This week, I participated in a weekly twitter chat calledTweetChat, with whom I have no affiliation but do use) Wednesdays at 2 p.m. EST and use the hashtag #KBTribeChat. Information about the interesting conversation. One of the questions was about using lighting to personal kitchens and baths. Of course, this got me very excited. I inadvertently learned that Twitter is great if you have a little that you kind of want to say. It’s terrible when you have a LOT that you REALLY want to say. That 140 character limit becomes a cruel, tyrannical constraint. So I thought to myself: You’ll just have to wait until you get back home to the blog, where you can write actual paragraphs, to answer this question. Ahhh. It feels good now to have a little room to stretch out.

So, how can you use lighting to personalize a space? Here are 4 things to keep in mind.

1) Fixture and Light Source

Super Bright LEDs employs skilled engineers and experts to test LED lights before they’re sold. Our in-house test lab is stocked with numerous pieces of equipment that provide important specifications about each product, such as brightness, color temperature, and operating temperature. Testing methods include the use of integrating spheres, spectrometers, Forward-Looking Infrared (FLIR) cameras, and an environmental chamber. In addition to this equipment, our technicians perform burn-in tests and durability tests that can last anywhere from two weeks to several months.

CCT, and

Our state-of-the-art environmental testing chamber utilizes a 30-cubic-foot enclosure to reproduce the full ranges of temperature and relative humidity found within commercial and industrial LED lighting applications. Data collection (photometric & electrical) occurs while a device-under-test cycles through specified environmental extremes. Chamber temperature ranges from negative 35° C (negative 31° F)  to 200° C (392° F), and humidity ranges from 10 to 95 percent.

To ensure that our products will perform under normal and extreme conditions—and to have a little fun—our technicians put them through a round of applicable tests. A selection of LED lights is time tested in the environment that each product is designed for. For example, waterproof boat lights are submerged in water, and weather-resistant landscape lights are installed outside. Depending on the type of product and its impact/weather rating, our technicians might drop, run over, freeze, burn, or even saw it in half to test the product’s durability.

National Boss Day was first proposed in 1958 by Patricia Bays Haroski, an employee at State Farm Insurance Company, who registered the holiday with the United States Chamber of Commerce. Haroski chose October 16th, her father’s birthday, as a day to express appreciation for bosses and promote good relationships between employees and supervisors.

Today, National Boss Day is celebrated in the United States and in other countries, including Australia, India, and South Africa.

In honor of National Boss Day, Capitol Lighting is offering promotional pricing home and office lighting.  And, Capitol Lighting’s consultants will provide expert advice to help you design the most efficient and effective work environment with beautiful Hubbardton Forge lighting pieces.

Think about it:  You spend a majority of your waking hours at the office; doesn’t it make sense to invest in a great lighting design to increase job satisfaction and productivity?  More than creating a pleasant atmosphere, top quality office lighting will increase accuracy of performance, minimize fatigue and eye strain, and be both energy-efficient and environmentally friendly.

The key to great office lighting is to provide plentiful illumination, while eliminating glare and shadows.

Capitol Lighting Reveals the Glaring Truth and Offers Tips to Being the Boss of Your Office Lighting Environment

When designing office lighting, you must first understand the glaring truth.

Capitol Lighting’s 5 Keys to Successful Office Lighting Illumination:

Light Up the Boss with Capitol Illumination!

“By working faithfully eight hours a day you may eventually get to be the boss and work twelve hours a day. – Robert Frost

October 16th is National Boss Day, and Capitol Lighting would like to celebrate the best working relationships with promotional pricing on the latest illuminations.  Show your appreciation and shower your boss with the latest lighting innovations and decorative accessories to add style and sophistication to the workplace.

Enjoy excellent promotional values on famous designer lighting and accessories, including new concepts from Hubbardton Forge lighting:

-The “After Hours” collection: Employing energy-efficient fluorescent illumination, these sconces, wall lights, and mini pendants are available in a choice of finishes with opal or stone glass.

