Lighting Archives - Eheart Interior Solutions

September 21, 2015

Easy Fall Decoration to Rejuvenate Your Home

There are many easy fall decoration ideas to bring the warm colors of fall into your home this season. By coordinating small pops of fall color into your home or apartment’s color pallet across rooms, you can achieve an autumn atmosphere without completely turning your home into a sea of reds, yellows, browns, oranges and greens.

Living Room Interior Design
Make your living room a fall sanctuary by decorating with natural gords and pumpkin, either on coffee tables or on the fireplace mantle. The lively gords can range in color from red, orange, yellow, and brown and vary in sizes which help to accommodate your space (whether big or small). Because of their various sizes, pumpkins can act as a centerpiece on tables, or within prominent areas of your living room entryway. Adding these kinds of themed design elements into your living room are an easy fall decoration tactic to create an instant fall color upgrade.
We also recommend swapping the flowers in your vase with decorative maple leaves in mason jars. This design element helps to give your space a mixture of autumn colors with the cozy feel of mason jar décor. If you’re wanting to make the decorating process a craft for you and your friends and family, create your own leaf covered mason jar lanterns to add texture to a room. And since lighting can play a huge role in your living room design, we encourage upgrading lighting fixtures for the fall season. This can be done through placing fall themed lanterns in place of end table lamps.

Kitchen Interior Design
There are a few ways to subtly transform your kitchen for the fall season. Start by swapping your fruit holder for a wicker basket with a liner in a fall color. This easy fall decoration can already begin to make your kitchen feel welcoming for autumn.
Continue the trend from your kitchen into your dining space by investing in fall themed candlesticks to serve as a dining room table centerpiece and to pull in the soft lighting. Of course, an updated fall colored napkin or napkin holder, and appropriately themed glasses also work to tie in the theme.

Bathroom Interior Design
Soft lighting can help achieve a relaxed ambiance, so swap your current bathroom candles for those of orange and yellow hues. You can coordinate the colors of the candles with updated hand towels that speak to the interior design atmosphere you are interested in. Introducing a different soap scent that ties into the fall season is a simple method to energize your bathroom’s interior design for fall. One of our favorites is the method Fig + Rhubarb soap, not only for the smell, but also because the purple color adds a secondary element to break up the warmth of the reds, yellows, and browns.

November 18, 2011

Design for the Gathering Places

How did it get to be November again already?! The holidays are officially here.

Dining rooms and kitchens across the country are preparing to be filled—filled with people and meals and laughter and thanksgiving and reunions and celebration. Despite the fact that you have plenty of sofa space and those great wingback chairs, your guests always seem to crowd around the table (ehhem, the food). Embrace the gathering places, and take a look at some of our favorite dining room furniture. All of this (and more!) available to you through Eheart.

dining table montage — (Dining furniture by Universal, Lexington, Caracole and Hooker)

A dining room isn’t finished without a make-a-statement light fixture. We think you’ll like these too:

light fixture montage — (Featured light fixtures by Currey & Company and Uttermost)

Happy Thanksgiving. May your gatherings be beautiful.

September 19, 2011

Kitchen and Dining Room Lighting FAQ

Here’s a couple of questions we get most often regarding lighting:
I’m remodeling and have heard lighting is important in a kitchen. How do I make sure it is laid out correctly?
Great question. Often times, people will layout can lights so that they are attractive on the ceiling. It looks nice on a floor plan to have six can lights, equally spaced in two rows of three, but this can create shadowing and keep a kitchen from having the functionality it needs. Instead, I suggest you center lights over a counter top (to prevent shadowing) over the work centers in the kitchen. Your kitchen designer has likely identified areas such as your sink, your prep zone, your baking zone, island eating areas, over your cook top, etc. A can light can be placed at each of these places. Accent lighting, such as pendants or other fixtures bring lighting closer to eye level.

