New Elegant Crystal Lighting

Happy Friday, everyone, and the last day in April! Today my nephew turns 15, which is a reminder of how fast time flies! (Happy Birthday, Adam!) Around Dominion Electric Supply we are excited about a new crystal line that all three showrooms brought in from the Dallas market. And you will NOT believe the prices! Email me or post a comment if you want to know HOW low!!!

Here are the ones we've hung in Chantilly so far:

I started with my favorite ~ Elegant Lighting # 7858D28SS-SS. You HAVE to come see this one in person because you can not tell how gorgeous this piece is from the picture. The crystals are "Strass Swarovski Silver Shade" ~ the silver is quite subtle, but absolutely stunning!

Elegant # 7830D26B ~ this is one of the most beautiful black crystal chandelers I have ever seen!

Elegant #2528D28 ~ This is a classic style that we displayed years ago by another vendor. It's still a great piece for today's large foyers. So sparkly!

Elegant # 1803D20C ~ I love the thick band in the middle of this empire style. Very unique!

Elegant # 2030F12C ~ Isn't this a neat mixture of "piano keys" and crystal balls?

The Solar and Wind Expo

Visit our booth at the Solar and Wind Expo!

The Expo will be held at the Timonium Fairgrounds May 7 through May 9, located right in the heart of the Baltimore/Washington metropolitan area. With numerous new government incentive programs and exciting technological innovations in the industry, now is the perfect time to integrate green technologies into your everyday life, both reducing your carbon footprint and saving money.

A raffle will be held at the expo with a $1.9 million solar, near-zero-energy home as the Grand Prize. The raffle has been assembled to help keep “TV worth watching,” Maryland Public Television, in the community. First Prize is a 2010 Honda Insight hybrid vehicle. Tickets go are on sale for just $100 each online www.mptgreenhomeraffle.com.

Selfridge Custom Builders constructed the Grand Prize dwelling located in Clarksville, in Howard County. Its features include LEED-certified "green" construction, a 70% reduction in energy costs over its lifetime, a solar photovoltaic system capable of providing a lifetime of free electricity for the homeowner, a solar hot water system, a whole-house air purification system for healthier indoor air quality and CREE LED lighting (provided by Dominion Electric Supply!).

Learn More: http://www.thesolarandwindexpo.com/index.html/

Washington Post Designer Home Spring 2010 Guide

Our own Erin Schwartz is being quoted again! This is an eletter that goes out from The Washington Post.

Erin says, "The key to making any room look amazing is to have three sources of light, to create a layered effect. For example, in a dining room, we recommend updating the central hanging fixture, then adding small, recessed halogen lights to highlight your artwork and your dining room centerpieces. Then step back and watch your room come alive.”

When choosing lighting, it’s important to remember it’s not just about the fixture, it’s about the bulb you select. Traditional bulbs give off a soft glow while halogen lights have a brighter, more focused effect. The hottest trend in bulbs is LED lighting, which are also very eco-friendly. But their higher price has kept some people away.“By next year,” Schwartz says, “it will be a more affordable option.” Decorative hot trends are painted finishes, clear jeweled crystal chandeliers, and drum chandeliers. “Drum chandeliers are popping up everywhere, in all styles of homes. They’re not just for modern homes anymore.”

The featured fixtures are by Murray Feiss. We have them on display in Chantilly for sure, and possibly our other showrooms too, so come on in to see them in person!

Happy Earth Day!

Loved today's House Calls in the Washington Post from Lynn Madyson Designs:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/artsandliving/homeandgarden/features/house-calls/20100422/index-after.html/
You know I love any mention of lighting, and Lynn Madyson's hint is to "Dress up the landing with a bit of jewelry, such as a pendant chandelier."

The one they picture is by AF Lighting, #4950-1H. Cute!

I also wanted to say Happy Earth Day and let you know that our Kichler LED all-in-one undercabinet lights have arrived into stock! We have all 4 sizes in all 3 colors now ~ Bronze, Stainless Steel, and White. We have one on display in Chantilly and can not believe how bright and beautiful the light is! So you can save energy and help save the Earth by going LED right now ~ Celebrate Earth Day!

And don't forget about our sale through Saturday and our Landscape Lighting Seminars next week. Email or call me for details: cschla@dominionelectric.com or 703-814-7460.

Spring Sale and Landscape Lighting Seminars

This is mostly a test! A test of our blog feed into our Facebook page.... It hasn't been working lately! But I also wanted to remind everyone that our Spring Sale is still going on, through Saturday the 24th. And Patty Jordan, our head of marketing, tells me this ad has been getting a LOT of inquiries, so we thought we should show it again. One last reminder ~ our Landscape Lighting seminars are next week, so don't forget to RSVP if you plan on attending. Let me know if you need any details on any of these items!

Here's a close-up ~ it's a Murray Feiss F2568/3BUS

Home & Design Magazine ~ Get the Look!

