Weekenders
Posted by Michele | Filed under Accessories, Art, Bed and Bath, Flooring, Furniture, Interior Design, Lighting, Weekenders, What's New
Dave is off on a little sabatical so I’m taking over on Weekenders. My mind set this week will be focused on sophistication for miscellaneous interior design products and art. You won’t find these in the 99 Cents stores. They are a few steps above in quality.
Home Portfolio - This is one of the best sites I’ve seen for search engines on interior and exterior design solutions. Nice layout as well.
Boyd Lighting - Following that link above I found this lighting manufacturer. Very sophisticated.
Sharon Courtney - For the pianist or opera singer, this mixed media of photography and art is terrific.
Bodum Drinkware - For the hot summers coming up, chill your heat away with this line of double wall glassware.
Debage - This is not my cup of tea but if you want to be a Queen for the Day, the bedding is right out of the Rococco period. Not great for hot flashes, I presume.
John Prince - Plays croquet and paints! Very talented man!
Gus Modern - For those who love the lean modern furnishings, this is simply that.
Giving Tree - The most luxurious linens around. Wow! I’d love to feel what 1020 count sheets feel like. Just might have to save up my pennies.
Green Feet - Save the earth! Bamboo Disposable plates and utensils. Group your table setting with the tumblers above from Bodium and you’ll have great conversation pieces for your next outdoor party.
Wilshire Garden - Time to replace the mailbox. How about a copper one?
Happy shopping and have a great weekend!
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Thomas Edison on Angel Wings
Posted by Michele | Filed under Lighting
Thanks to good ol’ Tommy Edison. We can thank him for that light bulb going off and on and off and on. The trivia behind Edison was that he did not actually event the incandescent bulb. Lots of folks worked on it and he improved on the 50 year old idea. Sorry about blowing your candle out about the guy. However, before Edison, it was not safe enough to bring into a home. He created a lighting system that was practical, safe and economical by changing the filament inside to a carbonized sewing thread. The first successful attempt burned for thirteen and a half hours.
I’m into lighting in a big way. I recommend lighting being the first improvement in the home before we even start the color consultation. There’s no point in my opinion, to go further until you’ve completed the lighting. Your color of paint will not have the luster, nor will your room have the ambiance.
I love cool lamp fixtures. I’m surprised day after day at how many different ideas the designers are coming up with. Artechnica is always wild but they have the most amazing piece they are featuring this week. The designer created pendants, table lamps and wall sconces.
For something less dramatic, this great pendant featured on Notcot is also very nice. I love the simplicity, and there are numerous colors to choose from. I’m delighted with the individual styles coming about. You can see that in just these two fixtures how they would be perfect in the right restaurant, office or home. 
Now, the more explosive piece would also be perfect for the eccentric who has very extreme house. Try to go out on a limb and be daring enough to play with a concept such as this for your own home. Personally, I feel that it takes a good eye to handle something this dramatic. I would have a blast creating a room based on the white wings. To start, I would create a dramatic dark dining room and pull in whites as accents.
This pink baby could be just outstanding in a completely white room. I could see all white furnishings, a simple sheer drapery treatment with a spec of pink in the texture, and pink shag rug and throw pillows. I would hang this on each side of the sofa instead of table lamps. For additional lighting, I would include some task lighting of recessed low voltage.
If that is too crazy for you, try this limb by SebastianL-JavierH. Put a beautiful plant right next to it and hide the outlet. You could take this with you when you sell your home. Of course, I would probably take all of these fixtures with me and put up generics if I sold my home. And that my friends leads me to my final point . If you are going to do something terrific in your home, lighting is the way. It is the element of surprise that looks dynamic. First you’ve got the light source illuminating the room with beautiful incandescent rays and then you’ve got the piece of art. I keep bringing it up again as I believe it should be part of the design theory as well as color theory for any home.
Ugly Wall Switches
Posted by dc | Filed under Lighting
Now here’s something I’ve been wanting to see for some time. Wall Plates! If you are planning to do some lighting in your home, also consider the switch system. These beauties are from Leviton. Most of the time, the electricians just go crazy and put in a bunch of ugly glare bombs in the ceiling and then they put in too many switches at too many locations. You don’t know where to go to turn a certain light on.
If you hire a lighting designer or a electrical firm that really knows what they are doing. The reason certain homes or restaurants look so spectacular is that they have layered the lighting. The layers are in the ceiling, table lamps, chadeliers or pendants and wall sconces. Whatever you do, spend an extra $200 for a consultation from a lighting expert and they will produce incredible results.
hahaha...