEAS INTO ACTION!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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ASK THE DECORATOR
DecoDiva, Marney Makridakis, Answers Your Questions About Lighting the Rooms in Your Home
QUESTION: My living room is furnished with Colonial- style antiques. I love the furniture, but the room just seems so dark to me. If I bring more lighting in the room, won’t that ruin the old-fashioned style? I can’t imagine installing modern fixtures in the room, but it’s depressing as it is now. Is there any solution? ANSWER: I think you’ll be amazed at what a difference it can be to bring more light into your room. The trick is to stay consistent with your style. One way to do this is to actually purchase your light fixtures at antique stores. For example, you can find swing-arm wall mounts, wall sconce "torches", or scones with hanging crystal "tears" and fit them with brand new bulbs (consulting an electrician if rewiring is necessary) for a look that is not only beautiful but 100% authentic. If you’d prefer to stay away from the antique stores, you can still make effective lighting choices that will blend with your style. Buy a very simple wall mount system (just plain simple lines in a gold metal finish) and use frosted candelabra bulbs to give a warm light to your beautiful furniture. Or buy inexpensive ginger-jar lamp bases and place fabric shades on them made from linen, silk, or chinz. Place several lamps on antique table lamps throughout the room to raise the general sense of moving light.
QUESTION: I am never sure of how a room is supposed to look at a night. Is it supposed to be dark, except for corners where someone is reading? Is it supposed to be as bright as during the day? I’m stumped! Can you give some guidance?
ANSWER: The bottom line is that it is all up to you. Never does lighting allow you more control than at night. If you want a room to maintain the same feel and coloring as it does during the day, then you should choose down light in the form of ceiling pendants, floor lamps, and table lamps. This may be the best choice if the room is frequently used after dark for family activities, or if you are very particular about how your room’s colors are perceived. If you are interested in using lighting in conjunction the natural nighttime to create a dramatic mood or effect, the sky is the limit for what you can create. You can instigate wonderful effects by placing lamps and fixtures in recessed places: behind beams, in dropped ceilings, behind architectural trim, along a baseboard or plate trail, inside a groove in a shelf. When used in conjunction with some simple task lighting that may be necessary for reading or other tasks, basking in these kinds of dramatic lighting choices can be a wonderful way to wind down your day.
Obviously, the ultimate in flexibility is to have the choice for either option. A great way to keep your options open is to use ambient lighting that is controlled by a dimmer switch. That allows you to have a room flooded with light, or several gradations of dimming light to match your mood. Task lighting can also be placed on a dimmer switch, for even more variety. In the photograph shown here, both the overhead track lighting and the pendant fixture hanging over the table are on dimmers, allowing for endless combinations of light flow and ambiance.
QUESTION: I have a ceiling light fixture, several lamps, and a window in my bedroom suite, but it always seems dark and dingy during the day. I keep experimenting with adding more lamps (both floor lamps and table lamps) but nothing seems to help. What am I doing wrong?
ANSWER: If you have furniture or wall color that is absorbing or blocking a lot of light, then its unlikely that simply adding more fixtures will help. You will probably get better results from simply doing some rearranging of your room to get the light flowing better.
First of all, how much potential natural light are you blocking from the window? Does your current window treatment (blinds or opaque curtains) block the light? Consider replacing curtains with sheers, that will bring more light in but also allow your bedroom to have privacy. If you are in the habit of leaving curtains down, get some unique curtain tiebacks that you really love to inspire you to pull your curtains back to get as much daylight as possible. If privacy is not an issue, perhaps switch your window treatment to be just consist of an attractive topper, rather than blinds or curtains.
Look around and study where the light from both the window and other light fixtures falls. Can you remove any object that absorbing the light? If dark furniture, such as a large table, you can recover it with as a lightly-colored fabric, or, even better, a flat mirror to reflect more light.
If your walls are painted in a dark, matte color, you can quickly change the way that light flows throughout the room by painting one wall in a lighter color in a reflective (satin or semi-gloss) finish. Then aim an accent light toward the wall to allow more light to spread throughout the room.
----------Recommended Resource----------
Get Organized Now!
Before you begin any decorating project,
do yourself a HUGE favor and get clutter
under control. Doing this alone will make
a room appear larger, and you'll feel more
relaxed. The crown jewel is that you'll get
more time back into your day. Click here to
learn more...
http://www.homedecoratingmadeeasy.com/get_org_now.html
------Recommended Resource------
"How to Make Roman Shades"
I reviewed this ebook recently and it's
the best you'll find on how to
easily create roman shades on
your own. Step-by-step diagrams
and easy, yet detailed, instructions
will have you making beautiful roman
shades in no time at all. Even sewing
beginners will find the process easy
to follow. Just think of the money
you'll save!
http://www.homedecoratingmadeeasy.com/sew_roman_shades.html
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***************** TODAY'S QUOTE ***************************
"When I'm working on a problem, I never think about beauty. I think only how to solve the problem. But when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong."
- Richard Buckminster Fuller
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Wishing you all the best,
Michael J. Holland - President
Home Decorating Made Easy
Copyright © 2004
P.S. Don't forget your fr*ee chapters of Awaken Your Interior Designer. You'll get 72 pages, filled with lots of ideas and photos to put you on the right decorating path.Click here to download your copy right away
P.P.S. If you're thinking of starting a part-time or full-time business for crafts or home decorating, be sure to download our complimentary ebook called From Passion to Cash: How to Make Money With Your Passion of Crafts and Decorating. You'll find lots
of helpful ideas to get you going in the right direction. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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