-The “Current” collection:  Simplistic, yet stunningly captivating, this 4-light single tier chandelier is available in 6 different finishes and 4 glass options.

-The “Metamorphic” collection:  Adjustable base table lamps available in 5 finishes.  Complete and customize your design with a variety of outstanding shade options.

-The “Reflections” collection:  Wall sconces available in many finish and glass options to provide beautifying accent illumination.

-The “Rook” collection:  Mirrors, floor lamps and table lamps in a variety of finishes including black, natural iron, burnished steel and mahogany.  Lamps are Energy Smart to provide the most energy-efficient illumination.

-The “Taper” collection-Traditional torchiere lamp bases in choice finishes.  Uniquely designed glass shades are available in an array of colors including topaz, blue haze and amber art.

-The “Down Willow” collection:  Rustic desk and floor lamps featuring a naturally clean design in choice finishes.  Elegant shade options include textures and colors in doeskin, white linen, tea crinkle, black parchment and sage.

Often overlooked and underestimated in its power, superior office lighting creates an optimal work environment. Visit a Capitol Lighting showroom to view the latest innovations for home and office.  Surprise your boss with outstanding illumination.  Desk lamps, floor lamps and mirrors are on sale now, and office lighting experts at Capitol will help custom design the perfect gift!

If you are planning on renovating or sprucing-up your kitchen, it’s probably a good idea to map out a detailed lighting plan as well. Most people find this a little strange as they feel that lighting in a kitchen isn’t something that needs too much of consideration or planning. It’s just a place where you cook and probably where you have an informal meal after all.

However, the fact is that it’s important to plan kitchen illumination well if you want to make optimal use of your kitchen spaces. Here, we would like to share some basic lighting ideas to create the right balance of functionality and aesthetics.

If you want to get a better idea about what type of lighting would work best for your kitchen, it’s vital to understand how your kitchen spaces relate to the different type of lighting. Let’s start off with understanding what type of bulbs you can use for the best effects:

These bulbs emit a yellowish light and you will now find many artistic versions of these on the market today.

These bulbs throw off a flat, cold light that has a bluish tinge, which lends a very harsh effect to the room.

These have a warm light that makes the place look very inviting and comfortable

These are the latest in light bulb technology and are available in a range of effects including white, cool daylight, warm light, yellow and a range of other colours and hues. Aside from this, LED bulbs are also 80% more energy-efficient than standard bulbs; and most property owners are now opting for these fixtures.

In addition to the types of bulbs used, the style of lighting or the lighting effects are what impact the ambience and appearance of a room. With this in view, here we discuss the different lighting effects that can be used in your kitchen:

This is one of the simplest ways to create the right lighting effect in your kitchen. This type of lighting is designed to help you move comfortably around the room. In most instances this type of lighting comes from grid-style can lighting, widely-spaced, wall and ceiling lamps, semi-translucent skylights or even the natural light that streams in through glass windows and doors. This is the base layer of any lighting plan.

In your kitchen, task lighting would be required to illuminate kitchen counters and food preparation spaces. Since you will be cooking in your kitchen every day, it’s important that the task lighting be planned and installed well. If you have only recessed lighting fixtures in your kitchen, you will feel the lack of focused light when you are cleaning, cooking or prepping in that space.

If you install one-dimensional lighting in the kitchen, it creates unsightly shadows in different areas of the room, while ceiling lighting is ineffective in illuminating spaces like sinks, under counter or cabinet areas etc. On the other hand, if you add special pendant lamps over the counters or even your kitchen island it can prove to be a more practical solution. Under-cabinet lighting can also help in illuminating the cabinets that are positioned there.

This effect doesn’t seem as necessary as ambient or task lighting does in a kitchen space, as the illumination it provides isn’t as functional as the first two. However, it can have a significant impact on the way your kitchen spaces look. If you want to enhance the appeal of your kitchen (regardless of whether you are getting it entirely renovated or are opting for a lighting upgrade), it’s important that you plan your accent lighting well.