Torchieres are Elegant and Space Saving Light Fixtures

The torchiere is a lighting fixture that has gained much popularity over the last ten or so years, with its slim elegant design and availability in a wide range of prices, it's easy to see why. For those not familiar with the torchiere, they are a close relative of the floor lamp but with a few discernable differences. Torchieres are generally characterized by a very thin column that rises up from some sort of weighted base. Most stand around six-feet tall and have light diffusers or shades that force light upwards, as opposed to lamps which shine downwards. This is probably the key characteristic of the torchiere.

Torchieres are fairly versatile, as they can pretty much work in any room in your home. They are most widely used in living rooms and bedrooms but they don't look out of place in dining rooms and home offices either. The slim torchiere is ideal for so many rooms because of its space-saving design. With floor and table lamps, one needs to worry about the size of the base and the size of the lampshade. There are none of these worries with torchieres.

As mentioned in the opening paragraph, the torchiere is available in every price range. Stores ranging from your neighborhood Target or Wal-Mart to higher end retailers like Restoration Hardware all carry some form of the torchiere. You can spend as little as $20-$30 for a cheapie basic model or into the thousands for a torchiere made from finer materials with a more elaborate look.

In pretty much all cases, a torchiere provides more ambient light than a standard lamp, sometimes up to 20% more light. The reason for this is the upward facing shades mentioned in the first paragraph. Light will hit a standard height ceiling and be diffused over a greater area than light from a table or floor lamp, which is forced downwards and often blocked.

Visit the Eco-Lights website for a great selection of lamps, chandeliers, and outdoor lighting

Ceiling Fixtures For Your Bathroom And Decor

Our bathrooms are one of the most important rooms in our home. We spend a great deal of time in them preparing for our day, during the day for quick touch-ups and in the evening to wash away the day’s stress and tension. The lighting we choose for our bathrooms is essential for creating just the right atmosphere in this multi-tasking room.

When considering lighting options, think about the overall look and style of the bathroom in which you are installing the ceiling light fixtures. Whether it is a flush or semi-flush ceiling mount, it should compliment the décor of your bathroom and at the same time provide the proper lighting. For smaller bathrooms, consider light fixtures on a smaller scale. More spacious bathrooms can accommodate larger and more ornate fixtures. A smaller bathroom might only require one or two light fixtures, whereas a larger bathroom space might need several ceiling light fixtures. No matter what style of ceiling lighting you choose, it should fit the overall look of the bathroom and add to the ambiance.

Some examples of the ceiling lighting fixtures available for your bathroom would be recessed lighting fixtures, flush-mounted, semi-flush mounted, fixtures for chandeliers, monorail lighting or energy-efficient ceiling light fixtures. Thankfully, they come in styles that will accentuate and beautify just about any décor. Their styles can be anything from rustic, Tiffany, traditional, trendy and stylish, Victorian, very conventional, or tropical, to name a few. Installing a dimmer on your ceiling light fixtures might be a consideration since there are many tasks for which a bathroom is used. Shaving, brushing teeth, applying makeup, styling hair, reading, relaxing, and showering are simply a few of the things we do in our bathrooms. Each activity requires a different level of light. For relaxing in a bath, soft light would be welcomed. For shaving, flossing our teeth or for the times we need to clean the bathroom, a brighter level of light would be desired. Indirect lighting fixtures would be a welcome choice in a bathroom with a lot of counter space and a large, reflective floor space. The indirect light will help reduce the glare on the eyes and the visual fatigue that can develop when someone is constantly in direct lighting.

Just as in any other room of your home, an important consideration when choosing a ceiling light fixture is to determine how much light the fixture will diffuse or disperse into space. If the fixture is beautiful, but isn’t efficient, will absorb too much of the light, or won’t take light bulbs that will sufficiently light up your space, then you are wasting your money. Always search for those lighting choices that will maximize the efficiency of the light bulbs and highlight your unique bathroom décor. Last, but not least, don’t forget to consider color, finish and height from the floor when installing your bathroom ceiling light fixture. No one should have to bend over to avoid hitting a fixture with their head. Remember these simple guidelines, and you’ll have purposeful and attractive ceiling light fixtures complimenting your bathroom’s décor.

Des S is the founder of SNSLamps.com,which is a division of SNSDesigns, Inc. They carry wide selection of unique table lamps. They offer the most popular housewarming ideas, such as tiffany style lamps, table lamps, buffet lamps for everyone.

Modern Light Fixtures Serving Double Duty

Early light fixtures seemed to have a flair for the dramatic. Impossibly large ornate chandeliers greeted guests in foyers and lit large dining rooms while providing a decadent ambiance. This mindset continued with the creation of the Tiffany lamp at the turn of the century. Louis Comfort Tiffany's new lamps featured scraps of stained glass fashioned together to form exquisite shades with solid metal bases, a timeless design that is still produced today. These and other early light fixtures were a graceful combination of beauty and practicality.

This didn't continue, however. A horrible lull in lighting design blanketed a fairly large portion of time resulting in some drab and boring light fixtures. They weren't all bad, of course, but it seems like the ones that ended up in most people's houses were. Bad, that is. The time I'm referring to here is roughly from the 1950's to the 1980's. Perhaps lighting was viewed from a more utilitarian point of view during this time, or mass produced lighting was just in a funk, design-wise. Whatever the case, the bulk of the lighting produced during this time just wasn't all that impressive from a style and design perspective.

