Dominion Electric Lighting Blog

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Pictures from Dallas

Debbie Carr & Debbie Fortney & I attended the Dallas International Lighting Market last week, and I took so many pictures, I had to make a Picasa Google album! The link to the album is:
http://tinyurl.com/6kyu9gf/

If you don't have time to look through all of those pictures, here are my favorites. However, these pictures turned out really small, so the Picasa album is definitely better!





Debbie & Debbie with Alecia Wesner in the middle.
She designs a lot of the fixtures for George Kovacs, and she's also a jewelry designer. Her bracelet was first, and that inspired the drum over their heads!




Weiss & Biheller





WAC Lighting




Troy




Sterling Industries






Savoy House






Savoy House





Fredrick Ramond





Fredrick Ramond





Fredrick Ramond






Progress Lighting






Progress Lighting





Meyda Tiffany






Kichler (LED desk lamps)





Kichler (oval chandelier)






Hinkley

Loved this exterior series,

and was tickled to find it on display when I came back to Chantilly!

Our buyers (Amanda & Erin) do such a great job!





Murray Feiss ~ one of my favorite chandeliers of the whole market.










Crystorama ~ loved this pink vignette!








Cyan





Currey ~ gorgeous aqua!






Corbett



This sconce says "PEACE LOVE ROCK N ROLL"





Authenticity Lighting




Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Create an Outdoor Resort in Your Backyard

Today's blog post, along with a 10% off coupon, can also be found on our web site, here:
www.dominionelectric.com


This summer many families may be spending more vacation time at home instead of traveling to a distant location. According to the American Lighting Association (ALA), with a few updates to your outside lighting, you can enjoy a mini vacation at home. Believe it or not, it’s easier – and less expensive – than you might imagine to transform your existing patio, deck, or pool area into a retreat that you will love (and that will make the neighbors jealous).

Rather than buying a costly designer patio set or lounge chairs that will lose their luster by next season, invest in a new lighting scheme that will enhance your existing outdoor furniture and amenities.

“The best strategy is to clearly define your objectives,” says Joe Rey-Barreau, education consultant for the ALA and an associate professor at the University of Kentucky’s School of Interior Design. “It’s not necessary to illuminate everything in your yard, so decide which areas are the highest priorities,” he advises. “It is generally better to begin closest to the house, since that is where most activities take place.”

Beauty on a Budget
“Creating a beautiful landscape doesn’t have to be expensive,” says Rick Wiedemer of Hinkley Lighting. “A few well-placed, low-voltage path or accent lights can have a huge impact on a well-manicured landscape.” No lawn is too small. “Even modest homes or those with limited yards or gardens can benefit,” he states. “Low-voltage landscape lighting is inexpensive, safe and relatively easy to install. A handy homeowner can put in a low-voltage lighting system over a weekend.”

All that is needed are some basic tools, a transformer (which reduces standard 120-volt household current to the safe 12-volt level), outdoor low-voltage copper cable, and low-voltage lighting fixtures – all of which you can find at your local ALA-member lighting showroom.

“It’s an easy project that adds beauty, value and security, and doesn’t take a lot of time,” Wiedemer says.

Lew Waltz of Hadco agrees. “The best thing about using low-voltage lighting outdoors is you don’t have to do everything at once,” he explains. “I recommend purchasing a transformer that is larger than you immediately need. Let’s say you want to illuminate the deck area and provide task lighting for cooking at the grill. After selecting the fixtures, you add up the wattage and figure it will use 200 watts of light. However, next year, you might like to add lighting to the patio, highlight some potted plants, and install a water feature in the backyard,” says Waltz. “Instead of purchasing a transformer that is just large enough for the deck, buy one that will operate two to three times that amount of wattage. You only pay for the energy consumed by the fixtures. In other words, a 600-watt transformer that only has 200 watts of fixtures on it, uses 200 watts of energy, not 600,” he says.

How do you start? “Select two or three items that are important to you during the daylight hours, such as an ornamental tree, a water feature, a sculpture, etc.,” Waltz explains. “A fixture or two trained on each of these features will make your backyard come to life after dark. You can go back and fill in with some additional lighting later, if the budget is tight this year. By adding three or four fixtures to that larger transformer you purchased for the deck, you still haven’t used all the available power.”

Another important tip is to buy the best quality and well-constructed fixtures you can afford. “They will last for decades,” Waltz says, adding, “There are a tremendous number of homeowners who purchase the least expensive fixtures they can find, only to discover that they need to replace them within a year or two. That actually ends up costing more over a 10-year period than if they had purchased better-quality products in the beginning,” he says.

