The Latest and Greatest in Furniture

I just returned from a wonderful week at the Las Vegas Furniture Market.  With 3 buildings of up to 16 floors of showrooms, there is so much to see.  I think this was the busiest market I've been to there.  Is this a sign of the times?  Most vendors and designers I talked to seemed very busy with projects and positive about the economy.

Since pictures are worth a thousand words,  I'll show rather than tell all the fabulous things I discovered:

Spike chandelier, almost marquee style

I love these spiky accessories.  Not great for Feng Shui, though, I am told
 (sigh)

A dining table made from coffee trees

Cog-like mirrors.  Would be a classy addition to a steam punk interior

Fun and flashy pendants!

I saw a lot of dark brown with black.  Drama drama!
(trend alert!)

What fun whimsy legs

Fish scale mirror

Indigo still going strong in accent colors

Sophisticated dining set

Unique display cabinet

This is just the tip of the iceberg.  I'm looking forward to incorporating some of these items in my designs.  Which one is your favorite?

A Bright, Sunshiny Day

Sun Rooms are great for allowing one to feel like your outdoors with all the comforts of the indoors.

I recently completed a project of furnishing and accessorizing a sun room. We incorporated a lot of rustic elements, birds, birdcages, leaf motifs and bright colors that are perfectly suited to the clients taste and the rest of the house while making it an unique "outdoor" space.

I changed out the lighting for some unique pieces that add a fun element to the space.

Here is a custom chair that is a great stand-alone piece.

What is your opinion of sun rooms?  Do you have one, or wish you did?

Photos by Rebecca Ward

Lighting Trend

When I say "lighting trend", I'm really only referring to my own trend of what I'm gravitating toward.  However, it may indeed be an indicator of a larger industry trend, since there are so many great options available, especially from the Troy-CSL Lighting group.  Take a look at my finds below and you'll see the pattern I'm referring to....

These four are from Troy Lighting:

I've used this light fixture and a variation of it in two different projects.  Love it!

These two are from a division of Troy Lighting called Corbett Lighting:

Beautiful!! Love!!

Featured in current issue of Luxe Magazine

See the trend?  What are some lighting trends you are loving right now?

Big Design, Minimal Space

Today we have a guest post from Arcadian Lighting on how to design for smaller spaces and get the most out of them:
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Minimal space doesn't mean you have to skimp on design. Design is so important for small spaces where every element down to the light fixtures must be perfect in order not to waste precious space. Small bedrooms, studio apartments, powder rooms, and galley kitchens all benefit from big design ideas. Even small outdoor spaces can be transformed with expansive interior design ideas. A well designed small space can feel larger than its actual square footage.

Here are some ideas for using big design ideas in minimal spaces:

Interior Decorating Guide (via)

This outdoor room is small in space but large on design. Picking a theme, Moroccan in this case, can give the room a cohesive feeling. Lanterns, natural materials and accents complete the space.

Design Concepts/Interiors (via)

For a small bedroom, minimal furniture pieces make the space feel larger. Draped fabric on the wall or colorful curtains and accents add elegance and drama.

Marie Burgos Design (via)

A tiny bedroom benefits from tons of built in storage, under the bed, on the walls and concealed by closet doors. Love the drawers under the bed.

Material Girls Blog (via)

We often neglect to design our laundry rooms. Crisp white built-ins (with even a flat screen TV), bright floral wallpaper and interesting lighting fixtures make us almost want to do laundry. Almost.

Porter House Designs (via)

A small entry benefits from strong patterns and bold color. Small spaces are a great place to use bold color or patterns like the chain link pattern on the carpet, table lamps and framed art, with deep green walls.

Apartment Therapy (via)

Powder rooms can be the jewel boxes of big design elements. Traditional wallpaper and dark colors add elegance to this small bathroom. The complete the entire look, make sure to add bathroom lights to liven it up.

Apartment Therapy (via)

Furniture designed for small spaces, like the MisoSoup Design's K Workstation, is big on design. It has to be to fit multiple functions into a small footprint.

Furniture for Small Spaces (via)

Terence Conran's How to Live in Small Spaces is a fantastic resource for design ideas for minimal spaces.

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Content provided by Arcadian Lighting, a site that specializes in top quality lighting fixtures at extremely affordable prices. Come visit us today!

