Guides on Planning an Outdoor Lighting Layout

Outdoor lighting projects such as garden lighting, park, landscape lighting need a serious planing. A successful outdoor lighting plan requires selecting the right fixtures, then placing and wiring them correctly. The first thing before planing an outdoor lighting is Selecting the right design and components, Walk into any home center or garden center this spring and you’re guaranteed to run into a towering display of low-voltage lighting. You’ll find $69 prepackaged sets and $100 individual lights; plastic fixtures and metal ones; lights you can shine down from trees and up from ponds.

Use waterproof pond lights for illuminating pools, fountains and other water features; offset path lights for lighting walkways; cone lights for highlighting both walkways and the surrounding plants; tree-mounted spotlights for simulating moonlight; and flood lights for illuminating trees, buildings and other large elements.

Consider that a Special lights need special effects too, A MOON LIGHT should be installed 15 to 30 ft. high and have one or more branches between it and the ground to simulate moon shadows. Provide at least 24 in. between the light and branches to prevent “hot spots.”

Here are another tips on designing an outdoor lighting plan:

• If your lights come with press-on fittings—the type that bite through the insulation and into the wire to make their connection—cut them off and use the wire connectors shown in Photo 4. 
• The farther a light is from the transformer (and the more lights installed between it and the transformer), the less light it will put out.  
• Always leave a little extra wire as you hook up the lights. This will give you the freedom to move a light after you’ve hooked it up for testing or after you’ve installed it.
• Burying the wires should be your last step. Lay everything out, hook up your lights, test your voltage, and look at your results at night before burying the lines.
• Purchase a transformer with a built-in photocell and timer. Orient the photocell with some western (sunset) orientation so it doesn’t turn lights on too early.

more information: rd.com

Outdoor Lighting System of Confort Myojindai with EYE CERA ARC lamps

The outdoor  lighting system for this housing complex was revamped along with exterior improvements of the housing development. Pole lights and approach lights of human scale and height have been set up along the pathways for the development. Here is an outdoor lighting system of Confort Myojindai, located in Yokohama City, Japan.

By combining wide-span light distributing Cerca fixtures and highly efficient EYE CERA ARC lamps, a lighting environment was created, which contributes to energy conservation while ensuring sufficient illuminant for safety. Environmentally-friendly lighting system that controls light pollution gently illuminates the garden.

The solar LED blocks are set up along the roads, for creating a visual guidance effect and therapeutic space, so it make a romantic and safety road to use the roads. [eye]

Bathroom Lighting Design in Several Specific Area Lights

Bathroom lighting is an important element in creating a convenience bathroom, a well designed bathroom lighting can bring your bathroom alive at night or in the day (if you don't have a natural light outlet). As compared to the amount of money you end up shelling out for the cumulative of bathroom accessories including the bathroom vanity. There are several areas that should specific in creating a bathroom light, you can choose one of them or combining several of bathroom lights focus.

The first area is the ceiling bathroom lighting, Scones work out perfectly for a central lighting, usually at the center of the bathroom ceiling. Try to keep central lighting to minimum, it should be just enough to illuminate the bathroom to a visibility level.

The other bathroom lighting design is on the shower room or steam room bathroom light. Here again you can experiment with wall inset lights or go in for frosted bulbs. If you use the shower room for shaving also, then do consider placing the bulb so that there is no reflection or glare onto the mirror

Bathtub lighting can bring the atmosphere of romantic sense. Ensure the use of water resistant sockets near the tub. You can have inset lights along the top corner of the wall near the tub with the lights pointing away from the center of the tub. You can have a artificial candle lights surrounding the tub to give it a romantic touch. Cove lighting would be the best preference for tub lighting as it adds a air of soothing illumination.

Tiling a Shower

Progress on Renovating a Shower Continues

By Mark J. Donovan

I spent most of yesterday tiling my shower. This is after spending a couple of weekends removing the old ceramic tile, backer board and fiberglass shower pan, and installing new backerboard, and a mortar shower pan.

Suffice it to say renovating the shower has been a major project. One significant contributor to the work, particularly as it relates to tiling the shower, is cutting the tiles in my garage. Though this has helped to prevent a colossal mess in the bathroom and given me room to work, it has meant lots of running up and down stairs, 1.5 flights. I feel like I have been on a stair stepper for 2 hours and completed about a 1,000 squats.

