Ceiling Lights
We want to put some track lighting in this living room:
http://mike.acosta.net/trackltg.html
Can anyone look past the stager's decor and suggest some reasonably priced, modern-compliant track lights? Also, considering the direction of the ceiling beams, as well as the location of the windows, where in the room would be the best place to put the lights?
I am somewhat decoratively-challenged :( and appreciate any input. Thanks!
I would suggest you use the "track" lightng that is wire based. It is a low voltage kind that has two heavy gauge wires that run accross the room or in between your beams etc.. and you clip the light to either wire.
you can see an example here
http://www.lightology.com/store/profile.cfm?sku=2002KL-KITPIV-025H1-00CH...
I also have seen them at the Home Depot Expo Stores and also at Lowe's.
They also make a similar version that uses a flexible rail that is also visible at the Lightology website.
Cable lights in your living room are a little tricky, since you'd have to terminate them at the ceiling if you did any runs parallel to the beams and the room is a little longish for them in the other direction.
I can't see what's on the other end of the room, but assuming the stair has a wall behind it, you might want to do a U-shape: following the interior walls and about 3 feet away from them. You could then hit your walls and also possibly have one fixture washing the ceiling in each bay.
I'm more familiar with Tech Lighting, though Lightology look similar. http://www.techlighting.com. Tech's monorail system could run below your beams. They always show it curved but it comes straight too. What's also nice about it is it's now available in a dark bronze finish which wouldn't detract so much from the wood you've got.
We put in three rows of track lights two years ago using Home Depot standards - Hampton Bay. They turned out to be just the same as other, more expensive brands, but at half the cost. Our ceiling is unfortunately painted white by previous owners, so we used standard white thin tracks.
We had a contractor come by to put in the new wiring on the roof and we did the rest. Very satisfied with the results!
We also installed Hampton Bay halogen tracks and love them. Ours is a flat-roofed courtyard model Eichler with an 8' high ceiling. Much as we like the cable style lights, we were woried that they would hang too low and/or give people a sense that the ceiling was falling in on them. As we wanted maximum clearance and performance at an affordable price, we went with the Hampton Bay. They run wall-to-wall and are mounted on the ceiling parallel to the beams. This installation was at the suggestion of our Eichler-neighbor-contractor who did the work and seems to make the room fee bigger.
We have them in the kitchen, entry, LR, DR, MBR, 2nd bedroom, and hall. We have not done the back 2 bedrooms yet but will pretty soon as they are way too dark and we have become addicted to the bright pure light that the halogen provides.
FYI, they were originally installed with dimmers, which we later removed bc they hummed too much. To replace these with the correct ones (installer used the"wrong" type of dimmer switches) would have cost $1500, which we could not justify, so we just swapped the old dimmers for standard rocker switches.
If photos would be helpful, let me know and I'll snap some and e-mail to you.
Cathye
Thanks for all the helpful suggestions.
Cathye, photos would be great. Please email to mikeATacostaDOTnet. Thanks so much!
For those keeping score, on the other side of the stairs is the dining area (pics added to above link). We want to replace the tacky chandelier with a ceiling fan/light. Any suggestions? Is the fan a bad idea? If so, any ideas for just a light? (My wife's not down with a PH-5. A cool light, but no can do! :( )
TIA again for any help.
Ceiling fans are starting to make some strides and look nice these days. Ive seen some interesting designs coming through your traditional retail outlets.
I believe in the issue of Design within Reach that just came out they even have some ceiling fans, there are also Web retailers who have a good selection of non traditional fans.
on a different note as an alternative to a ph-5 you might consider a Le Klint
http://www.ylighting.com/leklinpenmod4.html
we put a different version of the one pictured there in our entry, and the price is very nice at under $200.
Hi Mike:
I'll snap some photos and send to you in the next few days.
Cathye
Hi Mike:
I just e-mailed you some photos of our track lights. I am not sure of the address you provided, as there is no "@" sign or "dot." I added them, so we will see whether or not it gets through.
Cathye
head to your target store ASAP. they have an amazing produict in stock right now - it's not on their website otherwise i'd link it.
The product is simply called "Spotlight" and is part of their 'Contemporary' home lighting collection: 3 rotating cone shaped heads, very 50s-60s styled in satin nickel finish with opal glass. i bought 3 for our new 1957 house (not an eichler).
