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The top trend in decorative lighting has little to do with style, shape or shade choices. Instead, it focuses on the new mindset of the consumer.
People have realized you're not buying just a lamp or a sconce or a chandelier - you're buying an accessory that lights up.
Decorative lighting rates today as one of the best accessories you can buy. If chosen correctly, it is as important to a room as your best piece of furniture. It reflects your taste and adds the finishing touch.
Fixed or portable, lighting has become an all-important interior design feature. Homeowners are beginning to seek out lighting as decorative elements.
There are three major design movements:
CASUAL ELEGANCE continues the creation of warm, relaxed and cozy environments, with casual lighting that is a little more upscale in design.
SOFT CONTEMPORARY is still, clean, modern and simple in style. While architectural in design, these fixtures are no longer cold.
SIMPLIFIED TRADITIONAL removes the excess. While still a traditional look, this look is not ornate. There is now a simplification. Decorative lighting here may still be solid brass, but stripped down and rich with an antique patina.
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In step with home decor trends, the lighting industry is experiencing an explosion of design options and material combinations. Eclectic is really the word that best reflects the range of colors, styles, shapes and sizes of decorative lighting available.
This season's savviest styles have common design elements. There has been a big move recently to more daring designs and material combinations - wrought iron with crystal, polished brass with colored glass. At the same time, traditional product is still available. Today, if you want a Williamsburg polished brass fixture, you can find it. But if you are looking for a Murano glass medusa head with a low voltage bulb to light up a room, you can find that, too.
Finishes range from rich and refined to lustrously weathered. The industry is moving away from shiny brass and china to more burnished, brushed and hand painted finishes.
Hand painted doesn't mean simply white enamel with painted flowers. Instead, think multi-toned finishes with depth and texture - layers of color; hand-rubbed, burnished metal; finishes flecked with gold or silver and rubbed so color shines through.
There is also a move toward heavy iron, and rust finishes are still important as is oil-rubbed bronze, Amber glass is becoming more a preference for homeowners, as well.
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Other fresh features to look for in decorative lighting include:
LARGER SIZE FIXTURES: More large-size fixtures is a result of the move to larger homes. Homes with large interior volumes need larger lights and the industry has complied.
CHANDELIER RESURGENCE: Once confined to dining rooms and entry halls, chandeliers are hanging around almost any room in the house. The trend is back to light in the center of the room. As a result, you are seeing chandeliers everywhere -- bathrooms, bedrooms, closets, hallways -- anywhere one will fit.
QUALITY MATERIALS: The focus shifts to the real deal as consumers opt for true glass instead of plastic, stainless steel instead of aluminum. Look for beautiful marble, supple leathers and tactile iron.
LOWER COST: A benefit of recent manufacturing trends is the deflation of price in decorative lighting fixtures. What cost $1,500 five years ago may be found today for $900. At the same time, there are incredible lamps available for $30.
ENERGY EFFICIENCY: From adding dimmers to using the latest low-voltage bulbs, consumers are looking to save energy when they can. Cost-effective fluorescent bulbs become more important in all aspects of lighting.
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