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Bathroom Lights

How to Use Patterns and Textures in Every Room of Your Home to Personalize Your Space

How to Use Patterns and Textures in Every Room of Your Home to Personalize Your Space

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Interior design trends seem to cycle back and forth every five to ten years. And right on cue, after a long stretch of neutral minimalism, maxalimist living has taken designers and influencers by storm!

The rise of maximalist design doesn’t mean you have to redo your entire home. But it gives you an excellent opportunity to touch up your existing space with bold patterns.

We’ll give you top ideas for incorporating patterns for any design aesthetic throughout your home! Then you can adapt these tips to your own style, budget, and space.

Kitchen

Your kitchen is the heart of the home, and so the style influences here will change how the rest of the house feels. 

So if you’re ready to change up the balance of your white cabinets and walls, try a few of these tips:

  • Custom backsplash: An easy way to increase the function and design of your home is by installing a backsplash that matches your unique style. With endless tile options, you can create a minimalist pattern or a loud mosaic impact with bright colors.
  • Runner rugs: Tired of aching feet and a crumby floor? Runner rugs make your home safer, cleaner, and prettier. Line your floors with patterned rugs to add dimension and enjoyment to your dinner prep.
  • Display plates and dishes: The shift to a more maximalist design includes incorporating personal touches to your decor. So display your inherited china or thrifted dishes for another layer of patterns and history.
  • Island pendants: Create a final dimension of patterns with light! Your pendant shades can create shadows, new colors, or bright spotlights to increase the variety of your home.

Bathroom

Bathrooms are often a tricky space to decorate– you want to enjoy your space, but you usually don’t have room to embellish much. With a little creativity (and courage) you can pack a punch with some washroom-approved patterns. 

Try adding some layers by updating your:

  • Wallpaper: Make an impact without taking up needed space with wallpaper. Add natural neutrals, bold art deco, or geometric modern to immediately glow up the area.
  • Tile work: Bathrooms offer so many opportunities to use tile. Redo your countertop, create a backsplash, touch up the floor, or renovate your tub and shower!
  • Vanity lights: The lighting around your mirror is another way to play with patterns. Whether it’s a custom shade or a unique number of lights, it’s another valuable investment that will significantly impact your bathroom. 
  • Textiles: Incorporate your towels, washcloths, and rugs into your design to save space and add beauty. Using contrasting colors and patterns, you can use these textiles as an accent layer in your design.

Hallways

Your hallways are a tricky spot– not much light, wall space, or floor space is available to show your personality. But these small, narrow spaces are a great place to incorporate some maximalist colors and patterns.

Some space-saving, high-impact design tips include: 

  • Sconces: Create a new rhythm for your hall by spacing out wall sconces along the way. You can add beauty and light to any hall, from DIY peel-and-stick to professionally installed hard-wired options.
  • Textured walls: Add interest to your walls with custom board and batten or wood strips. It’s easy to customize, install, and match to any color scheme.
  • Runners: Protect high-traffic walkways with a runner rug! You’ll extend the life of your wood or carpet floors and add another layer of color and exciting patterns.
  • Eclectic gallery: While most hallways don’t have much open wall, an eclectic gallery can fit the smallest spaces. You’ll add color, personality, and pattern with a few frames tucked between doorways!

Bedrooms

Your family bedrooms are a great place to match your unique personality. While the rest of the house may stick to one theme, this private space can be anything you want.

We recommend playing with:

  • Curtains: Layer curtains for a custom layout and better sleep. Blackout curtains usually have less design variety, but you can layer them with patterned sheer curtains for a daytime set.
  • Accent walls: Create the perfect focal point for your personal domain with wallpaper or use wood planks in a custom design.
  • Bedding: Use a floral, geometric, or playful bedspread to display your personality. Or, if you like to change your look often, use a white bedspread and rotate patterned throws throughout the year.
  • String lights: Create soft light patterns by stringing fairy lights around your room. For an added layer, swap fairy lights for color-changing LEDs!

Dining Room

Whether your dining area is a dedicated room or a nook off the kitchen, it should be defined as a separate space. Then you can leave the work of food preparation stress in the kitchen and switch to relaxation and connection as you eat. 

Define the space by:

  • Distinct wall treatments: Change the mood by using different colors and shapes for your dining walls. Patterned wallpaper is an easy way to get a professional finish without detailed work!
  • A bold divider: If your dining room shares the space with your kitchen, add texture and pattern with a wall divider. From eclectic to traditional, you’re sure to find the right touch for your space.
  • Unique lighting: Signal a mood change with your lighting choices. Using a different style of pendant or chandelier from the kitchen will disrupt the food-making pattern.
  • Playing with upholstery: Use a table runner, placemats, or statement upholstered chairs for an added layer of personality.

Living Room

From hosting parties to a quiet movie night, your living room provides a comfortable space to relax and enjoy. But relaxation doesn’t mean it has to be quietly predictable. 