Thank you Arcadian Lighting!

Arcadian Lighting is the best source for home lighting accessories at discount prices. Founded in 2002, Arcadian Lighting started selling decorative home lighting fixtures and lamps online, and has become one of the top Internet retailers for home lighting products

Light Up Your World

As a designer, I am frequently specifying lighting for my clients and like to see what different vendors have to offer.  I was recently introduced to Light World,  which features Kichler lighting and some home accents.  They have both interior and exterior, residential and commercial lighting.  Since I am working on a new project requiring some more contemporary lighting I have made note of these light that might work.

Light World has recently launched a blog that has a lot of great information for the lighting consumer, including Lighting Feng Shui and the need to know about CFLs.  They are definitely knowledgeable and a great source for your lighting curiosities.  Be sure to stop by!

Images from Light World

Jewelry for Your House

Any woman can tell you that jewelry can make an outfit.  The right accessory can completely transform the same outfit from casual to fancy. I always consider light fixtures to be the jewelry of your house.  A light fixture must be carefully chosen since it can make or break a room.  I recently perused Shades of Light's online selection of fabulous light fixtures and found some goodies!  These would all make a wonderful statement.  Take a look!

I've always had a soft spot for these Moravian stars and any Moroccan lighting ever since I designed a Moroccan themed restaurant for a project in college.

And of course I noticed the grey one below right away.  I love this style of pendant!

Images from Shades of Light

Time For Something New? Enter the Giveaway!

Sometimes when you look over at that faithful table lamp that has served you well over the years, you realize that it's showing its age and it may be time for your trusty table lamp to enter retirement. Well, if that has happened to you, I may be able to help you out.

It's time for another giveaway!  I was contacted by an excellent internet source for lighting at CSN Lighting who generously is going to offer a $40 gift certificate to one of my readers to use on this site or any other CSN related sites that are great sources for new decorator items.

Giveaway entry details:
To enter, please browse CSN's sites and let me know what you would purchase if you won the gift card! Even if it's not a table lamp you need to replace, I'm sure there are other great items you will find you "need". Here's a link to CSN's list of sites.  There are 200+ so it's going to be difficult to decide!   (Note:  They ship only to US and Canada)  The last day to enter is next Thursday, July 15th at midnight (pacific time) and will be announced next Friday July 16th.  Winner selected using random.org.

Bonus entry:  If you are a new follower, let me know in the comments and click "follow"!

Another Bonus entry:  Repost this giveaway on twitter or you own blog to get another chance to enter the giveaway!  Be sure to leave a comment with the link to your post.



Besides the lighting site,  I have been enjoying the CSN site allmodern.com.  Here are a few goodies I've been eying:

Best of luck!

Images from CSN lighting and Allmodern.com

Let There Be Light

I ordered these light today from Lumens for my client today.  These Blocs Linear light will hang in front of those wonderful Robern uplift mirrors I mentioned a few posts back.

The sconce will actually be in a different finish, chrome with a clear and opal glass.  I can't wait to see them.  Lighting like this is really the jewelry of the room and will definitely make this bathroom look classy!

Images from Lumens

Incandescent No More?

At least, incandescent light bulbs will be no more for the Toshiba company who has been manufacturing these bulbs for 120 years.  They are now streamlining their production with more efficient, low energy bulbs as the demands for them increase.  The production of incandescent bulbs last year at Toshiba was half of what they produced in CFLs (compact fluorescent lights).  With many international governments restricting the use of incandescent bulbs, Toshiba is most likely the first of many manufacturers to start phasing out these less efficient lighting.  Here is an article which gives more details.

My only hope is that we go farther in our lighting technology to emulate the wonderful light an incandescent gives off in a more efficient way.  It's getting better, but there's nothing I'm excited to use as a great substitute.  LEDs (light emitting diode) and other low voltage lights usually give clean looking light but are weaker.  I love to use natural lighting as much as possible but obviously, you will have to turn on a light at some point in the evening or on a cloudy day. Lighting can affect greatly how color is cast in a space so this topic is very important to my line of work.

I thought this t-shirt design my husband found for me from threadless.com would shed some humor on the subject: It's a lightsaver!

Images from google images and threadless