Give your home an instant lift with a funky floor lamp or trendy pendant. Turn to page 162 of VISI 76 for more radiant lighting ideas.

1. ADJ Table Lamp with Wood Base R895, Weylandts

2. Hanging Dome Black Lamp R1 895, Block & Chisel

3. Cage Pendant R699, Nolden Bros at Superbalist.com

4. White Hanging Pendant Lamp R4 995, Loft Living

5. 2 Cup Floor Lamp R2 200, A2ndlife

6. Mesh Black Pendant R1 599.95, The Lighting Warehouse

7. Vintage Wooden Tripod Lamp R1 300, Mr Price Home

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From exquisite pendants and vintage bulbs to timber designs and chandeliers, when it comes to sprucing up your lighting at home, the options are seemingly endless. It also means that more often than not, the traditional lamp shade is easily dismissed as old fashioned.

Well, here are 6 modern options we thought we’d share… just in case.

1. Crosses Drum Medium Lamp Shade (29cm x 20cm) R129.99, Mr Price Home

2. Large Jozi Lamp Shade R329.95 (42cm x 27cm), The Lighting Warehouse

3. Under The Bell Shade (46cm x 82cm), Price on Request, Muuto at Créma

4. Garden Fabric Lamp Shade (47cm x 33cm) R850, Quentin Horn at VAMP

5. Textured Lamp Shade in Grey (40cm x 22cm) R299, Studio. W at Woolworths

6. Tapered Cross Hatch Lamp Shade (35cm x 22cm) R249, @home

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Make sure you’re not clambering around looking for old candles when the lights go out. Here are 8 alternatives you can find online right now. 

1. POV Table Candleholder R799.95, Entrepo 

2. Cape Union Lambda Lantern R299, Cape Union Mart

3. GoSystem Explorer Lite Lantern R359, iWarehouse.co.za

4. Carved Chevron Pillar Candle R59.99, Mr Price Home

5. Consol Solar Jar R179.99, Sustainable.co.za

6. LED Emergency Light R119.95, The Lighting Warehouse

7. Large Candle (Scent: Fluffy Towel) R365, Yankee Candle

8. Kaufmann Paraffin Lantern R93, Kalahari.com

The post Load Shedding: 8 Alternative Lighting Options appeared first on Visi.

Yellow metals are a major worldwide decor trend. Give your living space shine with copper, bronze and splashes of gold, says stylist Marian van Wyk.

Moderation is the key though, so here are more styling tips:

• One or two great decor pieces with metallic upholstering material will look better than a range of bright accessories.
• Look out for original handmade pieces such as copper candleholders and furniture with metal inserts or copper legs.
• We do not have all day to stand and polish that gray-green patina that copper evolves over time – call it part of the charm.

Originally published in Rapport Mytyd. Subscribe here.

Find more shopping advice here.

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Invest in a feature light this year. Lookout for lights and lamps with thin lines, either in the legs or shade, and choose metallic finishes or bright colours. “Instead of a desk lamp, rather get a standing lamp with an adjustable light for beside your bed, and remember to always use energy-saving bulbs,” says Klara van Wyngaarden.

Originally published in Rapport Mytyd. Subscribe here.

Find more shopping advice here.

The post See the light appeared first on Visi.

Although it can look over-the-top if you’re not careful, when used with restraint the rich shades of gold, bronze and silver create impact. For a dramatic bedroom for instance, try sophisticated gold wallpaper and precious metal accessories, like pillows in plush fabrics and statement lamps.

First published in iMagazine, the glossy lifestyle magazine of City Press. Subscribe here, we do!

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The theme for this year’s conference was CONNECT. What can design do to connect people, communities, lives and so on. It’s been an interesting first day, with most speakers talking about all sorts of ways to connect within various design disciplines, but my favorite by far has been one that focused on our social responsibility to engage with communities in need; to engage our professional skills and work with a “client base” that is increasing every year. And as Cameron Sinclair of Architecture for Humanity put it, to “design like you give a damn”.

There were of course some speakers who triggered thoughts like: “What the hell are you doing this for? What exactly are you researching? And why?” But in moments like these I remembered Maslow”s hierarchy of needs, and how it has translated into design (discovered recently in an article in Smashing Magazine), whereby we need the crazy free thinkers at the top; the people conceptualising stuff we don’t understand and then, over time, watching how these radical ideas filter down to the masses and find a practical, functional outlet or expression.

There has been a mix of thinkers and doers here today, from Honey & Bunny food designers from Austria, who are experimenting with food and how we interact with it, to Febrik – a company designing unique play spaces for children within communities in conflict areas, such as Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon and Jordan. Working within the limits and confines of these war torn areas, they consult children to enable them to develop solutions that allow imaginative and safe play.

