 | Randy Hayes
is the manager of Habitat's HomeMart located at Towne West in the old Office Depot location. Having been in the retail furniture business for 20 years, and having started both Home Accents and Cost Plus Furniture Warehouse, Randy jumped at the opportunity to further his career in the furniture industry while giving back to those in need. Habitat's HomeMart is a non-profit retail store with all profits going to building homes for Wichita Habitat Homes. Randy, an avid Dallas Cowboys fan, has two sons who he enjoys watching progress in their football careers in the Maize school district. You can reach Randy at (316) 943-6996 or email rrhayes@habhomemart.com |
Furniture
2004-10-01 15:07:00
How can I decorate inexpensively?
ANSWER: Decorative lighting is considered to be one of the best (and sometimes the most cost efficient) accessory you can buy; an accessory that lights up! Carefully chosen lighting is as important to a room as your best piece of furniture. The top trend in decorative lighting has little to do with style, shape or shade choices. Instead, it focuses on the mindset of the homeowner. Some style choices that you might consider are: Casual elegance which creates a warm, relaxed and cozy environment. Casual lighting is more upscale in design. Soft contemporary: Clean, modern and simple in style, architectural in design. Simplified traditional: Removes the excess; a traditional look, minus ornament. It may be solid brass, but stripped down and rich with an antique patina finish. There is also a move toward heavy iron, and rust finishes are popular as well as oil-rubbed bronze. For a totally different effect, picture wrought iron with crystal, or polished brass with amber or colored glass. A simple alternative to redecorating for the holidays is to focus on your eating area since that is where most of the holiday action takes place. Look at your existing lighting. Do you have a chandelier? Once confined to dining rooms and entry halls, chandeliers are hanging around almost any room in the house; bathrooms, bedrooms, closets, hallways - anywhere one will fit. Eat-in kitchens are often multi-functional: they are the place where kids gather to do homework; families play games, and adults do paperwork. Since lighting needs can vary, depending upon how an eat-in kitchen is being used, you need flexibility in your lighting approach. Choose dimmable lighting, so you can have brightness when needed, and softer lighting to set the mood for enjoyable meals. Pendant lights or functional chandeliers are good choices to provide ambient down lighting for dinner and bright light when your table becomes a workspace. When using down lighting over the dining room table, be careful not to create unbecoming dark shadows on your guest's faces. Placing additional light sources elsewhere in the room helps to balance the light.Dress up fixtures with accessories like candle sleeves, garland or cloth over the chain. Or, convert a ceiling outlet by taking down a tired ceiling fixture and install track lighting that can be directed at walls, artwork, or straight down. Dimmers are another inexpensive trick. They help set a special mood in the home by allowing you to manipulate the light. Install them at the wall for ceiling fixtures (and even buy them for table lamps).No matter what your budget, opt for timeless materials like bronze and glass over their plastic counterparts. Timeless designs in top materials will always look right and can become family heirlooms.
