Through a little bit of luck and a long love of art we decided to invest in some art work just before the market took it’s nose dive. We were on an Alaskan cruise and not only got a good deal on the pictures but got some ideas on how to display them. The auctioneer had installed track lighting in both the area where the pictures were sold and in the onboard gallery. When the lights were adjusted to focus on the pictures we were interested in you could see what a difference the right lighting had on each picture.
FedEx delivered our pictures and when we took them out of the box my wife declared they were not the ones we purchased. The brilliant colors had somehow faded from what she remembered on the ship to what was now in front of her in our living room. Not having flex track lighting in our home I had to make do and direct one of my photography lights on the pictures. She immediately noticed the difference and moved flex track lighting to the top of her “honey do” list.
We do not have an electrical outlet store in our county and I had no idea where to find or how to install flex track lighting I turned to the Internet. Much to my relief I was able to find not only lighting outlets but written instructions on how to install it myself.
The track, as the name implies, is completely flexible and can be formed to fit the pattern that best handles your lighting needs. I followed the instructions and carefully drew a diagram of where I wanted the lights to be mounted and how many I would need at each location. We knew where the pictures were to be hung so it was a matter of determining where the lights should be mounted. We had to have several consultations until we decided which finish and shade colors best matched the room and location. But at last we were in agreement and were ready to place our order for flex track lighting.
Because of the length of track involved and the number of lights we were going to need we were not able to order a flex track lighting kit. Instead we ordered the parts individually and now have our own happy marriage and a well lite miniature art gallery.
By: Simon Harris
Posts Tagged ‘Track Lighting’
Flex Track Lighting and the Key to Domestic Tranquility
March 17th, 2010Installing Monorail Track Lighting is Easy
March 7th, 2010
We got this house that had been passed down from my parent’s to my husband and we started renovating it a year later. As we dove into the project we had lots of choices to make. Many we didn’t even realize we had to make. Having choices to make is a good thing if you have the right information. Style and color were the biggest problems we had. Not that we didn’t have a style in mind but that when we chose one style or color we ultimately changed our minds a few times before we were finished the project. Renovating and upgrading a cabin into a home is a huge undertaking to say the least.
When it comes to lighting we didn’t make good choices. After reading up on monorail track lighting and seeing how easy it is to install them, I am thinking about adding them now. There are several areas of my living room/kitchen area that could definitely use the monorail track lighting system to accent the dark areas and corners of the room. Those hanging lamps are as colorful as you want and they give off a softer light then do ordinary table lamps. The tracks are so easy. They are bendable so that we can put them anywhere we want. We can use them to accent special areas and brighten up a plant or two and to allow for more light over the shelves that we have books and nick knacks on. We can even put one over the roll top desk.
Oh and I can just imagine what a track light would do for the picture of our first daughter’s wedding. Wouldn’t it be nice to have one showcase the new fireplace we have. A soft light would just bring out the many colors that are in the stone and the glitter in the stone would actually show up. That would look awesome. I really think we are going to be dong this type of lighting in our home in the near future. When you are renovating your home don’t forget to look into the styles of lighting and remember to look into monorail track lighting as your choice of lighting. They are so versatile and can bring out the best things your have and showcase them.
By: Simon Harris
Lighting in a Child’s Room
February 25th, 2010
In considering the lighting needs in a child’s bedroom or playroom, safety is at the top of the list. Ceiling lights that provide enough light to fill the room are among the best bets to consider. This type of lighting is considered ambient lighting that provides enough illumination to fill the entire room. Ceiling lights are always a good bet regardless of the age of the child.
With small children and infants, ambient ceiling lighting provides the ultimate in safety because the child can’t reach it and the adults in the home have control via a wall switch or dimmer. Dimmer switches are worth considering as a way to not only provide just the right level of ambient lighting but also as a way of providing a low illumination night light for those children who need a little light to feel comfortable and secure as they fall asleep.
In addition to ceiling lights, recessed fixtures and track lighting can also be a good source of ambient lighting. Children being children, they may tend to become very active and you want to insure that the majority of the lighting fixtures are out of harms way when the children’s play starts to get a little rough. Besides protecting the light fixtures, recessed and track lighting can help avoid burn injuries or cuts, etc, if bulbs are touched or broken.
The basic rule of thumb is the younger the child, the more important it is to keep the light fixtures out of their reach.
As the child gets older, you can begin to add some task lighting to help them with close work such as reading, doing homework or playing with a computer.
Track lighting can be effective task lighting since this type of lighting can be adjusted by rotating or aiming it at the area that needs special illumination.
Depending on the maturity and judgment skills of the child, you can eventually move to a desktop lamp that is designed specifically for children. A child’s lamp should be “bottom-heavy” to reduce the risk of it tipping over and the light element should be one of the cooler varieties such as a fluorescent to help reduce the risk of the child getting burned. Traditional incandescent fixtures put out a disproportionate amount of heat as compared to the illumination that they provide and should, if possible, be avoided.
Some parents take the additional step of finding a table lamp that can be attached directly to the table thus avoiding any risk of the lamp being knocked over.
Lamps that are not properly positioned can provide unnecessary glare that will lead to eyestrain and fatigue. The lamp should be used to illuminate the reading material or the computer monitor and an ambient light source should be used to reduce or eliminate the contrast between the lamp light and what it is illuminating.
You will probably need to do a little experimenting to get this lighting balance just right. Even though the child will probably tell you that the initial placement of the lamp does the job just fine, he or she is probably not aware of the glare and more than likely won’t have any ill side effects for a period of time. The best way to get this balance right is to set it up so that it works for you. The older we get, the more sensitive we are to sources of poor lighting.
If you’re among the fortunate parents whose children like to read, consider a lamp placed on a nightstand or table next to the bed. Be sure that it is in alignment with the child’s shoulder when he or she is sitting up to read and make sure that the lighting comes from behind the shoulder and a bit off to the side to minimize the stress on their eyes.
In most cases you should avoid floor lamps in a child’s room. While they might provide a nice decorative touch, they are easy to tip over and offer the possibility of injury.
Some accent lighting can also be considered to highlight special keepsakes, etc. Use small bulb fixtures and, again, keep the heat emanating from the fixture to a minimum.
Finally, a plug-in nightlight is a perfectly safe option to consider for a child’s room. Besides providing that feeling of security, it allows the child to navigate more easily should they get up in the middle of the night.
By: Chuck Lunsford
