Tri-City Area and Real Estate Blog

Table and Floor Lamps: Halogen Incandescent

• Light shines in all directions, providing a warm glow.

• Dimmable.

• Looks most similar to the traditional incandescent.

• Uses 25% to 30% less energy than the incandescent.

Table and floor lamps look best with omnidirectional light. “You probably don’t want a big bright spot in the middle of your lampshade,” says Jeff Harris of the nonprofit think tank Alliance to Save Energy. “You’re looking for a nice, warm glow.”

Halogen incandescents provide that, and are good with dimmers. You may be able to find a dimmable CFL, but it’s common to experience humming or flickering at low light levels.

For non-dimming lamps, CFLs are great if you can find a color temperature you like.

• Color temperature is measured on a warmness (candlelight) and coolness (blue sky) scale. LEDs, CFLs, and halogen incandescents all come in a wide range of color temperatures.

• Buy covered globes or A-lamps — bulbs shaped like old-fashioned incandescents — rather than spirals if you can see the bulb and aren’t a fan of the spiral look.

• Otherwise, just go with halogen incandescents and don’t sweat the fact that CFLs are more energy-efficient than halogens. Your still saving over a traditional incandescent and the glow is pretty.

So why not LEDs? LEDs point light in a single direction, although new LED-containing A-lamps are designed to compensate for that by using prisms or special coatings. But all that extra technology makes them expensive — probably not worth it for your bedside lamp, which isn’t a big energy hog anyway.

Recessed Ceiling Lights (Kitchens, Family Rooms): LEDs

• Energy efficiency is key in high-use areas.

• 80% energy savings over incandescents.

• Bulb life (up to 50,000 hours) much longer than CFLs.

• Shine light a single direction — rather than glowing.

• Brighter than halogens or CFLs.

Overhead recessed lighting in the kitchen or family room gets lots of use, so energy efficiency is a big consideration; plus, you need bulbs that point light in a single direction so the light actually escapes the can or fixture.

LED reflector lamps, the flat-topped bulbs typically used as floodlights or spotlights, are designed to shine light in a single direction. And that means you’ll get a brighter look with less energy output than CFLs or halogens.

New conversion kits let you put LEDs into your old can fixtures designed for screw-in bulbs.

A word of caution: LEDs don’t dim well unless they’re connected to a wall dimming switch specifically designed for them. You can get LED-compatible dimmers at big-box stores starting at around $30. Same goes for CFLs.

If you do decide on CFLs or halogen incandescents for a warmer quality of light:

• Buy reflector-lamp style bulbs, not A-lamps or globes, so the light isn’t trapped inside the can.

• If you have multiple cans, you can probably get away with a lower-wattage halogen incandescent reflector bulb and save energy while still having plenty of light.

Bathroom Vanity Fixture: Halogen Incandescents

• Better for showing color and texture than CFLs or LEDs.

Lighting over the bathroom vanity is a highly personal lighting choice, especially when there are women in the house. If the light isn’t flattering to your skin tone or makes it hard to apply makeup, you’ll be dissatisfied.

That’s why halogen incandescents, with their pleasing light, are a good bet.

However, if the bathroom where you primp is a high-traffic area and you’re concerned about energy use, experiment with CFLs in a warm color temperature and get a separate lighted mirror for your beauty routine.

Stairwell Light: LEDs

• Inconvenient fixtures are a good place to use long-lasting LEDs.

How many times are you willing to drag out a ladder and change the bulb in a tough-to-reach fixture? Take advantage of LEDs’ long life by putting them in spots you don’t want to revisit often:

• Fixtures hanging in stairwells

• Track lighting suspended from a cathedral ceiling

• Cabinets

• Ledges

• Tray ceilings

• Recessed areas

Outdoor Floodlight: Halogen Incandescent

• For security and efficiency, use fixtures with daylight/occupancy sensors.

• Since outdoor lights aren’t used often, not worth investing in LEDs.

• CFLs don’t come on easily in cold weather.

• CFLs don’t last as long as advertised when turned on and off frequently.

If you don’t want to get new fixtures with sensors, you can buy a sensor attachment that screws into each socket.

Rarely Used Fixtures: Low-Cost Bulbs

• Opt for what’s easy on your wallet.