Over the last ten or so years, a shift back to artistic and innovative lighting designs has taken place resulting in some beautiful fixtures. Floor lamps are no longer defined by the standard base and shade construction, as slim tower designs and multi-headed models have become staples in many manufacturers catalogues. These contemporary fixtures are works of art as much as they are sources of light. Glass and metal have replaced ceramic and linen as the most common materials used, adding to the modern aesthetic of these fixtures.

Many of the same features listed above apply to table lamps as well. In a lot of cases, manufacturers simply make a smaller version of a floor lamp to work as a corresponding table lamp. However, there are still plenty of contemporary table lamps that employ the base - shade standard. It just works. Modern shades have begun to take on different shapes and can be found in a variety of materials, though, so these aren't your grandma's table lamps.

Check out the Eco-Lights website for a great selection of contemporary floor lamps, table lamps, and outdoor lighting.

Environmentally Friendly Low Flow Bathroom Fixtures

Most of us want to be more conscious about the environment and what we can do to protect it. It can be difficult to know what to do though, especially when you don't want to give up comfort or safety to do so. Fortunately, there are ways that we can be environmentally friendly and make you feel good about our lifestyle, too.

You may have heard from friends or family that low flow fixtures don't work, but that isn't always true if you know what you're looking for. The choices available for low flow toilets actually can provide you with a great toilet at a relatively low cost. And the best part is that you could save up to $100 a year on your water bill. Some cities such as Albuquerque, New Mexico and El Paso, Texas are even offering a rebate to those willing to install the toilets. So check with your city's water utility division to find out if it is offered in your area.

Don't let what you've heard about low flow toilets in the past scare you. Things have changed a lot over the years, and low flow toilets are better than ever. When looking for a low flow toilet, consider a pressure-assist flush toilet, which will relieve the fear of plumbing problems because of a poor flush. TOTO USA is a great place to begin as they carry quite a few good low flow picks from under $200.00. But even though you may be able to get a low flow toilet for as low as $100, remember that you do get what you pay for. This is not the place to skimp on price. A higher quality toilet will cost you more money, but it should pay off in your utility bills in the long run.

Terry Love, a low flow toilet guru, knows all about low flow toilets and recommends TOTO's UltraMax. And anyone wanting a low flow toilet should consider reading his report for Consumer Reports as Love is considered to be the most authoritative word on leading low flow toilets.

Saving money and protecting the environment aren't the only piece of good news. Most low flow items apart from a toilet are very easy for the average homeowner to install. In fact, it can be as simple as changing your light bulbs. Replacing your incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLS) will only take you a couple of minutes, but will save energy in your home. If you are replacing the whole light fixture in your bathroom, look for energy efficient fixtures, as well.

Change your other fixtures in your bathroom, such as the showerhead and sink faucet to low flow versions, too. Many people worry that low flow fixtures will not provide enough water pressure. Try faucet aerators that provide pressure with velocity and can run as low as $1.50. Just because there is less water, doesn't mean there has to be less water pressure. Think about getting controls installed that will allow you to adjust the pressure so that you don't feel as if you can't get enough pressure from your showerhead. But many good showerheads on the market today will give you enough pressure while saving water.

Being environmentally friendly is easier than it seems. And once you know what products are out there, you can have a beautiful and comfortable bathroom that saves you money and protects the environment.

Chris Brown is a regular contributor to Home Remodeling, Bathroom Remodeling and Kitchen Remodeling websites. Chris also takes pride in many of his own do-it-yourself projects around his own home.

Outdoor Lighting Fixtures

The outer spaces are no longer neglected, unutilized places relegated to darkness with the setting of the sun. Outdoor lighting is important for both safety as well as security. The external spaces of a structure are often the first thing a visitor encounters. The ambience, mood and look of the outdoor environs prepares one for an internal treat. It also reflects the style, personality and tastes of the dwellers, and balances and complements the internal lighting arrangements, scheme, color and ambience. Proper outdoor lighting fixtures are required to accomplish all this.

Outdoor lighting fixtures hold the bulbs in position and direct and guide the light in the desired direction to produce the proffered lighting effect. A light designer’s dream is transformed into reality by the infinite range, style, designs and types of outdoor lighting fixtures on the market.

Outdoor lighting fixtures are available in an array of brands like Vista, SPJ lighting, Kane Schrader, Hadco lighting and numerous more. Various types of outdoor lighting fixtures are used to produce different effects. These lighting fixtures can be used either for landscaping, pathway or walkway lighting, water feature lighting, or lighting patios, decks, and outer spaces for festive seasons or otherwise.

A moonlight effect is achieved by putting an outdoor lighting fixture high up in a tree and positioning it such that the light is directed down wards. Silhouetting is accomplished by placing a fixture at the back of the object and directing light away from it, so that the dark contours of the object’s form are visible.

Shadowing involves putting an outdoor lighting fixture right in the front of the object to produce a shadow and light effect. Up lighting, spot lighting and many kinds of other effects can be accomplished by using the appropriate outdoor lighting fixtures. There are different lighting fixtures for lighting up water features from the inside. They come with a water-resistant coating and have an enclosure to protect the bulbs. There are sculpted outdoor granite, marble and stone fixtures that lend beauty to the outdoor environment.

Outdoor lighting fixtures are exposed to all the elements. Most of the outdoor lighting fixtures come with different protective materials to protect the bulb and remain resistant to the various elements they are exposed to. It is always advisable to buy good-quality outdoor lighting fixtures.

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