Good Lighting Tips

What is good lighting design and how is it achieved?

There are many ways to enhance the beauty and look of a project. You can always landscape, paint or decorate your interiors but there is nothing quite like an amazing lighting design to dramatically change the feel and mood of a room with a smooth detail. Lighting options differ for every lifestyle.

Good lighting design brings improvement in aesthetics, better visibility and artistic touches.

Consider the mood and function of the room you are creating.  Natural light is the most welcoming of lights so employing the benefits of both natural and artificial light reaches a happy medium.  A good rule of thumb is every room needs an average of 200 watts for every 50 square feet.  

General background illumination is good for living rooms and family rooms.  A chandelier hung (30 inches is the norm) over a dining room table sheds light on a table and meal.  A dimmer switch provides the option to lower lighting when the mood suits you. Kitchens require light in every square foot.  Bathrooms need high voltage lighting, especially near the mirror. 

One of my favorite sources of light is uplighting.  Uplighting is great for a corner to create shadows, under artwork, and shooting up through greenery in the garden.   Another source is candle light.  Don't wait until the power goes out!  Light those candles and highlight a mantle, table, or backyard setting. 

Don't limit yourself to what your electrician has to offer. Explore new ideas, research websites on lighting and venture out to brighten up your life!

Garden Pallet for Small Spaces

Fern at Life on the Balcony is a whiz at maximizing garden space

This is an easy way to bring a garden to a small area, wall, or apartment balcony. This project calls for 6 simple supplies:

a pallet, 2 large bags of potting soil, 16 six packs of annual flowers or herbs, a small roll of landscape fabric, a staple gun, and sand paper.

What a great way to re-use a pallet and a creative idea to design an unusual garden. It will bring color and nature to a space that might not usually have anything, give a small space definition, or create a scene on a blank wall.

Guest blogger: Katherine Fountain

$1 : Turn Dollar Store Finds into Home Furnishings

Smart Move Design was given a challenge by our local newspaper. We were handed $25.00 to see what kind of home decor we could buy or create from the dollar store. We scoped out the best dollar stores in town and got creative. For the full article and before and after photos of all the items, click here

Small Space Design

Since 1960 homes had been doubling in size. For the first time in 50 years the census data now shows a decrease in home sizes. With a decrease in size comes the challenge of adjusting from large spaces to smaller while still having a feeling of comfort and design.

5 tips for small spaces

Have a bench and hooks at an entry way to allow jackets, hats, and shoes to stay together in an organized way.

Make a room feel more open by using glass tables.

Hang a mirror at or above eye level to open up the space without showing clutter on the floor. Hang it across from a window to bring more light into the room.

Create multifunctional zones within a room: a drop leaf table behind a sofa can act as a sofa table, dining table, and desk.

Larger furniture with fewer accessoires allow a room to feel comfortable and uncluttered.

Guest blogger: Tess Johnson

Have fun with murano glass beaded wallpaper

Faux glass bead wallpaper makes for a lovely and glamorous look for your wall anywhere in the home. The wall coverings shed beautiful light to give an impact. They give a statement to any space and are available in a wide array of colors. This is an easy way to bring color and texture into your home while making an impression on the space itself.

Guest blogger: Katherine Fountain

Organic Design

Organic design

In today's society the use of organic materials is becoming not just a trend but also a necessity for people with extreme allergies. Many products have “off gassing” that contributes to air quality in the home. Designers are working with organically made products to create a more healthy environment.

• Organic bedding made with organic cotton

• Organic rugs and carpets made of wool, jute, bamboo, cotton, and hemp.

• Flooring made of bamboo and reclaimed wood.

• Low Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) paints

These are just a few materials you can begin to change when designing or redesigning your home.

Guest blogger: Rebecca Plank

Easy Art

We were looking for a way to do some inexpensive art for kids and teens rooms when we stage vacant homes. These were a breeze to make.

Fabric circles made from embroidery hoops and different patterned fabrics.

Fabric squares and rectangles made from different sized canvas stretcher bars and patterned fabrics.

All materials found at our local Hobby Lobby.

Why you should stage your home

I was recently a guest blogger at Your CNY Home Blog, an informative real estate blog produced by The Pei Lin Team in Syracuse, NY.

I have had the pleasure of working with The Pei Lin Team for several years and have seen first hand the lengths they go to provide top notch service. They know what it takes to get homes in and out of the market quickly and they know the value of home staging.

Check out their very insightful blog and my article on Why You Should Stage Your Home.

Decorated Stair Risers

I wanted a new look for the stair risers at my Smart Move Design office but didn't want to paint. This was done in an hour using wrapping paper. (I found the paper at Hobby Lobby and it had a nice one inch grid on the back for easy cutting). I cut the paper to size, painted modge podge on the risers, placed the paper on the risers and smoothed it out, then trimmed with an exacto knife.

Cheryl Tiegs visits the Syracuse Parade of Homes

Cheryl Tiegs, spokeswoman for Cambria Stone Products stopped by the Sciuga Home in the Syracuse Parade of Homes today.

