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Page 16 September 27 , 2012 TORRANCE TRIBUNE Six Easy Ways to Improve Your Kitchen, Bathroom and Bedroom (ARA) - Good lighting is not something sees in bedrooms is the size of bedside lamps lives in terms of the time we spend in our your kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom, visit most people think much about until they don’t - they’re either too small or not adjustable. homes,” says Phillips. your local ALA-member retail showroom or go have it. Living in a well-lit room is a much “The lamp needs to provide light where To see the latest lighting products and to talk online to www.americanlightingassoc.com. • more pleasurable experience than trying to you need it, and if it’s too small it can’t do to an expert about how to improve lighting in cook, read, entertain or do just about anything that,” says Phillips. Go for a larger size with in a dark, shadowy space. increased lumen capacity. The American Lighting Association offers • Install track lighting for flexibility. these tips for improving the lighting in your Stationary overhead lights are fine when kitchen, bathroom and bedroom: you need to flood a space with light, but too • Add to your task lighting. Many bathrooms often kitchens, bathrooms and bedrooms lack and kitchens have plenty of overhead light, flexible sources of light. A good solution is but are often lacking when it comes to task track lighting. “You can direct one or lighting, says David Martin, designer with two of the lights on the track and point them lighting manufacturer Hubbardton Forge. to a wall to add accent light for artwork, “At the kitchen sink, for example, and use other lights on the track to create you can eliminate shadows by including different focal points,” Phillips says. two sources of light.” The result is • Add a light fixture for drama. A side benefit a workstation with easier-to-see spaces that of beautiful, light-providing chandeliers and alleviate eyestrain. pendants is that they provide focal points. • Include mood-enhancing lights and “New light sources give homeowners dimmers. “Places such as bathrooms and some great options,” says Phillips. bedrooms - once mostly functional - now “You can drop in a chandelier over serve as an extension of our living spaces,” a bathtub to create drama and get mood and says Todd Phillips, owner and senior designer ambience too.” with Quoizel Lighting. The lights in those As a bonus, those fixtures help provide rooms should be both hardworking and mood the finishing touch for different colors and enhancing. For example, inexpensive, easy-to- accents. “People sometimes put quite a lot install cove lights in the kitchen can provide of money and effort into their rooms and soft illumination after mealtime and cleanup. lighting can help to show them to their best Additional lights placed at a bathroom vanity effect,” says Martin. and aimed out toward the face can help • Add a ceiling fan with a light source. brighten grooming tasks and offer awakening With the flip of a switch, a ceiling fan with a morning light. A bonus: Those controls can light kit can improve a room’s livability with help accommodate varying levels of natural both comfort and light. It is just one more daylight, too. example of how light works wonders in the • Increase the size of your bedside task home. “Having more lighting options light. One of the bigger mistakes Phillips creates a better lifestyle and it enriches our Photo courtesy of Tech Lighting. SAT 1-4PM JUST LISTED!OPEN Original owner, meticulously cared for this 3 bed 2 bath home with a family room. Perfect kitchen for the chef and/or baker in you with custom Roger Hart cabinets and auxiliary pantries. 180º 310-781-2000 city view. Hot tub under covered patio. Over 8,000 sq.ft lot. Listed at $959,000 2420 W. Carson St. #120 1528 Elmdale Drive, Rolling Hills Estates Torrance, CA 90501


Torrance 9.27.12
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