I expect to wrap up tiling the shower walls today, however not until I first go out and purchase a new tile saw. My existing tile saw has seen its last days. It was a cheap tile saw that I bought for $75 at HQ (yes HQ) many years ago, and I have probably completed 20 tile projects with it. The motor has about had it, even with a sharp blade. So I guess it is time to bite the bullet.

After wrapping up the tiling on the shower walls, I will then move onto the shower floor. This will be a little tricky due mainly to the curb. The size and shape of the curb is creating some extra challenges.

Hopefully by next weekend I will be able to grout the tiles and be ready for the final plumbing.

Once complete look for a couple of more videos on learning how to tile shower walls, and apply grout.

Interior Designs

Modern Home Decoration

Modern Home Design

Among young professionals, modern design is most probably a very popular style. These working young men and women do not want to worry about dusting the small grooves of intricate ornate designs. Also, they do not want to mess with chaos and clutter. They hate any bunch of knickknacks that are sitting everywhere. Organization and straight lines are in.

Modern Style defined
Modern rooms today tend to have plain, straight furniture that are often in black or dark wood tones. The darker colors of the room give it a sophisticated and classy appeal. Generally, there would be a few decorative items that are sitting on the nearby tables. But instead, the modern design will only have a few select pieces displayed prominently in a room.

People who like this modern style often have a tendency to spend a lot of their money only on a few special or unique items, rather than to spend it on plenty of smaller items.

For example, you may spend a small fortune on a vase that is made of Venetian glass. This quality item may be the only one you put in the center of the dining room table.

Create the Modern look
Aside from black, modern rooms may also tend to use greens, reds, and whites (stark colors). These popular colors pose a classic and interesting backdrop to the special items accessorizing the room. In addition, they also emphasize the furniture’s straight lines.

Another popular technique that you can do is to paint different colors (large blocks) on the walls. For example, you have a pattern of white or black blocks that are traveling diagonally from one corner to the other (in a room). The shelves can be placed along these blocks so that the special pieces are displayed against a white or black backdrop.

Home Decor Pics

In the past, living room or the parlor was the place with formal settings to welcome the honored guests. With times, it has evolved into a multifunctional room meant to welcome guests, sit and relax comfortably while reading a good book or watching TV, spend some time with the family, chat and gossip with friends and for entertainment. The most common furniture pieces found in the living room are sofas, love seat, sofa with chairs in different combinations, coffee table, end tables, ottomans, benches, shelves and perhaps a desk and bookshelves. If the living space is also used as a family room, you can also find TV and entertainment center in the room along with accessories, lighting, art and crafts on display and may be carpets.
An extra large living room may accommodate a piano, eating area complete with dining table, tennis or billiard table or even a number of plants, if your living space receives lots of direct sunlight. You may also shift am armoire to make use of the extra space for storage purposes. Living room can use maximum number of furnishings and it is a challenge to fit in all the desirable furnishings and accessories and coordinate them with carpeting, wall color, crown moldings, lighting style and window treatments among many other things. Usually, sofa or the entertainment center is the largest piece of furniture in a living room and since, placement of sofa will decide the view and focal point for the people seated in the living, room, use it as the starting point for living room decor.













Homes Decorating

Decorating with glass does not need to be expensive or cliché. Today’s decorative glass goes far beyond colored glass bottles, mirrors, and walls made from glass blocks.

At one time glass was considered as cold and static. Today’s decorators have learned how to blend glass with color and light to create mood and bring life to a room. A new glass, UltraGlas, can be shaped into textured sheets and panels with raised designs.

It is used in everything from tabletops and windows to mirrors and showers enclosures. UltraGlas adds drama and elegance to every décor without creating a crafty or homemade atmosphere in the home.

UltraGlas comes in sheets that can be used for making everything from furniture to lamp shades. It also comes in tiles that can be used anywhere that normal tile is used, including the floor.

The fundamental design element of glass is its ability to manipulate light and color. Opaque, textured, colored, etched, and stained glass has limitless uses in today’s homes. Textured glass can be used over a window to create an open concept bathroom. It can be used as a backsplash in the kitchen.

Opaque and textured glass is a perfect cover for a glass table when the homeowner is tired of looking at their feet through the table. It also hides smudges and fingerprints on the glass.

Home Design Software

Home Design Software

Nowdays the computer age is making software for a dazzling array of uses. One such genre is house floor plan software. With this type of program, you can quite literally be your own architect! Whether you're a home hobbyist or a trained professional, anyone can now use software to do everything from create house floor plans to landscaping the back yard of your dreams. Home design software ideas can go from dreams to reality with the touch of a button.