The Sciuga Home has Cambria products for the kitchen counter and island, bathroom vanities, laundry room, fireplace and even the master shower walls. The home is gorgeous!

The Parade of Homes runs Sept 10 through Sept 25 and is located across from Wegmans on Taft Road in Liverpool.

This is the 2nd year Lisa Ryan has worked as the designer and decorator for the Sciuga Home.

Adding Luxury to Your Home

One of the easiest ways to add luxury to your home is through custom, decorative paint treatments. Sponge painting? Très 1990. Want murals in your kids’ rooms, entry hall inspiration to greet your guests? Maybe harlequin diamonds or a chair rail? Whatever it may be, decorative paint treatments are a simple and chic method for upping the luxury in your home life.

Last year we had the pleasure of working with Sarah Moribito of Sarah Harris Designs in the 2010 Parade of Homes. This year she will be working with us once again and bringing her talents to the Sciuga and Pigliavento homes in the 2011 Parade of Homes. Give her a call to bring her talents to your home.

Redesign Complete

These before and after pictures are from a recent redesign in Syracuse, NY.
Scope of this project: window treatments, area rugs, some furniture pieces, art, accessories, and putting it all together.

Parade of Homes 2011

Smart Move Design will be the designer for 2 homes in the Parade of Homes this year. We will be representing Sciuga Builders and Pigliavento Builders. The Parade of Homes will be held in Liverpool, NY in September 2011 with 10 builders participating in the event.

Green Tip(s) of the Weeks

Going Green - 5 Easy First Steps to Going Green - The Daily Green

www.thedailygreen.com

To get started going green, check out these 5 easy first steps. Bring your own bag, turn off the lights, keep your car tires inflated to the right pressure, shop at farmers' markets and skip bottled water.

Reclaimed wood wall

I did this wall at our camp in the 1000 Islands after seeing something similar in a magazine several years ago. Yes, imitation IS the sincerest form of flattery. And I am hooked on finding new uses for old objects. The items on the wall come from salvage yards, an old barn on Oak Island on the St. Lawrence, shutters from my mother-in-law's home, a Chicago flea market, and gifts from friends.

Stage that home to sell!

A picture is worth 1000 words, especially when selling your home. Make sure your home is staged before listing and that you have great photos for the MLS. We offer not only home staging, but a photography service as well. Just bartered getting my toes done in exchange for professional photography for the mls :-)

Household Tip of the Week

Flexible vacuum

To get something out of a heat register or under the fridge add an empty paper towel roll or empty gift wrap roll to your vacuum. It can be bent or flattened to get in narrow openings.

Green Tip of the Week

In my never ending quest to find new uses for old items, I came across a multitude of creative ways to repurpose today's worn out nylon pantyhose

• Tie up tomato vines and other plants to keep them off the ground.
• Fill a tube with old soap slivers to use every last bit of lather.
• Corral bath salts the next time you soak in the tub.
• Store wrapping paper. Use one roll per leg and hang them in a closet. The edges won't fray and they will stay organized.
• Cover your rolling pin with a tube of pantyhose to prevent wet flour from sticking.
• Next time you lose something small and valuable, wrap a piece of pantyhose over the nozzle of your vacuum cleaner. Sweep it over the floor and your lost item should stick to your new pantyhose filter.
• Crumple up a pair and use as a pot or dish scrubber.
• Fill a leg with lavender or cedar chips and hang in your closet.
• When repotting houseplants place a circle of pantyhose in the bottom of the pot to prevent soil erosion.

sources: green planet, daily green

Lisa Ryan is owner of Smart Move Design, a home staging and redesign company serving Syracuse, central, and northern NY.

The Rules of Lighting

To improve the look of your home, its best to know the types of lighting and how to use them. The first is ambient lighting. The purpose is to create evenly distributed light in a room. These can be ceiling lights, recessed lights, and lamps.

The next is accent lighting. These are secondary lights in a room. They help visually separate a room or highlight an architectural feature or art. They must be 3 to 5 times brighter than the ambient lighting. Examples of this type of lighting are spotlights, a sconce, or even candlelight.

The next is task lighting which is used for just that, performing a task. It needs to be 6 to 10 times brighter than the ambient light.

The next is natural light, which we spoke about in the previous blog post, and the last is outdoor lighting. Outdoor lighting is important as it provides security and gives your exterior a nice look.

Try layering all types of lighting in a room for an impressive look.

Source: http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/home/5-ways-to-light-up-your-home5.htm

Letting Light In

A big difference can be made in the appearance of your home with the use of natural lighting, and also has proven health benefits. Having more light in the home increases productivity and makes you feel better! Having skylights is a great way to utilize day lighting, but if your home doesn't have them there are still ways to use natural light. Get rid of heavy draperies. Use curtains that are more transparent to let more light in. Opt for no curtains or a valance. Consider adding transom windows above your current windows. It is also a good idea to utilize large windows, or any window in the home as a focal point. Bringing more natural light into the home is like bringing the outdoors in! When staging your home to sell, potential buyers love a home that is light and bright!