I guess another ‘trend’ in today’s conversations was “shit”: more specifically, hygiene and sanitation in poor and impoverished places like Africa and India. Statistics show that this is a crisis, and design seems to be taking this issue head on. Both Ina Jurga of Wash United and Rajesh Dahiya have projects working on these important issues. 

Hella Jongerius was also a favorite, as a woman making a rather sizable contribution to this male dominated design world, her projects are inspiring.

Its been an inspiring day and I cant wait for tomorrow.

Disclaimer: Christine’s trip to WDCD has been sponsored in part by Collaboration design studio, Albert Carpets flooring experts, and Lavo bathroom specialists.

The post What design can do 2012 appeared first on Visi.

There are many ways of creating atmosphere using carefully planned lighting systems, but one of the most cost effective and efficient ways is to plan your lighting around the use of spotlights. Melissa Davidson from The Lighting Warehouse gives a few pointers:

Different purposes

Although spotlights are great for highlighting various features in a home, they are also good for providing ample and attractive illumination for an entire room.

Spotlights can be used for various purposes: task lighting, where they serve to illuminate a desk or working surface; mood lighting, where they serve to highlight certain focal features in a room, such as artwork, plants or other architectural features; and of course, general lighting, where they can be used to provide overall lighting to any space.

Style and design

It is essential to coordinate your choice of spotlights to suit your home’s particular style and decor. Spotlights are available in a multitude of various styles to suit almost any decor style.

Classical styles would be best complemented by spotlights in a brushed chrome finish, while spotlights with wooden, brushed copper or brass detailing would suit more traditional and cottage styles. Contemporary decor would be best accented with spotlights in sleek metallic or a modern enamel finish.

Choosing the right globes

In the past, we used 12V halogen dichroic globes that needed a transformer and that made these globes relatively expensive. Nowadays it is much more affordable to use GU10 globes, as they are 240V and therefore do not require the purchase of a separate transformer.

According to Davidson, there are four types of GU10 globes:

The 50W halogen GU10 is a non-energy saving, dimmable incandescent globe that generates a fair amount of heat. It will therefore not be the best option if the fitting will be operating for long hours.

The 28W (with an output of 35W) and 40W (with an output of 50W) halogen GU10 energy-saver globe will save up to 20% electricity. These bulbs are dimmable, reasonably priced, and they boast a lifetime of up to 2 000 hours.

The CFL GU10 is an energy-saving globe available in 7W, 9W and 11W. It provides an energy saving of up to 80%, and the lifespan of these GU10s are 8 000 hours. These globes are a lot cooler than their halogen counterparts and there are dimmable versions available.

The LED GU10 3W (output of 35W) and 5W (output of 40W) globes are the globes of the future – they will save you 90% electricity and they have a lifespan of 50 000 hours! Dimmable versions are also available, but they are comparatively expensive. LED globes are the coolest of all the globes and all parts are recyclable, making them an especially environmentally friendly choice.

The benefits of spotlights

The main benefit of using spotlights is the fact that they are incredibly versatile light fittings – the light fittings themselves can be readily and seamlessly moved about. You can point them in diverse directions; angling them in virtually any direction to highlight features of your choice. All these characteristics make spotlights especially suitable to activity-intense areas, such as the kitchen.

Other benefits include the fact that spotlights:

Eliminate glare: Glare can be eliminated using spots by indirectly illuminating specific objects. Light reflects off an object at the same angle the rays of light strike it, so you can eliminate glare by ensuring that the reflected light does not shine upward at eye level.

Make a space seem bigger: Increasing a room’s illumination by washing the walls with light is a sure way to make it appear larger than it actually is. This is easily achieved with cleverly placed spotlights.

Create the illusion of a wider room: By running spotlight tracks across the shorter sides of a room, you will make the room seem wider. If, on the other hand, you want the room to appear narrower, then place the spotlight tracks on the longer walls of the room.

Focus on the good, not the bad: Spotlighting is the ideal way of focusing attention on the attractive elements in any room, and hiding the not-so-pretty aspects. For example, if you have unattractive ceilings, you can focus attention away from them by aiming the spotlights downwards, towards the walls.

Alternatively, if you want to show off your stunning pressed ceilings for example, you can attach the spotlights on the adjacent walls and direct some of them to shine directly on the ceilings. This will highlight the ceilings beautifully, and the reflected light will add great ambient lighting to the entire room.

For more information, visit The Lighting Warehouse online at www.lightingwarehouse.co.za.

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