Raving Fans

We're ending February with some nice feedback from our customers, so I wanted to share it! Last week I got a wonderful voice mail from a woman who said, "I just wanted to call and let your company know that I’ve been very impressed with Dominion and the way that you’ve been helping me pick out my lights. Kaity Bloxton is an excellent person for the job -- she’s just wonderful as far as being helpful and I’m definitely going to come back and get some more lights."

And then Debbie Carr went to the Home & Garden Show over the weekend and was tickled to see our name on this plaque at Golden Rule Builder's booth:

It says, "Thank You to our valued team of trade partners" and lists Dominion Electric Supply along with 6 other companies. Many years ago I read the book "Raving Fans" by Ken Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles, and I couldn't help but think of that book today when thinking about these nice compliments from our customers. What a nice way to start our week!

Dominion's Lighting at Ciro's Italian Restaurant

Check out this fabulous installation shot:

Debbie Carr assisted the owners of Ciro's Italian Restaurant in Monroe Township, New Jersey when they visited Dominion Electric Supply to choose new lighting. These lanterns are by Sterling Industries, their # 92-073. I feel like we spend all of our working hours in our showrooms, and we don't get to get out nearly often enough, to see our lighting after it's been installed in its new home. So if anyone else out there wants to share pictures of lighting they've purchased from us, I'd love to showcase more pictures here!

New Hinkley and Fredrick Ramond on display

Last week I told you it's our season for hanging new fixtures, and the trend continues this week! Right now, our guys in Chantilly are hard at work assembling and hanging new items from Hinkley Lighting and Fredrick Ramond. Here's what they've displayed so far:

This is one of my favorite new pieces of the season... so far! The shade is oval, so it's very interesting from all angles. FR44626BCH

Love the square-ness of this one! FR49454BNI

Ok, so this picture is tiny... You have to come see this one ~ some of the crystals are huge hunks! Really spectacular! FR43456SGD

I think it can be challenging to find elegant, 2-tiered chandeliers. This one is gorgeous! FR42728SLF

The bottom of this chandelier is a circular ring that touches all the arms, so very unique and interesting. 3985PL

The word that comes to mind when I look at this chandelier is "handsome" ~ it's so nicely tailored. 4545RB

And brass never goes out of style here in Virginia. Hinkley has always done a great job with their burnished brasses and brushed bronzes, and this is a wonderful, sleek example. 4664BR

Stay tuned to see what's new later this week and on into the next couple of months ~ our displays change every day in all 3 of our showrooms, so you have to visit often!

New Island Lights from Savoy House

I love this time of year... Not February exactly, but after-market time (although we're having spring-like weather here this week at Dominion Electric Supply). Our buyers returned from their annual trip to the Dallas lighting market at the end of January, and now the new fixtures are starting to arrive! This week they started with some island lights from Savoy House. (You could use these over a long table or pool table, too ~ we just call them island lights.)

I have always loved the St. Laurence family ~ the finish is called New Tortoise Shell w/Silver Finish, and the glass is Cream Textured. Savoy # 1-2574-3-8

This one is from their Sutton Place family, # 1-1705-3-13. It's an English Bronze finish, with Cream Faux Marble glass.

And # 1-6910-3-13 is the Vanguard family, also in English Bronze, with Cream Opal Etched Glass. I love the curve of the arm on this one.

Free Lighting Layout!

February is flying by, and I just realized that means we're half-way to the end of our raffle for a free Lighting Layout! So if you haven't already signed up to enter the raffle, time is running out. Don't delay! Here are the details:

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.

Lighting Tips ~ Care of Crystorama Lighting

I'm always looking for lighting tips to share with our readers. Last week I had a wonderful chat with Claudia Dal Lago at Crystorama Lighting, and she guided me to great pages in their catalog and web site: http://www.crystorama.com/t-ideas.aspx

I know you can't read this on screen, so if you don't want to click & print my picture, let me give you the highlights:

• How wide should a chandelier be? Measure the length & the width of the room and add those figures together (and make them inches). For example, if your room is 12' x 14', 12 + 14 = 26, so your chandelier should be about 26" wide (give or take a couple of inches).


• How low should a chandelier hang with a two-story ceiling? The chandelier should hang 10-11' above the floor.


• What is the height a chandelier should hang above a table? The bottom of the chandelier should hang 30-32" above the table (which is usually about 5' off the floor).

Please remember that all of this info is also on Crystorama's web site.

Next they talk about the different types of crystal that they offer:

• Swarovski Elements used to be called "Strass" ~ it's the most optically pure and has an invisible coating that makes it easier to clean.


• Swarovski Spectra is a wonderful alternative crystal. It is still brilliant with superior light reflections.


• Hand-cut Clear Crystal is the choice of traditionalists. It's hand cut and then polished on a wood wheel with marble dust.


• Silver Shade & Golden Teak are the newest colored crystals ~ great for the glamour look, or added elegance.

They also have a great Facebook fan page, and they've already run one contest, with more to come, so you should "Like" them if you don't already! Here's a link to their page:
http://tinyurl.com/6h8w97p/

Stay tuned ~ they're planning to also launch a Twitter page very soon!

Don't forget that Dominion Electric Supply is already there ~ Twitter & everywhere! You can follow us in 5 places on the web:
~ Facebook (Dominion Electric Supply Co)
~ Twitter (@DomElecSup)
~ Blogger (http://dominionelectric.blogspot.com/) (residential lighting)
~ Blogger (http://spotopportunities.blogspot.com/) (electrical supplies)
~ the old-fashioned internet (http://www.dominionelectric.com/)

Thanks again to Crystorama Lighting for sharing their great tips!

Lighting Layout Raffle

Happy Groundhog Day! I heard he predicted a short winter, which I'm sure all the people in the middle of the country will be happy to hear!

February also brings the official beginning to our Lighting Layout raffle.


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.