Yvonne Glasch of Tinley Park doesn’t need to look at the calendar to tell you when daylight-saving time ends in autumn. She can feel it emotionally and physically. As the days grow shorter and the winter sun mellows, she finds that her usually high energy levels have greatly diminished. “It’s definitely depressing,” she says. “I want to stay in bed longer. It’s like your feet are in tar with every step you take.”
Often called seasonal affective disorder (SAD), that feeling may last until late March when winter’s dreary, dark days give way to spring.
“I never knew why I had every light on in the house,” Glasch says. “When I’m in this funk, I need to have the lights on.”
You can’t do much about sleet and snow, but you can help chase winter doldrums by knowing how and where to brighten your home.
Decorating indoor spaces with light has its emotional and aesthetic benefits.
“We’ve talked about people cocooning, but now, as a product of the economy and since Sept. 11, they’re burrowing in their homes. They’re surrounding themselves with things that are very neutral or warm and that elicit comfort,” says lighting buyer Jason Feldman of EXPO Design Center in Atlanta.
A new lamp or two may be all that is needed to turn a dark, cramped space into a bright, inviting room. Wall sconces cast light upward to create a subtle glow. A soft spotlight on a piece of art, a plant or grouping of photos adds drama. And candles paired with dimmed lamplight create an elegant setting for a meal or entertaining in a family room.
A new paint job and light fixtures can give a room a new look without having to buy all new furniture.
While renovating their Batavia home, Linda and Bob Dynek chose Southwestern-style light fixtures from Home Depot.
“The old fixtures were too formal and too ’70s. They were not our style at all,” Linda says. “The new ones are much more rustic, casual and natural looking. When the electrician left, the painters said, ‘Wow! What an improvement.'”
Lighting has come a long way in the last 20 years since Maureen Ponczek began selling fixtures. A lighting specialist at Horton’s of LaGrange in LaGrange, Ponczek says, “It was antique or polished brass then. You didn’t have the choices you do now. There’s an unbelievable number of finishes and so many more choices in floor and table lamps to chandeliers.”
Grandma might cringe at some of the new looks: lamp fixtures painted to look as if they’d spent the last decade rusting in the garage, or they’re made from distressed leather or wood.
Some, like boudoir lamps, are topped with ornate fabric shades decorated with beads or feathers. Other shades are fashioned from “confetti” glass that contains irregular dots of color.
“Elegant simplicity is where that’s going. The base may be plain and non-obtrusive, and the shade is the story,” Feldman says.
“People are getting away from the formal. We’re seeing a lot more of the weathered, patina finish or pewter and brushed steel. And it’s across the board, from ceiling fans to bathroom fixtures and table lamps,” Ponczek says.
The good news is that the price of lighting has fallen thanks to the introduction of resin and composite materials and inexpensive metals that are worked into chic fixtures.
“Old-World designs have been transformed or modernized by adding metal. It gives them the chance to have something understated and elegant and they just love it,” Feldman says.
Indeed, sales of EXPO’s iron-dressed crystal chandeliers have jumped 120 percent in the past year. Easy to produce, these materials also have resulted in quality lamps that are priced under $150, Feldman says.
But don’t just buy a lamp because it looks good.
“Homeowners will buy a light fixture and when we come to do the kitchen it may not work well. You need a good lighting plan for the entire space,” says David Karlson of Karlson Kitchens in Evanston.
Karlson notes that some common mistakes include skimping on fixtures or putting them in the wrong spots.
“You have to look at the entire room and the space leading into the room. If you have to walk down a small hallway to get to the kitchen, you need to look at that in your lighting plan,” he says.
Lighting experts agree that a lighting plan should include general lighting, task lighting and accent lights. During the evening, general (ambient) lighting takes the place of sunlight and allows you to move safely around the room.
General lighting may include table lamps, floor lamps, wall sconces or overhead lamps that let you see your surroundings.