I’ve got several can lights, do I really need to invest in new decorative fixtures too?
Yes. The secret to good lighting is layering. In a kitchen, light at task level (where your hands are working), eye level, and overhead lighting for maximum effect and function. Incorporate under cabinet lighting and put a lamp on your counter top to provide task level lighting. Plan for pendants, chandeliers, or other decorative fixtures to provide lighting at your eye level. Put these fixtures on dimmers and let them be your primary light sources when entertaining. Finally, utilize task oriented recessed can lights as discussed above.

Is there a rule for hanging a light fixture over a dining table?
Kind of, but I break it fairly often. The technical rule is that the bottom of the fixture should hang 32″ from the table surface. That said, if you’re particularly tall, this might not work for you. As a rule of thumb, hang it lower than you think you should. Remember, you can’t walk into this fixture–there’s a table in your way!–and hang it so that it engages your dining space.

Why are you so set on people looking attractive while they’re eating?
I met a designer while I was in design school who sought to mimic the look of dining under candlelight even while in an every day, ordinary eat-in kitchen. I loved the idea and copy him relentlessly when it comes to this. So paint your dining ceiling just slightly peach, use up lighting rather than down lighting, and repeat “dimmers” to yourself like a mantra.

What are the most common lighting faux pauxs you see during an inital consult?
1. Fixtures are too small. I see this especially with lamps. I can think of very few reasons to own a lamp less than 24″ tall and very few spaces that would call for a lamp of this petite size. Large scale lighting accomplishes something for the space. If the lighting you’re considering doesn’t make you a little bit nervous, it’s not worth it!
2. CFL bulbs. Though I love efficiency, I’m not sure I’m ready for the great bulb switch in 2012. That said, watch the type of CFL’s you use. It’s your home, not an operating room! Also, I am a huge fan of pink bulbs, which are only available in the incandesent variety. If I haven’t combed your local shelves of them, stock up while you still can.

What bright ideas do you have for lighting?

January 27, 2011

Resolve…to Use Light Like You Mean It!

If you’re still stuck with builder basic lighting, break free! The lighting your builder put into your home is most likely inappropriately scaled and lacks creativity and personality. Switching up your lighting may be the only thing you need to make your space say “Wow!”.

Here’s a few lights I’m specifying now…

January 21, 2011

Resolve to Create a Home Office She Will…..

Be inspired by…..Have you ever thought about what you might be able to create from a truly inspirational environment at home. You could create place to contemplate, meditate, pay bills, and create strategies to reach your goals, or just do your work. Your work space can be functional as well as beautiful. It should reflect who you are and who you want to become. Basic elements can set the theme and you can then add items you love as you find them along the way.

Be functional in… with just a little wild side and an unusual element in the light table for your friends to comment on. This scheme will allow you to use any color with it and give you the basics for years to come.

Experience the whimsical…. display of furnishings, lighting and rug as background is practical yet feminine. You can collect items in the display case that are near and dear to remind you of all things special in your life and snuggle up in the colorful easy chair to read, listen to music or if you have two, include your best friend for a great conversation.

Love the feel…… of a European Cottage and want to hide all of your work while still being organized these items may fit your bill. The pallet is cool and serene and yet gives you a sophisticated but homey feeling. Imagine a great cup of tea at the desk while you pay your bills, write you memoires, or send a note to your lover.

Be calm, edgy, contemporary, yet wild and feminine…… are the attributes of these special items. Create a great space for organization and to spend your private moments in. Special wall treatments, artwork, lighting and an artful area rug make up this space. You could also change the colors of the wall and area rug to a hot and saucy color for a more lively room.

Create large projects……and want a desk the size of a conference table you could have one. Think about a large table, your choice of chair style, and 10-12 chairs to pull of a spectacular presentation, dinner party, teach art, sewing, or how to make your famous desert to a few of your closest friends. Put a long sofa down one side and use it as a library table. Use a beautiful accent piece as a buffet, storage or art and throw in a great area rug for color and warmth and you have a winning idea.