Lighting and doors set the stage to a beautiful home

In live theater, set design and lighting are meant to set the mood for those enjoying the production.

In the same way, lighting and doors in a home are meant to enhance and supplement that which is intended to be focused upon and enjoyed - the furniture, rugs, wall color, architectural detailing and artwork.

Lighting and doors set the stage and create the basic mood.

For instance, the type of lighting chosen and the way it is placed within a space work with the wall color, furniture, floor materials and other attributes like windows and doors 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 lighting fixture for your home can be similar to purchasing a piece of artwork, said Jennifer Gibson, lighting designer at Littman Bros. Lighting in Schaumburg. It ornaments your home by hanging from the ceiling or wall, or by sitting on the floor or a table. It should not be chosen without due care.

Homeowners today, Gibson said, are gravitating toward restoration-style light fixtures made of gunmetal, aged zinc or oil-rubbed bronze, mixed with retro Edison-style bulbs, bits of crystal, wood, rope or screening.

"They have a heavier, rustic, industrial feel and the metal used in many of them is aged zinc or gunmetal to coordinate with the new gray trends," Gibson said. "Some, however, are still choosing the oil-rubbed bronze which has more brown tones but also goes with grays."

More traditional homeowners, however, are opting for a more refined and dressier "transitional" look featuring very clean-looking, polished nickel and clear glass, as well as shades and orbs.

Both styles are seeking a lighter, more contemporary feel using crystal or faceted glass to add a little glimmer. The faceted glass is more popular on rustic pieces than it is on the sleek transitional pieces, Gibson said.

Chandeliers are being used to light dining rooms, foyers, bathrooms and kitchen eating areas, but, generally speaking, open-armed chandeliers are only being chosen for dining room settings, she said. Lanterns are also making a comeback in these areas, while pendants are still most popular over islands, but they are larger than a few years ago.

Homeowners are more likely to use two large pendants than the three they might have used a few years ago.

Sconces are also finding more limited uses - as accents near fireplaces or beds and in bathrooms in place of the old bar of lights above a mirror.

Torchier floor lamps, which were once so popular, are out of favor. They have been replaced, Gibson said, by can lights. Table lamps, however, are still on shopping lists - not only for light, but also as a way to fill space and give vertical interest next to a couch or chair.

"In general, homeowners are getting the lighting they need from cans and they are getting the 'wow' from fixtures," Gibson said. "Can lights and ceiling fixtures are providing the overall, ambient light in rooms while under-cabinet lights and pendants are providing brighter, more direct task lighting, and lamps and bookcase lights are providing accent lighting."

When it comes to another mood-setter - interior doors - life has become much simpler than it was just a few years ago. Thanks to new computer technology, there is a company called HomeStory Chicago that allows homeowners to replace interior doors without hiring a contractor to cut, plane and paint new doors on-site in order to make them fit perfectly.

Christina Files, director of marketing for HighMark Digital, the Sacramento, California-based company that developed the technology and owns HomeStory Chicago, said the least expensive remodeling job a homeowner can do with the most overall impact is replacing the interior doors.

"Doors serve as a backdrop and help make your decor more cohesive," she said.

You can transform a home by replacing old, uninspiring doors with ones that create or add to its architectural design.

For example, homes filled with 1960s and 1970s-era flat surface, or "flush," doors can be enhanced and immeasurably upgraded with the substitution of doors using some sort of panel configuration.

Similarly, Files said, busy-looking hallways filled with an abundance of six-panel doors can be made more contemporary and elegant by substituting calmer, less distracting two-panel doors.

Those looking for an even more custom look can enhance their bedrooms, bathrooms and pantries with doors that feature glass panes, mirrors or even designer glass.

"Our most popular doors today are our new one-panel Madison, which features a little frame, the two-panel arched Roman, the three-panel Winslow and the six-panel door," Files said.

"Doors should echo your design style. For instance, homes that feature squared-off furniture look best when they have doors with square or rectangular panels, while those with lots of archways and pictures of Tuscan villas on the walls look best with arched panels on the doors."

When it comes to hardware, Files said those with modern homes are choosing brushed satin nickel knobs and hardware while homeowners who enjoy a more traditional home are gravitating to leather-rubbed oiled bronze hardware for an Old World look.

New proprietary computer technology allows HomeStory Chicago to precisely measure the existing geometry of each door opening using 13 reference points, and then doors are made in the factory on an automated door machine so that they fit perfectly. They also are painted in a variety of colors in the factory so the homeowner doesn't need to endure the mess and fumes.

That factory satin finish also holds up better to the wear and tear caused by children and pets and you will never see brush or roller marks since it is spray-applied. Wood doors may also be purchased unfinished and then homeowners are urged to find a local craftsman to stain them so that other stains in the house can be accurately matched.

Solid core, hollow core, medium-density fiberboard (MDF) and wood doors, in both traditional and bi-fold styles, can all be made in all sizes using the process, as can louvered doors, barn doors, pocket doors and doors with inlaid glass. Arched doors, however, are not available.

Littman Bros. Lighting is located at 845 S. Roselle Road, Schaumburg (www.littmanbros.com). For more information on HomeStory Chicago doors, visit www.HomeStoryDoors.com.