Try some of these tips to maximize design in your shared “unwind” space:

  • Wallpaper the ceiling: Do a unique riff on traditional wallpaper by wallpapering the ceiling. You’ll create interest by adding pattern and color to an ordinarily neutral space.
  • Change neutral patterns with colored LEDs: Prefer a neutral room but want to up the anti for parties? Then try color-changing LEDs to turn your neutral wallpaper into something bright and playful.
  • Swap pillow covers: Even in the most neutral space, you can add pattern and dimension with new pillow covers. Corduroy, leather stripes, or soft florals will make your sofas look brand new.
  • Layer rugs: Layering rugs is a new standard for luxe-looking living rooms. You can keep it simple with a muted border or play up the patterns with a modern geometric display.

Home Office

More people than ever have a dedicated work space from home– but have you taken the time to craft a space that works best for you and your tastes? 

Create interest in your Zoom meetings (without lagging virtual backgrounds) with some of these tips:

  • Accent wall for the camera: Show your personality to your coworkers and clients with a beautiful accent wall in sight of your camera. It will beat your cubical or office walls anyways!
  • Interesting lamp shades: Create shadow or color with a unique lamp shade. You’ll improve visibility and do better work, too!
  • Computer mat: Keep your workspace clean, organized, and attractive with a patterned laptop mat. You can cover your entire desk for a comprehensive update or accent your space with a keyboard-sized mat.
  • Reading chairs: Add flavor to your room with an accent reading chair or two. Reading chairs offer an excellent opportunity to introduce new patterns to the room without going overboard.

After years of minimalist, copy-paste interior design, it’s time to breathe new personality and individualism into our homes with some playful patterns. Go for whatever suits you best. You keep your minimalist aesthetic and introduce a few subtle patterns and textures. Or, you can go all in on a complete redesign and bring bold, beautiful patterns and colors throughout your home! 

Whatever your style, there are endless ways to incorporate patterns and embrace your favorite designs.

Need Help?

Proper lighting is essential to a fully functioning home– but it can be challenging to nail balanced brightness, great fixtures, and a budget! Contact the experts at Super Lite for advice on your project!

 

Why Your Bathroom Needs a Real-Life Magic Mirror (you will never be the same)

Why Your Bathroom Needs a Real-Life Magic Mirror (you will never be the same)

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When fairy godmothers and magic wands are lacking, you can still treat yourself to a dramatic transformation each day, if your bathroom is a magical space. Of course, many details work together to create the perfect space, but one of the best ways to start is to make sure you get two essential elements working together… lights and mirrors.

This is where the beloved illuminated
mirror comes into play.

With clean lines, stylish designs,
and unmatched light quality, mirrors with built-in lights create sophisticated statement
pieces for modern bathrooms. They have an unusual ability to help you transform
yourself and your space at the same time.

At Super Lite, we’ve been drooling
over these mirrors for a while now, but most people still haven’t heard of
them! So with that said, here are four ways that an LED illuminated mirror
create a little bit of magic in your bathroom.

LED
Illuminated Mirrors

1. They Amplify Your Style

LED mirrors come in many different
sizes to suit many needs, including those short or boxy bathrooms. They add a
sense of drama and sophistication to a room, and they showcase the wall behind
the mirror. Adding some kind of feature on the mirror wall now has DOUBLE the
impact, whether it’s a cool backsplash or an accent wall color.

2. They Add Atmospheric Lighting

LED illuminated mirrors provide an
even tone of light and a glow throughout the room. Many of them even have an
adjustable color temperature between warm white, natural white, and cool white.
Whatever you’re feeling, these mirrors have a mood lighting to match.

3. They Maximize Your Bathroom Tasks
for a Better Look

Whatever your morning routine looks
like, an LED mirror is sure to make it easier. Focused mirror lighting gives
you a clearer view of your face, improving make-up application and anything
else. I promise I’m addressing the men here, too—the extra light also helps
with shaving, since you can more easily see any spots you may have missed.

4. They Magically Defog Themselves

As if this couldn’t get any better,
some of our favorite LED mirrors now come equipped with a defogger in them. What
could be better than getting out of a hot steaming shower to a totally clear
mirror? Enjoy that steamy goodness while you move on with your necessary tasks.

Ready to take a look for yourself? In addition to all of the perks listed above, they offer even MORE great features, such as:

  • Touch Control Technology
  • Waterproof Grade
  • Built in night light
  • ETL Certification
  • 3 year warranty

Visit us here.

3 Bathroom Dilemmas We Don’t Talk About Enough

3 Bathroom Dilemmas We Don’t Talk About Enough

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Now that we’ve given plenty of attention to the age-old debate about how to place toilet paper, I think it’s time to move on to something else. A well-lit bathroom can make or break your morning routine, and vanity lighting is a huge part of that! How often do we really stop to consider vanity lighting, however?

We’ve compiled the 3 most vital elements of vanity lighting and a summary of each topic. After you read and feel informed, pick your side! If you haven’t had these debates with your spouse, parents, or roommates yet, NOW is the time. These details can really maximize your bathroom space and transform your morning routine.

1. How to Hang: Up or Down?

The first thing you should consider is how to hang your vanity lights—shining up or down? First, consider how you’ll use these lights. Are they direct task lighting? If so, angle down or at the face. An indirect light source for style and mood? Shine them up.

