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Light Up Your Home Life Part 2: A Look at Lighting Options

Posted October 28, 2019

In part two of our recent appearance on CTV News at Noon, Amsted President Steve Barkhouse explores lighting options, trends, and products to light up your home, with some help from our friends at Marchand Electric.

When you shop for a new sofa or another piece of furniture, it’s not hard to envision how it might look in your living room. And if you’re considering a new wall colour, you can test pretty simply with swatches.

But shopping for lighting can be more complicated. That’s why it’s great to visit a lighting showroom and speak to the experts. We recommend Marchand Electric to our clients, and they have a couple of showrooms across the city.

In speaking with them about sharing lighting options, they suggested several items and trends to showcase. The video displays many of the items, but here’s a bit about them.

1) dals dimmable LED flush mounts

If you read part 1 of our CTV appearance on lighting, looking at how one of our renovations transformed a dark, closed-off home into a light-filled open-concept space, you would have seen these flush-mount lights. We used square ones on the main floor and circular ones on the second floor.

These fixtures are one of the most popular options we’re recommending right now. They have simple, clean lines, a low profile and the lighting goes right to the edge. They come in two finishes (satin nickel and white) and have a “warm” light (10502K, which is a measurement of light appearance). They’re suitable for wet and dry areas, are dimmable, and they fit into a standard electrical box. Plus, they’re LED so they’re cost effective and Energy Star certified.

2) Luna 4 recessed light

If you want a little more customization, here’s an option for you. With these lights you can control the light temperature right on the fixture, making it a warmer or cooler light as needed. It gives you the flexibility to set it up in your space and gauge your needs or change it with the seasons as the space gets different natural lighting at different times of year.

These are also suitable for wet or dry locations, indoors or outdoors, and are dimmable. They come with either circle or square mounting plates and are available in brushed nickel or black and white finishes. And, of course, they are also LED, cost effective and Energy Star certified.

3) dals smart bulbs

Continuing with customizable colour temperatures, these LED bulbs are super simple: plug and play. You download the app, select your bulbs, and the options are endless. You can change the temperature of the white like in the Luna 4 lights, or play with colours.

These bulbs are also dimmable and can be set to a schedule, so your lights turn on and off while you’re out of town, or simply have your lights on for when you arrive home from work. They’re compatible with Amazon Alexa and Google devices so you can dim, change colours, and turn on and off to your heart’s content. They’re also available as pot lights, flush mounts and in different sizes.

4) Caseta smart lighting dimmer kit

Amsted Design-Build lighting options Caseta smart lighting dimmer kit

If you like the idea of the smart lighting but want to maintain a manual option, check this one out! A start-up kit is available for dimmable, programmable lighting for the lamps in your home. All it requires is a single wall outlet and your lamp plugs into it (similar to older-style light timers).

This works with dimmable LEDS, halogen and incandescent bulbs — basically whatever you already have in your home. You can download the app and you have the ability to control your lamps easily and simply from the included remote or from your phone.

5) Adorne wall plates

How about controlling your overhead lights? If you’re sick of the standard wall plates, these are a beautiful upgrade that offer so much variety, from a simple light switch to ones including plugs, USB ports, pop-out plugs, fan controls, motion sensors, dimmer switches and more.

Plates are customizable with various colours and since it’s a flat surface, we also wall-papered over one of these in our new office for a completely seamless look (see photo). They also have a handy project planner and checklist so you know exactly what you need when you go to order.

What about trends?

We’ve talked lighting and bulbs, but now we’re going to share some trends in light fixtures, because this is where your room really comes together. Adding light fixtures to a home is much like adding the perfect piece of jewelry to your look — it reflects and accentuates the space.

Here are some trends we’re seeing this year.

1) Trend: LED filament lights

Filament light fixtures aren’t new to the scene, but LED lighting options for them are. Bulbrite offers these oversize options that work with some of the beautiful pendant lights on the market today. These offer the industrial look of an incandescent light that you want but with added energy efficiency.

2) Trend: Light fixtures as art pieces

Lighting can do double-duty as an art piece and functional element. This table lamp does just that.

3) Trend: Organic shapes

Organic shapes can be either understated or in an unexpected finish that brings nature to a glamourous highlight. The Aberdeen pendant, an  oversize brass chandelier looks like a collection of metal-dipped branches.

4) Trend: Rustic light fixture

Fill spaces with comfortable, cosy, warm and welcoming ambience. Hints of gold are appearing in farmhouse fixtures to create an upscale, refined version like this Enkel pendant.

5) Trend: LED fixtures in black, gold or blue

Hot colours for the season are black, gold and blue; and, as always, tying in LED lighting for energy efficiency. The Fletcher pendant shown here and in the segment transcends style boundaries fitting any decor.

6) New: Nanoleaf light panels

Amsted Design-Build lighting options Nanoleaf light panels

Now this one’s just fun! These panels are more art installation than anything else. Each panel can be controlled individually by an app on your phone or the included controller. In addition, they can “dance” to the music to really get the party started!

Special thanks again to our friends at Marchand Electric. And to see some of these lighting options put to use, check out part 1 of our CTV appearance, where we show a before-and-after reno transformation.