Lighting designers become more creative

In addition to providing illumination for daily living, lighting defines a space. The type of lighting chosen and the way it is placed within a room work with the wall color, furniture, floor materials and other attributes to determine the character of a given space.

If you have a small, cramped room, for instance, choose lighting that illuminates light-colored walls. Centrally suspended lights, corner lamps and wall sconces also create a visually larger space and help to brighten the room.

Once you progress beyond the type of illumination you are seeking, it is time to consider the artistic nature of the lighting fixtures you choose. Purchasing a light fixture for your home can be similar to purchasing a piece of artwork, said Jennifer Gibson, lighting designer at Littman Bros. Lighting in Schaumburg.

A light ornaments your home by hanging from the ceiling or wall, or by sitting on the floor or table. It should not be chosen without due care, she says.

"The heavy Tuscan look is now out of style and crystal lighting is big," Gibson said. "People are going toward lighter, transitional pieces to go along with their gray walls and heavy white molding."

In fact, many of these crystal fixtures are now displayed within one or two thin spherical orbs made of silver-toned metals like brushed nickel, chrome and silver.

"Designers are also starting to trend toward softer golds in their fixtures. This is not bright brass, but much softer, pretty golds," she said.

The ornate curlicues in larger pieces that hang over a foyer are also gone, replaced with much cleaner lines. "Less is more" once again.

When it comes to the types of bulbs you put in those state-of-the-art fixtures, LED is taking over the world. The color is continually improving, the price is continually dropping and homeowners are paying attention to the energy they can save. People also like the unique fixtures they can now enjoy thanks to LED technology, Gibson said.

While LED bulbs are now being made to fit any existing socket, the incredibly long-lasting, environmentally friendly light-emitting diodes also allow lighting designers to create fixtures that are more like pieces of art that hang from the ceiling.

"Fashion lighting designers can now build fixtures without worrying about fitting light bulbs in. Virtually no space is taken up by the LEDs; they last forever and use very little energy but offer the same brightness as a conventional bulb," Gibson said.

"The only drawback to LEDs is the price. The cost is coming down and if you don't mind sacrificing color quality, there are even bargain LEDs out there on the market now. But the cost still discourages some people," she said.

"You can now buy frosted flame-tip LED bulbs up to a 60-watt equivalent for $15 per bulb, so you see people buying them for both those hard-to-reach foyer fixtures and for the easier-to-access dining room fixtures," Gibson said. "The price point is becoming less of a problem."

The fact that LEDs burn for between 30,000 and 50,000 hours (that is 10 to 17 years burning eight hours a day) without being changed is a huge benefit, especially in difficult-to-change places like rooftop lighting, recessed indoor lighting, two-story foyer chandeliers and under-the-cabinet applications, Gibson said.

"LEDs aren't actually bulbs. They are computer chips that illuminate with the aid of a low voltage transformer. In under-the-cabinet situations, the diodes are attached to electrified tape," she explained.

"But the future of lighting is definitely LED. They are cool to the touch, seldom have to be replaced, can fit in any socket and use much less energy. Homeowners can quickly reduce their electric bill by putting LED bulbs into all of their can lights, for instance," Gibson said. "Most consume only a tenth of the energy used by conventional lighting."

Littman Bros., located at 845 S. Roselle Road, Schaumburg, has been in business since 1979. It is owned by brothers Dan and Benson Littman.

The Littmans were in their early 20s when they started the business, which originally sold ceiling fans exclusively. At that time, everyone perceived ceiling fans as something to be used only in warm-weather locations.

The Littmans were early to recognize that fans could also be efficiently used to reclaim heat from the ceiling in colder climates. If a fan were run slowly enough, it could bring heat that had collected near the ceiling back down into the room.

Within seven or eight years, the ceiling fan market had taken off in the Midwest and the Littmans had about 20 stores around the Chicago area, as well as in Milwaukee and St. Louis.

"But then the home centers got into the ceiling fan category and took the low end of the market away from us. We eventually closed a bunch of our stores and expanded more in the direction of lighting," Benson Littman said.

Today the company has morphed into that single-location, 10,000 square-foot, full-service Schaumburg store. It sells residential and commercial lighting fixtures and lamps and also operates a massive e-commerce site (www.littmanbros.com), selling to customers around the world through its website.

Littman Bros. is unique in the business because of the range of services it offers to homeowners and contractors, alike. The website allows people to shop before they visit the store or even to order online for delivery.

"We offer design services to homeowners from the start of their project all the way through to fruition," Gibson said. "We can even work off plans before anything is ever built, making sure that a homeowner has the right size fixtures and the appropriate type of lighting to create a great look for their space. Our designers will also visit a client's existing home to help them choose new fixtures for only a small fee that is applied toward the purchase. Installation is also offered so that clients don't need to locate and hire a separate electrician."

Finally, Littman Bros. offers contractor pricing. For more information, call (847) 895-5155.