Restoration, retro bulbs are hot lighting trends

Purchasing a lighting fixture for your home can be similar to purchasing a piece of art. It ornaments your home by hanging from the ceiling or wall or by sitting on the floor or a table. It should be chosen with care.

In addition, lighting does much more than provide illumination. It literally defines a space, said Jennifer Gibson, lighting designer at Littman Bros. Lighting in Schaumburg.

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, such as windows and doors, to determine the character of a given space.

For instance, if you have a small, cramped room, you want to choose lighting that illuminates the walls, which are, hopefully, light in color. Centrally suspended lights, corner lamps and wall sconces create a visually larger space and help to brighten the room.

"Everything today is lighter and cleaner. For instance, instead of lots of small pendants, people are choosing larger pendants and fewer of them. They are also using fewer sconces, preferring can lights. Sconces are only used as accents now," Gibson said. "Under-cabinet 'cast' lighting is also popular, as are crystal fixtures in the rustic, restoration style, and those retro-Edison bulbs."

By far, the most popular finishes in today's lighting, she said, are gunmetal, aged zinc and "the old standby," oil-rubbed bronze.

"But designers are also starting to trend toward softer golds - which they call champagne gold - in their fixtures. This is not bright brass, but much softer, pretty golds," she explained. "They are also using more blended finishes of silver and gold mixed and the old silver foil look."

Table lamps are a nice "quick fix" for those who need additional lighting, with blown glass in different colors and mercury glass topping the list in popularity. Floor lamps are becoming less and less common, Gibson said, as homeowners instead opt for the installation of can lights to provide "down lighting."

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

Even ceiling fans now use internal LED lights instead of separate, low-hanging sockets and bulbs because many prefer the cleaner look they offer.

While LED bulbs are now made that can be put into any existing socket, the incredibly long-lasting, environmentally friendly LEDs 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 when on for 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 said.

"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. Most consume only one-tenth of the energy used by conventional lighting," Gibson said.

Littman Bros. is located at 845 S. Roselle Road, Schaumburg, and has been in business since 1979. It is owned by brothers Dan and Benson Littman. For many years, the company exclusively sold ceiling fans. But when the home centers got into the ceiling fan market and took the inexpensive end of the market away from them, they expanded more in the direction of lighting.

Today Littman Bros. has one 10,000 square-foot, full-service store in Schaumburg, which sells residential and commercial lighting fixtures and lamps. They also have an e-commerce website (www.littmanbros.com), selling to customers around the world.

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 completely online.

"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 a homeowner has the right sized 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.