Luxury Housing Trends & Home Improvement Ideas

This is one of several interesting wall lamps from Murano’s Minital Lux line. To create a raw industrial look, the Italian company uses iron as a base, then hand-applies gold, silver, and copper leaf to dramatically change the look of the substrate. The different layers use contrasting finishes and the effect is to conceal the light source and control the illumination. The Piastra-17 (shown) uses a 150 Watt halogen bulb, and, like the rest of the line, is designed to be wall-mounted.

http://www.muranodesignerlighting.com/

It always amazes me how many different kinds of lamps there are out there. Even if you know specifically that you want a pendant lamp, there are more than you can imagine to choose from. The Le Klint Pendant 170 from Illuminating Experience is kind of a funky hanging light that is made color-stabilized white PVC. It takes a standard 100W bulb and is about 15″ high and wide. The lamp is available at Lighting by Gregory for $227.

http://lightingbygregory.com

This little flower is actually a solar-powered form of outdoor lighting put out by Solar Night Industries. You simply stick it in the ground and wait for the sun to come up. Once charged, it’s supposed to glow for up to 12 hours in the dark. I’m not sure how much it would actually light up a walkway, but it seems like a fun bit of whimsy for the backyard. If you’re not into flowers, the company also offers strings of solar-powered soccer balls, strings of American, German, and Canadian flags, and floating lights for your pond or pool. The solar flower will cost you $21.50 and several different types are available (rose, day lily, sunflower, etc.).

Solar Night Industries via Lighting Ideas

Looking to ditch those old ceiling lights in your home? You know, the ones that came with the house. Well, the Logico Quadruple Nested Mini ceiling light could make a memorable change. Made by Artemide, the lamp is available in three sizes (using from 60W to 100W bulbs) and can give you diffused incandescent or fluorescent lighting. The canopy is steel with a pale gray thermoplastic cover, and the fixture mounts to your standard electrical junction box. On the company’s web site, you can find a list of showrooms that carry their lighting, or there are numerous online stores where you can buy via the ‘net, such as Ylighting where the lamp is priced at $1,055.

http://www.artemide.us

Stainless steel is everywhere, and now you can shower with it by way of the Lucifer Lighting Company’s “wet location trims.” The waterproof, corrosion-resistant, stainless-steel trims are designed for use with recessed light fixtures in damp areas, such as you might have in the shower. The lighting can also be installed outdoors. The sealed and gasketed trims come in either square or round designs and can be recessed in insulated or non-insulated ceiling housings made by the company.

http://www.luciferlighting.com

If you’ve spent a good chunk of change on a handsome painting for above the fireplace, you want people to see it, right? During the day, it’s probably not a problem, but artwork can blend in and become unnoticeable by the dimmer lighting of night. This is why people like to get special picture lights like this slender polished brass lamp. It’s unobtrusive enough not to block the view, but bright enough to draw focus to your artwork. The picture lamp is 16″ wide, extends 12″ from the wall, and runs on two 10 watt bulbs. It’s available for $140 from Lamps Plus:
Polished Brass Picture Light

Orange22 makes some very unique residential lighting. This 12″ x 12″ wall lamp uses 24 full-spectrum LED lights to create color gradients that shift around the perimeter, offering an ever-changing light show. “This is what it would look like if the moon passed in front of the sun,” the company says, “if… the moon was square and flat, and the sun shone a brilliant mix of dancing colors.” Designed by James Clar, this interesting limited-edition lamp will cost you $3,000.

Orange22

What’s a Bio lamp, you ask? (points to picture) That’s a Bio lamp. Designed by Snowlab, the sculpture-like light fixture is made from non-enameled white porcelain and showcases “organic forms wrapped in a constellation of openings from which thin rays of light escape,” which seems to be code for it has little pricks of light that come out and look like stars. The interesting lamp uses a 40-watt incandescent bulb and comes in two different styles: bio 1 (20″ x 12″ x 9″) and bio2 (12″ x 12″ x 5″). Expect to pay about $350 for the unique lamp.

http://www.megatron.net/snowlabdesign/

Available from Manhattan Loft, this funky table lamp reminds me a bit of a high school science class, where the teacher always had weird diagrams and pictures on the wall. Designed as an the icosahedron, this arrangement allows for 20 lights around a central point. It has a brass housing with stainless steel legs and comes with a dimmer control. The table lamp will run you $325.

http://www.manhattanloft.com/products/bulbohedron_light.html

The neon chandelier look probably isn’t for every home, but you’ve got to give New York City’s the Lite Brite Neon Studio points for originality. They sell and rent all sorts of neon signs for businesses, but this piece can be had by the average homeowner (well, the $2,400 price tag might put it out of the “average” homeowner’s means), who can then install it over the dining room table or anywhere else in the house. Since neon is low maintenance and has a long lifespan, this may just be the perfect chandelier for anyone who hates changing light bulbs. And, of course, it’s available in a number of different color combinations.

http://www.litebriteneon.com