Now That’s Bright

Transforming your space with decorative lighting

You don’t have to tear down walls or rearrange the furniture to get a new look. In most cases, reworking the lighting is all it will take to transform a room from drab to fab.
“Unless you are willing to spend a lot of money on renovations, you can’t do anything about the shape of the room, but decorative lighting can be used to transform the space and create a sense of style anywhere,” says Joe Rey-Barreau, educational consultant for the American Lighting Association.

Pendant passion
“When you think of a pendant, the image that comes to mind is probably a small, obscure fixture hanging from the ceiling to light a specific area, but these days they are anything but obscure,” Rey-Barreau says. “They are fashion statements.”

Pendant fixtures made of metal can give a room an old world or rustic look. Ceramic fixtures can be painted any color under the sun.

“If you’re looking for a more unique look, a popular material to go with is Murano glass that is hand-blown in Italy,” Ray-Barreau says. “Each one is an original work of art.”
Some Murano fixtures feature a single color of glass blown into a bell- or bowl-shaped fixture. Others are tapestries of color twisting and turning into unusual shapes. Once you hang the pendant up and add a light bulb, color dances across the ceiling or wall where the light is pointed.

Just as varied as the colors and materials available for pendants are the methods of display. Consider grouping several pendants to emphasize a space.

Pendants range in price from around $30 to upwards of $500 for those made of hand-blown glass. Visit your local retail lighting showroom to get a look at the latest designs available. To find the showroom closest to you, call (800) BRIGHT IDEAS. For more information about the latest lighting trends and how to achieve them, visit the American Lighting Association’s Web site at www.americanlightingassoc.com.