Designers are going back to the basics for their lighting fixtures and looking to the future with light bulbs.
Mary Jane Fletcher, manager of the Northstar Lighting Design store in Westminster, said the most popular lighting fixtures have clean lines and a “warm contemporary feel.” Hubbardton Forge exemplifies the style, she said. Northstar sells the company’s products, which are hand-crafted in Vermont.
Donna Dones of Galleria Lighting and Design in Denver said simple, elegant fixtures with fewer curves are replacing Tuscan styles and ornate fixtures. However, no single style suits every home.
“Houses and spaces are like people,” Dones said. “They have their own idiosyncrasies and they speak to you. … There is nothing I steer people away from.”
Instead, she focuses on lighting that complements a range of styles and furniture layouts. Otherwise, a room will be less functional.
“When your lighting is wrong, you tend not to use the space and you don’t even know what’s wrong,” Dones said. “Most of the time it’s the lighting.”
Fletcher said homeowners are typically updating their kitchens and bathrooms with bright fixtures that match the rest of the room’s décor and illuminate the right areas.
“People come in saying ‘I love my light fixture but it doesn’t function,’” Fletcher said.
Art glass and creative stonework are the latest additions to some lighting lines. Hand-blown glass, stone mosaics and onyx are especially popular for kitchen islands, where cooks want bright light but also want artistic additions and flair.
The green movement is driving buzz around compact fluorescent light bulbs, but the hype may not be translating to sales. The U.S. Department of Energy reported a drop in CFL sales in 2008.
Some blame the recession but Fletcher offers another reason. Dimmable CFLs are still expensive, so they are not in widespread use for living and dining rooms or other areas where adjustable lighting is important.
Dones dislikes the color and quality of CFL light output. She said it is too white, and not warm enough. She said it can ruin the colors in paintings or colored walls.
The next green trend is likely to be light-emitting diodes, which use roughly 10 to 20 percent of the energy of an incandescent bulb. The bright, low-energy lighting is widely used for stoplights, billboards and other industrial applications, but is too expensive for most homeowners. Ledtronics of California sells LED chandelier bulbs for $50 each and dimmable task lights for $55 each.
Some designers are looking forward to LED prices dropping.
“LEDs (light-emitting diodes) are about to become a huge light source in buildings,” said Stephen Kohlbeck of Tilde Design Studio in Denver. “To me, they are the best type of showcase and art lighting.”
On the other hand, Dones steers her clients away from LEDs in remodeling projects, even if they are trying to join the green movement.
“Everybody jumps on the band wagon,” she said. “But (LED lighting) doesn’t go with anything and it costs too much.”
She said the bulbs sometimes work for inconspicuous spots, such as recessed lights and under-cabinet lighting. Otherwise, LEDs are too “architectural” and cold.
She said some customers are happy to find a remodeling consultant who isn’t following environmental trends.
“Somebody told me the other day, ‘There’s enough people going green that you don’t have to,’” Dones said.
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