• Use the most energy-efficient bulbs, such as LEDs, in most-used fixtures.

If the total yearly hours for the fixtures in your closets, dining room chandeliers, and the naked bulb in your attic are low, go cheap.

Related:

Want to know more about picking light bulbs for aesthetics?

A strategic plan for buying pricey LEDs

What to know about CFLs

It’s all determined by the way light and colors interact.

“People have to understand that the color of an object won’t look the same 24 hours a day,” says lighting designer Joseph Rey-Barreau. “I just had bamboo flooring installed throughout my house, and during the day it looks totally different than it looks at night.”

The way we “see” color primarily depends on two things:

1.  The light that an object absorbs. Black absorbs all colors; white absorbs none; blue absorbs red.

2.  How the light source works. Natural light (sunlight) changes throughout the day and is affected by a room’s location. Artificial light changes with the type of bulb you use.

How Sunlight Affects Colors

As the amount and angle of the sun changes, so will your room colors.

“Natural light should always be considered when choosing color for a space,” says Sarah Cole of the Farrow & Ball paint company.

North-facing rooms: Light in these rooms is cool and bluish. Bolder colors show up better than muted colors; lighter colors will look subdued. “Use strong colors and embrace what nature has given,” says Cole.

South-facing rooms: Lots of high-in-the-sky light brings out the best in cool and warm colors. Dark colors will look brighter; lighter colors will virtually glow.

East-facing rooms: East light is warm and yellowy before noon, then turns bluer later in the day. These are great rooms for reds, oranges and yellows.

West-facing rooms: Evening light in these rooms is beautiful and warm, while scant morning light can produce shadows and make colors look dull.

How Light Bulbs Affect Color

The type of bulb you use can alter the colors in a room, too.

Incandescents: The warm, yellow-amber light of these bulbs will make reds, oranges, and yellows more vivid, while muting blues and greens.

Fluorescents: This flat and cool light enriches blues and greens.

Halogens: These white lights resemble natural light and make all colors look more vivid. Using halogens would make the shift from daylight to artificial light less jarring.

Compact fluorescent lights (CFLs): CFLs can produce either a warm white, neutral, or bluish-white light.

Light-emitting diodes (LEDs):  You can buy warmer or cooler LEDs, and even “smart” LED bulbs whose color you can control wirelessly. “You can point to the color of the sky in a picture at sunset and make the light bulb in the house be that same color,” says Rey-Barreau.

Related: The Latest In Lighting Trends to Enhance Your Home

Tips for Achieving the Color You Want

• Paint squares of primed drywall with samples of the colors you’re considering, and then move them around the room during the day. Apply at least two coats.

• Evaluate samples of carpet during different daylight conditions.

• Most contractors won’t hang lights before you paint, but you can get a color approximation by placing a bulb you’ll be using in a floor or desk lamp. If you’re hyper-sensitive to color or want a very specific look, ask your electrician to hang the lights, then cover them carefully during painting.

• Remember that natural and artificial light will work together during certain times of day, especially in summer when dusk lasts a long time. Turn on artificial lights even during daylight to see what your colors will look like.

• Paint sheen also affects color. Glossy finishes will reflect light and change the way the color looks, whereas flat finishes are less reflective and allow colors to look truer under bright light.

• Light-colored walls can reflect the colors of bold carpets: A bright blue rug, for instance, can cast a bluish tone on a white wall.

• Hoist bicycles to the rafters with a rope-and-pulley system (starting around $40) that makes it easy to raise the bike and lock safely in place. When you’re ready to ride, release the lock and lower your bike to the garage floor. You’ll need an hour or two and basic tools to secure the pair of pulleys to ceiling joists and thread the ropes. (Similar hoists are available for kayaks or small boats; starting around $25.)

• Avoid unintentional skateboard “tricks” with a specially designed wall rack that makes it easy for kids to hang up helmets and skateboards together; starting around $20. Secure this one to wall joists in less than an hour.

• Keep scooters and bikes out of the way with tool hooks installed on a length of 1-by-6-inch lumber. You’ll pay $3 for each pair of vinyl-coated screw-in tool hooks and $1 per foot for lumber. You’ll need only an hour or two to secure the lumber to wall joists and screw the hooks into place along the board.