Creating house floor plans from home design software can be accomplished in just a few easy steps. Most programs have a number of notable features.

1. Design, publish and print completed designs in 3D for yourself, family and customers.

2. Customize the home's exterior by adding dormer windows, skylights, sun decks, balconies, terraces, and patios. Door styles and window types can also be customized.

3. Calculate and manage the cost of materials. This feature makes it easy to keep your house floor plan design withing you housing budget.

4. Lighting effects and shifting patterns of sunlight and moonlight can be created in order to see what effect the placement of windows will have on a room via 3D movies.

5. A built-in interior design program and furniture gallery can be used to create different themes before money is spent on interior decor.

6. Some software programs offer an optional landscape and garden program which allows the user to create a detailed design of yard desired right down to the flowers and ornaments.

Outdoor Lighting Basics for Designing Garden and Landscape

Several garden and landscape designer forgot to designing the outdoor lights elements, Outdoor lighting is an often over looked, but crucial element to creating great outdoor spaces. Outdoor lighting extends the function of outdoor spaces into the evening, and helps define a warm and inviting living space. A variety of lighting effects are possible through proper use of outdoor lighting.

Uplighting: Uplighting can be used to highlight a vertical object in your outdoor space such as a specimen tree, an interesting façade, or landscape structure such as trellises and arbors. In order to prevent glare, fixtures should be aimed away from viewer. For objects viewed multiple sides, well lights with louvers should be used, and located as close to the base of the object as possible.

Spotlighting: Special landscape features such as sculptures, specimen shrubs or benches can be lighted from above utilizing shielded spot lamps. Lights should be concealed in adjacent trees or structures, and should be used judiciously in the landscape.

Path Lighting: Patch Lighting is accomplished by utilizing low mounted spread lights along one edge of a path. Path lighting is available in an endless array of styles, and often becomes a feature of your outdoor space.

Moonlighting: By strategically locating small ‘up and down’ fixtures inside of large trees, it is possible to replicate the effect of moonlight filtering through the branches. It is crucial the fixtures are specially designed for this purpose.

The key to all these affects is to not over due it. Nothing is more tacky than washing your property with gigantic flood lights. Remember, part of what makes a beautiful outdoor space at night, is the fact that it’s dark out!

Outdoor Lighting Ideas with Energy-Efficient Technology

Before designing an outdoor lighting, anyone who plan a new home or refurbishing an existing one should give early thought to lighting. Timely planning of electrics pays off: it enables comfortable, energy-efficient outdoor lighting solutions to be taken into account in the design phase.

There are four types of outdoor lights, with varying energy efficiency.

LED Outdoor Ligths are energy efficient. Look for multiple bulbs and higher wattage for garden beds and sculptures. A low-voltage LED (light-emitting diode) has a transformer to convert 240-volt household power into a safer 12 volts.

Low-Voltage Halogen Lights are brighter than LED but use more electricity. They’re best used for accent lighting around the deck area, and they also have transformers to convert power to 12 volts.

Solar Lights have rechargeable batteries powered by solar panels. They’re inexpensive to run, with the occasional battery replacement needed, but aren’t as bright as other types. They don’t require wiring and are good for lighting pathways.

240-Volt Halogen Lights are the most powerful and good for lighting trees, but require installation by a qualified electrician. They consume the most electricity so consider using with a timer for energy efficiency.

Dining under the Stars Extend the outdoor dining and entertainment area with lights for function and ambience. Always check if the lights are suited to being used outside and use just one long outdoor extension cord for mulTIP:le lights rather than piggybacking lots of cords into one power outlet.

Task Lighting should be unobtrusive and focused over the dining area. Set up a spotlight with a soft glow rather than harsher white light to brighten the dining table.

Accent Lighting adds texture and a decorative element. Highlight planters or position lights for dramatic effect with shadows. Connect outdoor lights to automatic sunset timers that sense dusk and dawn to operate more efficiently.

Ambient Lighting can be used on the table with candles or overhead with soft light from a chandelier.

Heavy Duty Lighting Minimise glare from floodlights by focusing them away from the direct line of view or diffusing the brightness by positioning rocks and foliage around them.

On the deck
Position matching downlights under the eaves for even light distribution onto the deck, and drape LED fairy lights along tree branches for year-round entertaining.