Check It Out - Light It Up!

I love Google alerts! I just got an alert that another form of last year's article about "How to Make Small Spaces Seem Larger" is out there in cyberspace: http://tinyurl.com/6amwcwu/

I love the bullet-point version of this article ~ I was interviewed by Linda Longo of Home Lighting & Accessories magazine, along with 2 other experts, and she wrote the articles.

(I blogged about this in November ~ you can go here to see the other article:
http://tinyurl.com/6em9bku/ )

Here's the new article, courtesy of courier-journal.com:

Whether by choice or necessity, many are opting to downsize their homes. According to the American Lighting Association, choosing the right kind of lighting and paying attention to its placement can make small rooms look more spacious.

A few lighting tips from experts:

Proportion is everything. Entryways in small homes will likely not be able to carry a typical foyer chandelier or lantern-style light, so consider semiflush mounts, flush mounts and mini-chandeliers.

Here are some examples of this, from our displays in Chantilly:

Mina 955-126 mini-chandelier

Murray Feiss F2480/4 OBZ mini-chandelier

Power of portables. Place several table lamps and small accent lamps throughout the room. Multiple points of lighting dramatically increase the perception of space.

Visual Comfort CHA8939Q-NP

Keep it low. Lights should have relatively low wattage and dimmer switches. If lamps don't have built-in dimmers, they can be plugged into tabletop dimmers, which work with most lamps and are sold through lighting showrooms.

Long and lean. Use tall, slender torchiers, which direct light dramatically upward and don't take up much space.

Kichler 76139

Mount it. Wall sconces take up no floor or surface space.

Kichler 45137NI

Hudson Valley 1951-SN

Special effects. A technique called “wall washing” makes spaces appear larger. It involves positioning the light (there are fixtures specifically made for this purpose) so that it grazes the wall, drawing attention outward.

Mini versions. Many standard light fixtures — from pendants and chandeliers to table lamps — come in scaled-down sizes.

Murray Feiss P1179 HTBZ/PGD

For more information or to find a local ALA showroom: http://www.AmericanLightingAssoc.com/.

Sources: Rick Seidman, president of Quoizel, a lighting manufacturer based in South Carolina; practicing architect and lighting designer Joe Rey-Barreau, an education consultant for the ALA and an associate professor at the University of Kentucky's School of Interior Design; and Catherine Schlawin, an ALA-certified lighting consultant (CLC) and residential lighting manager at Dominion Electric Supply in Chantilly, Va.

Facebook contest and Consultation Raffle!

Happy Friday! I wanted to update you on the Facebook contest ~ we are getting extremely close to hitting our 300 fan mark! And when we hit 300 "likes", we will raffle off our $100 Dominion Electric Supply gift certificate! So if you want to help speed up the process, go to our page (Dominion-Electric-Supply-Company), and under the picture of our beautiful Chantilly showroom building at night, you'll see "Suggest to Friends". Click that, and suggest away, and we'll get to 300 before we know it!

And then I wanted to give our followers a very special preview of another raffle, which we'll officially roll out in February. But you can go ahead and enter now!
So we've always offered Lighting Layout Services, but we feel like we've never publicized them well, and we wanted to get our act in gear! So send me your Name, Address, Phone, Fax, email, and I will enter you in the raffle (I can be reached at cschla@dominionelectric.com). You will be entered to win a FREE 3-hour Lighting Layout Consultation. This includes:

• A trained lighting specialist to review your plans (you can choose your specialist from any of our 3 area showrooms ~ Arlington, Laurel, or Chantilly).


• A lighting layout.


• A Quotation.

Winners will be drawn at random at the end of February. One winner per showroom!

This card shows the particulars of the Layout Fee:

So normally we would charge $100 per hour, and then we apply that fee in full to your order, as long as the majority of the original quotation is ordered. So really, it's free to you. Please remember that lighting design takes time, and we suggest making an appointment for consultation with blueprints or plans.

Can you help find a cure for cancer?

I just HAVE to spread the word about this! My friend Margie is running her first full marathon in March in my honor. 10 years ago I was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma, life-changing news for sure. I discovered Team in Training 2 years ago, a great way to help fund research and assist current patients & their families, with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Last year, Margie got the bug & joined TNT too, and this year, she's running for me. So if you can help her fund & find a cure for cancer, that would be FABULOUS! Thanks! Catherine

My Fundraising Page

Kitchen and Bath News

Thanks to Allison Martin at NVS Remodeling and Design for telling me that we were featured in this month's Kitchen and Bath Design magazine!




Here is a link to the article: http://tinyurl.com/4keylgk/ Of course, I think you should read the WHOLE article, but my favorite points are:

• Dim every light you can dim!
• Lighting placement is crucial, especially for under cabinet lights and recessed.
• The power of three: the ideal is to have a central fixture, recessed, and under cabinet lights (or some other combination of 3 types).

Linda Longo of Home Lighting & Accessories Magazine wrote the article for our American Lighting Association ~ she does such a great job! And it's always fun to see Dominion Electric Supply quoted as lighting experts ~ we would sure like to think that we are, and hope you do, too!

New LBL on display

Happy New Year! We started 2011 by hanging a really cool LED monorail by LBL Lighting. The monorail itself has a blue LED light through it, like this:

But of course we couldn't hang just one color or pendant style off of it! Instead, we have these new pendants to show you:

This one is called "Rachel" and we're displaying her in latte/opal.

We have Mini-Monty in mocha.

This is Jelly in mocha ~ it's not new to us, but it's one of our favorites, so I had to include it!



This picture isn't great ~ but this is Cylia in blue. In person, the blue is a vibrant cobalt. You'll just have to come visit and see it!

This is a new favorite for many of us ~ Banja in aquamarine ~ a gorgeous blend of colors!

And last but not least we have Abbey in amber red ~ another stunning blend of colors.

And here's another shot off their web site (www.lbllighting.com) of the LED rail in red.