Sporting Goods

Active pursuits require a lot of gear that ends up in the garage. These organizers help tidy up all those sports balls, rackets, bats, gloves, clubs, fishing rods, and other outdoor fun-related goodies.

• Bring together balls and bats on a convenient wire rack equipped with hangers that hold gloves too; starting around $35.

• To keep your garage organization from going downhill, stash two pairs of snow skis, poles, and boots in one handy steel ski rack; $45. Securing this rack to wall studs helps it hold the weight of the equipment. If you can’t position it on studs, use wall anchors for a secure installation. You can do the task with or without anchors in an hour or two.

• Make a port for your fishing rods by suspending two wire shelves from your garage ceiling about 5 feet apart, then threading the rods through the openings. Use shelves left over from a project or purchase a 4-foot-by-16-inch vinyl-coated wire shelf for less than $9, and saw it in half crosswise (or clip with bolt cutters) to make two 2-foot shelves. Snip additional wires where you need wider slots to accept pole handles or reels.

Tools

With a little imagination, you won’t need specially designed storage to organize your tools.

• Conveniently hang wrenches and bungee cords using an ordinary vinyl-coated wire tie-and-belt rack, available at big box stores; $8.

• Metal tools cling to a magnetized rail, keeping items in view and easy to retrieve; starting around $30. Simply screw the rail to wall studs to safely hold the weight of the tools (it’s an idea you may be drawn to.)

• Cushion and protect tools by padding your toolbox drawers with a soft, non-slip liner. The open-weave design keeps moisture away and prevents tools from rolling around. Enough material to line eight average-size drawers is $15. Just cut the liner to length to fit and slip it into the drawer.

• Organize small items — such as pencils, box cutters, and tape measures — by stashing them in electrical junction boxes; about $2 each (free if you have spares). Purchase a variety of sizes and shapes and secure them to studs or pegboard.

Yard and Garden Gear

Rakes, ladders, clippers, shovels, and sprays — a host of supplies keep your yard and garden looking lush and well-cared-for, but your garage? Not so much. Keep your garden and landscaping tools organized with these novel storage solutions.

• Transform an old cabinet into a nifty garage storage unit on wheels. Hunt down an old four-drawer filing cabinet for a few dollars at a garage sale. Remove the drawers, turn it on its backside, and use a couple afternoons to apply paint and pegboard sides. Less than $25.

• Hold heavy tools, long-handled implements, ladders, and more. Long steel rails with extruded holes mount high on the garage wall and secure to studs. Arrange a series of hooks and pegs on the rail to hang big tools. Two 48-inch rails sell for $22.

• Secure a wooden pallet to wall studs to create a pocket for holding long-handled garden tools. To find free wooden pallets, check with local businesses as well as online classifieds, such as Craigslist. Cost: Free.

• Keep bottles of fertilizers, repellants, and lubricants upright and easy to retrieve. A can rack ($15) prevents cans and bottles from tumbling off shelves.

Here are common sense ways to declutter and organize your fridge:

1.  The front of the middle rack, near eye-level, is prime refrigerator real estate. Put priority items there, like leftovers you want eaten soon and healthy snacks. The back of the fridge is the coldest part. Store milk there, and it will stay fresh longer.

2.  Don’t waste fridge space on food that doesn’t need to be chilled. Examples: fresh eggs from backyard chickens (though store-bought eggs do need refrigerating), ketchup, vinegar, jam, mayonnaise, and butter. Put those items in the pantry. You can store fresh eggs in a bowl on the counter for eight weeks.

3.  Never put tomatoes in fridge, or they’ll get mushy; onions will soften; honey will thicken; potatoes will turn too starchy. Keep onions and potatoes in separate paper bags and store in a cool, dark place (a lower cabinet drawer is great).

4.  Rectangular or square bins are your friends (round ones waste space, so don’t use them). Designate one for healthy snacks and another for breakfast foods like bagels and cream cheese. In the freezer, use one big bin for frozen veggies, rather than stuff individual bags into the freezer.

5.  Use plastic placemats as shelf liners, which makes cleanup easier.

6.  Place drippy food, like red meat and seafood, on the bottom shelf. That way it won’t drip too far.