If you have a bathroom with a darker color palette, a downward hanging light may suit you best. Why? Darker colors soak up more light, and hanging it downward will focus the light on the area you really want to be illuminating.

If your bathroom has a lighter color, palette an upward hanging light will work best for the space. Why? The light reflects off of the ceiling and walls, amplifying the overall light for the entire room. Regardless of which direction you hang them, vanity lights should hang high off of the floor, approximately 78 inches.

2. Clear or Frosted Glass?

You may have already had this debate when choosing other fixtures, but it’s especially relevant to vanity lights. They’re closer to eye level and more frequently viewed than most home fixtures, so choose well here!

In my years at a lighting showroom, the more popular choice has always been frosted glass. Why? One favorite feature about frosted glass is that it shines a soft ambient light. It still provides plenty of lumens, but isn’t too harsh on the eye. They also require less cleaning, since you’re unlikely to see fingerprints or smudges. A weekly light dusting should do the trick.  

On the other hand, I’ve encountered many lovers of clear glass. For one thing, they distribute more lumens, since the glass doesn’t diffuse the light. They’re often better for task lighting, aiding in accurate shaving or makeup application. The exposed light bulbs also add an element of style with different shaped filament bulbs.

3. What Fixture Size Is Best?

There’s a lot of variety in vanity fixtures. Some are small and dainty, others dramatic and large. We’ll let you have those infinite debates of taste as you surf Pinterest or our online catalog, but for now we’ll do you a favor and insert a lesser-known detail about proportions.

If your vanity light fixture is going over a single sink bowl, the fixture should be at least ¾ the size of the length of the mirror. Center it above the sink, and never select vanity lights that exceed the length of the mirror. If your vanity has two or more sinks, the same rules apply and you would center each light over its respective sink.

So there it is—the bathroom dilemmas no one talks about. Lighting matters! And fitting your vanity lighting to your unique taste will ensure an even better morning routine and evening wind-down experience.

Clever Lighting Ideas for Your Too-Short Bathroom

Clever Lighting Ideas for Your Too-Short Bathroom

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Feeling cramped in your bathroom? Every home comes with its quirks, and bathroom size and layouts are often among them. However, a cramped bathroom doesn’t have to cramp your style! Less-than traditional bathroom spaces simply call for less-than traditional lighting and décor ideas. Below, you’ll find a list of 7 examples of lighting that can transform your vertically-challenged bathroom space. Enjoy!

1. LED Illuminated Mirror

We’ve got lots to say about these, but that’s a topic for another time. They defog, have varied lighting settings, add a dramatic flair, save tons of space, and attract a lot of attention (while drawing attention away from the size of the bathroom). They’re a great addition to any size bathroom space.

Pendants

2. Globe One-Light LED Pendant

Beautiful globe pendants like this add unique texture and variety to your space. Pendants provide a fresh alternative to sconces. Ideally pendants should hang on either side of a mirror and be spaced 30 to 36 inches apart. As with any other bathroom lighting, it’s important that pendants be damp or wet-location rated. This protects against damage to the fixture or electrical components.

3. Cylinder Pendant

The great thing about pendants in a bathroom is that they can hang lower than a vanity light could, making your ceilings look higher. The standard placement for a bathroom pendant is to have the bottom of the fixture at the center line of the mirror. While many pendants come with adjustable stem lengths, you can also opt for a pendant hung by chain, cord, or wire for optimal hanging flexibility. Pendants should be part of a layered lighting plan that includes general overhead lighting, accent lights, and even natural light.

4. Mango Wood 1 Light Pendant

Keep in mind that pendants function best as accent lighting, and may not provide adequate light for the whole space. In fact, it’s better if pendants are opaque or thickly shaded, since they’re at your eye level and a clear-glass fixture might mean you’re staring straight at a bright bulb. That said, pendants like this one add texture, light, and style while drawing your eye away from short ceilings.

Sconces

5. Winfield 2 Light Wall Sconce

Sconces have been around for many years, but their efficiency and style make them a fresh solution for any space. Sconces often flank the sides of the mirror, but you can mount them to fit your personal preference. They can even augment the existing lines of your bathroom, drawing your eye horizontally in a pleasing, stylish way.

6. Glenn 1 Light Wall Sconce

The recommended height to hang sconces between 64” to 68” from the finished floor. The idea is to illuminate the face, so the exact measurements will vary a little bit depending on whether the sconce is “top” or “bottom” heavy, and where it shines light. Leaving the top half of your bathroom with less light draws attention away from the overall height of the room, focusing instead on the central, lit portion of the space.

7. AXIS SCONCE

Don’t forget that sconces are similar to the pendants—they don’t usually provide enough light to serve as a primary light source. If you do favor your sconces, you may want to supplement with hidden recessed lighting overhead. Using them as accent or task lighting, in addition to a main fixture, will add style and round out your bathroom space without detracting from the brightness of the room.

We hope that you can use these tips, tricks, and products to create an aesthetically pleasing and functional space in your bathroom—no matter what the size! Best of luck from all of us at Super Lite.