Task (work) lighting is positioned over a work area, whether it’s over a kitchen countertop or island or over an armchair for reading.
Accent (display) lighting is primarily decorative and may be used to spotlight paintings, collectibles or sculpture.
A good lighting plan incorporates all three to create a safe, inviting space.
Working up a lighting grid on paper, Karlson arranges recessed ceiling fixtures to produce a user-friendly kitchen.
“There’s a pattern to how you light the room,” he says. “We use a row or rows of lights. You don’t want shadows [over a workspace] and to see one light hanging out in nowhere-land doesn’t look good.”
When installing or renovating a kitchen, Karlson finds it’s better to provide extra lights and dimmer switches.
“If the dimmer is all the way on and you still don’t have enough light, that’s a bad mistake,” he says. “You want to err on the side of additional lights.”
Knowing how you use a room and what sort of feeling you’d like it to have is a must before you purchase light fixtures.
“We like people to bring as much information about the room they’re lighting as possible. A picture is worth a thousands words, but we’d also like the room dimensions and the ceiling height so we can help them make the correct choices,” Ponczek says.
Don’t buy the first fixture that grabs your eye.
“A lot of people will pick a fixture that’s too big or too small. We like to hear what kind of activities take place in the room to determine the amount of lighting,” Ponczek says.
Once the fixture is in hand, the light bulb purchase is next.
“There are a lot of options out there but people tend to stick with their mother’s light bulb,” says Jon DiGesu, spokesman for Osram Sylvania Inc. “If mom used incandescent light bulbs, that’s probably what they’re going to buy, but that was many years ago and there are many new light sources available.”
“The difference between incandescent and halogen in technology is not great. In many fixtures, these [bulbs] are interchangeable,” DiGesu says.
Halogen bulbs
He notes that halogen bulbs are about 33 percent more efficient than a standard incandescent bulb, but they are more expensive.
“The miniature halogens are really ideal for doing accent lighting,” DiGesu says. “They’re a museum quality light and they make a world of difference when you look at a piece of art under that light.”
Here are some more tips on interior lighting:
– Don’t skimp. Use more than a ceiling lamp to light a room. Layering with light from several sources provides flexibility for changing the mood of the room. Layering also helps balance the amount of light and lets you adjust it based on your activities.
– Placed at various heights, ceiling, table and floor lamps will add visual interest to a room. Space fixtures evenly for a uniform, smooth lighting effect.
– Use table lamps for accent and task lighting.
– Light vertical and horizontal surfaces.
– “Wash” one wall with a light or add decorative torchieres or wall sconces.
– Miniature halogen bulbs can be used to light bookcases and curio cabinets.
– Don’t rely on just a chandelier over a dining room table. Use side lamps as well to reduce shadows. And use a dimmer so that when you’re finished setting the table, you can turn down the light when guests arrive.
– Wall sconces flanking a bathroom mirror will eliminate unflattering shadows cast by an overhead light.
– Add fluorescent under-cabinet lights in the kitchen to help with counter tasks. Above-cabinet lights create soft, indirect illumination when other kitchen lights are off.
Accent lighting
Creative accent lighting can give a whole new look to your artwork, furniture groupings or an interesting architectural detail. Rule of thumb: Lighting that’s meant to accent objects should be at least three times brighter than the room’s general lighting.
To spotlight your favorites, try these tips:
– Experiment first. Use clamp-on lights fitted with spotlight bulbs, and try them in different locations to find the best spot.
– Limit your costs. Strip lights to enhance groupings of books or collectibles cost less than $20 at many home centers.
– Corral the cords. For safety and appearance, run cords along the baseboards or behind furniture.
– Choose the right directions. Light groups from the front or above. With picture lights, for example, angle the light toward the picture, not down on it, to minimize glare.
– Be flexible and creative. A desk lamp with pivoting head can spotlight when it’s not being used for a homework project. Or, for mood lighting, plug table lamps into a dimmer switch.
— Better Homes and Gardens Books