I was just reading the Late Spring edition of Home & Design magazine and this picture really jumped out at me:

We LOVE the look of a lantern over a table! You can get this look from several manufacturers. Here are a couple of ideas:

This one is by Cyan Designs.


And this one is from Currey & Co.



And then this was our little item in their "Bazaar" section. We are finding all sorts of places to use the new LED strip lights available from several different companies.

Don't forget, our Spring Sale continues through Saturday the 24th. 15% off all in-stock decorative items, plus red-tag specials starting at 30% off!

Visit from Alan Indursky of Norwell Lighting

We just had a nice visit from Alan Indursky, the President of Norwell Lighting. We have new reps ~ Bill Barnhart & Stan Oldfield of Representations Inc. They're not new reps to us, just new with the Norwell line! Alan brought along this Wave sconce:



It is surprisingly heavy ~ great quality! And they make it in a "right" and a "left" so the waves are on opposing sides. The glass actually screws into the base, too, so you know it will be straight and tight. Beautiful!

Thanks, Alan, for visiting Dominion Electric Supply!

Home and Garden Tip - Outdoor Living Space

I just got this tip from the Washington Post in my in-box this morning, about how to spruce up a porch this spring:
http://contact.washpost.com/go.asp?/bCAW013/mFFKB1VM1/uSNHDFUM1/xHIQU1VM1/

They say: "If you're lucky enough to have a porch, this is the time of year you can start spending time out there. At the 2010 DC Design House, which opened its four week run in Chevy Chase last Saturday, Washington designer Andrew Law assembled a classy, comfortable outdoor terrace where everything was carefully chosen for indoor/outdoor living.

We asked Law to give us some tips for what works and what doesn't in Washington's muggy climate, where porches can be covered in pollen or doused by thunderstorms."

Their last bullet point states:
"Lighting the outdoors is crucial. Law added recessed lighting in the ceiling which made a huge difference in how the porch looked in the evening. He also installed exterior wall lanterns and an iron hanging chandelier. "

If you want to learn more about lighting your outdoor living spaces, we are having seminars in each of our showrooms in two weeks ~ see earlier posts for details, or contact me at cschla@dominionelectric.com.

Landscape Lighting Seminar AND Spring Sale!

We have so much going on at Dominion Electric Supply this month!


Our Spring Sale starts tomorrow, Thursday April 15th, and runs through Saturday the 24th. All in stock lighting is 15% off our lowest tag price, so you even get that discount off our Red Tag items (which start at 30% off). And don't forget, all blog readers and Facebook fans can get those discounts early, so you can come on in today and mention you heard about the sale right here! Amazing deals!

And then in two weeks, all three showrooms will be hosting Landscape Lighting seminars. See the details in the invitation below, or email me for more info (cschla@dominionelectric.com). The seminar is open to anyone who wants to attend, and we'd love to see you!

Upcoming Hadco landscape lighting seminars

Have you ever wanted to learn more about landscape lighting? Well you're about to have an opportunity to do so! My marketing department is working on the official invitations, but that means our blog readers and Facebook fans will be the first to have a chance to RSVP! We are honored to have Lew Waltz from Hadco landscape lighting hosting our seminars on April 28th and 29th. Read all about him right here:

He will start in Arlington on Tuesday April 27th from 10:30 to 12:30.
Then we'll have him in Chantilly on the same day from 4:00 to 6:00.
He'll finish up in Laurel on Wednesday April 28th from 10:30 to 12:30.

The seminars will be geared to designers, contractors, and landscape professionals, but all are welcome to attend. We just ask that you RSVP so we can have a head count for our caterers (yes, we'll have food!). You can email me at cschla@dominionelectric.com if you are interested, or if you'd like more information. We hope to see you here!

Kichler all-in-one LED undercabinet lights

I'm excited ~ we are ordering in Kichler's new all-in-one LED undercabinet lights:

Arlington already has a few of the white in stock....

And my purchasing department just ordered these stainless steel & bronze.

We have a Stainless Steel one on display in Chantilly ~ you really have to come check it out! I think the brightness and color quality are amazing! Arlington & Laurel will be updating their displays very soon, too. Let me know if you want any more details about these. The bottom line is you do not need a separate driver or transformer ~ everything is on board. So they will wire in just like any older xenon, halogen, or fluorescent fixture. But they are Energy Star rated, have a limited lifetime warranty, and have a 40,000 hour life while using 12.4 watts or less (wattage varies with fixture length). Fantastic!

Spring Sale

I am back from a wonderful spring break vacation with my kids ~ we stayed at home and went down to DC and Old Town Alexandria and enjoyed the gorgeous weather. So now I'm back at work, and we are gearing up for our annual Spring Sale!

The sale officially runs from next Thursday, April 15th, through Saturday April 24th...

But all of our dear blog readers and Facebook fans can print out this card and come in now to enjoy the sale prices early! All in-stock lighting is 15% off our everyday low prices, and we also have lots of red-tagged marked-down items in all 3 showrooms ~ those items start at least 30% off our regular pricing, and some have been reduced drastically more. So come on in and get some great deals on new lighting for your home!