When laying out your project, remember a little light goes a long way outdoors. Consulting with a lighting professional at your local ALA-member lighting showroom can help you avoid making the common mistake of too many fixtures in one area.

“I see this happen a lot with path lighting,” Waltz notes. “Folks will place fixtures six to eight feet apart when lighting a sidewalk, and they end up using 10 fixtures for a 50- to 60-foot path. That path can easily be illuminated with three to four fixtures if you select a fixture that is designed by a reputable manufacturer that builds performance into their products,” he advises. “By selecting a fixture from a performance-oriented manufacturer, you will save considerable amount of money on the project by not having to purchase and install extra fixtures to accomplish the desired effect.”

These days there are many more decorative landscape lighting fixtures than the basic black path lights. Wiedemer suggests taking inspiration from your home’s interior or exterior architectural elements. “The combination of form plus function is very important,” he says.

“The idea of enhancing your outdoor environment to reflect your personal style is very popular, especially as we look for more ways to extend the amount of time we spend outside. There are many attractive designs available and you can add color and interest with different glass choices, unique castings, nature-inspired shapes, and architectural elements,” Wiedemer says.

A new and extremely efficient light source – and what Wiedemer refers to as “a true ‘green’ solution” – is LED. This developing lighting technology provides equivalent light output to that of halogen or incandescent, but at considerable energy savings of up to 75 percent less. Wiedemer estimates the average lifespan of a well-made LED light source to exceed 40,000 hours or more than 12 years of average nightly use. If you install timers with the transformers to turn the system off during late night hours, you will not only cut down even further on energy costs, but will also increase the lifespan of the bulbs.

Please visit your local Dominion Electric showroom to see a multitude of styles that will create focal points for your garden or yard while making a decorative statement.



Thursday, June 9, 2011

Decor by Denise Grand Opening!

A couple of weeks ago, I attended a fabulous Grand Opening at the new showroom in Vienna for Decor by Denise. She just shared her blog post with me, so now I wanted to share it with our readers!
Please click here to read Denise's blog, and to see all of the pictures she posted:
http://dreamdesignlive.com/2011/06/09/our-grand-opening-celebration-finally/#comment-389/

I wanted to share my favorite pictures here directly. This first shot is of their new showroom:





I LOVE before and after pictures ~ check out how they transformed their blah commercial entrance into a gorgeous designer showcase:


This is the before....





Can you believe this is even the same area?! How gorgeous!




This is me (Catherine) with their brand new intern, Marie Claire.





Alex, Sarah, and Denise ~ my new friends of Decor by Denise!




Thank You To All Who Attended Our Grand Opening!

Friday, June 3, 2011

New Quoizel on display

I'm so excited to show you some of the new Quoizel Lighting we just hung on display!




I have loved this fixture since they first came out with it a few years ago. It's part of Laurie Smith's Illuminations collection ~ #LSE5005GY. I keep hearing that brass is coming back ~ if it's this tone of "gallery gold", I welcome it!






Here's another updated twist on a "brass" lantern, from the same collection. This finish is "natural brass". Both are solid brass construction. LSS1814NR





This chandelier features a sand bisque and earth black combination finish. It makes for an interesting contrast. We have 2 others in this family ~ let me know if you'd like to see their pictures as well. ELM5005SEC







It's nice to see a true black finish. We get lots of requests for black, but it's harder to find than you might imagine! They call theirs "mystic black", and this lantern has clear beveled panel glass. GY5208K





Now for a few outdoor pieces. Isn't this lantern unique? They call it "Welland", and it's done in a burnished copper finish. This one is "medium" and it also comes "small". WLD8508BD




I don't ever recall seeing such a nice hanging "onion" lantern. It's bigger in person than it appears here in the picture, so you'll have to come for a visit! This family is also done in their mystic black finish, and it's clear seedy glass. COR1914K


This is the matching wall lantern. There are a total of 3 sizes for the wall, two post tops, and the hanger. This one is # COR8410K.




I'll close with my favorite new ceiling light. It may be hard to see in the picture, but the outer glass is clear, and then there's an inner, opal etched drum glass. Very nice! Paladian Bronze is the finish, and this is the larger size, #WLS1615PN. It takes three 75-watt bulbs, too, so nice & bright in addition to being so handsome!