Please Dim that Light!

Something is just a little off in this photo...might it be the lighting...??? 
A bit harsh, and the blemishes of everything stick out like a sore thumb!

veryone has pet peeves....things that drive them crazy.  ♠I have many!  One of which is overhead and harsh lighting.  I HATE lights that are harsh, preferring lamps to overhead lights any day of the week.  It drives me crazy when people flip on overhead lights, when they have perfectly nice lamps around.  I am known to have lamps on in the middle of the day (which my husband hates!), I know, I know energy savings and all:) Our upstairs is actually kind of dark at the moment, for lack of lamp lighting.... During the renovation, I deleted overhead lights (my husband wanted fans, what is with the fans? something about air circulation....ugh) and the compromise was to get fans, in certain rooms, WITHOUT lights!!!   Of course there are areas of your home, the dining room for instance, and in the kitchen that overhead lighting is normal and essential.  The only thing that they need are DIMMERS!

Ahhh, much better!
(Now, if I was a better photographer, I could have probably done a better job at translating
the difference, but I hope you get the picture!)

Well, I wanted dimmers, but the electrician for some reason didn't put them in, and at that point I just wanted to be IN the house, so I said, fine... Mr. O can do that later. (thinking it would be a month later).... 8 months later, we finally got DIMMERS!  What a difference it makes.  I walked around all evening last night, adjusting the dimmers....this will be perfect for dinner, this will be perfect for after dinner, this illuminates the artwork nicely, you get the picture:):) Dimmers on, lamps on, oh that is vera nice:) What IS for dinner???

Dimmers are actually fairly easy to install yourself (or so it seemed, Mr. O did 3 in about 30 minutes).  They range in price from $15 to $35 at the local hardware store.  And they are a must have in my opinion.  Especially in areas where you entertain.  There is just something about soothing, soft light that makes you want to linger over dinner....converse a little more....whose skin doesn't glow in the dim light, blemishes just melt away!   And they (dimmers) aren't just for overhead lights, you can add them to lamps as well.  

Oh, and the bulbs make a huge difference too, Use 40 – 60 watt soft white incandescent bulbs (get them while you can, because they are being banned by 2014, you know for efficiency) for a cozy, nice, warm light.  I also love the Edison bulbs from Rejuvenation .  We chose those for our pendants over the sink (which I need to order more). BTW: I LOVE Rejuvenation as a lighting source.  Beautiful period lighting.

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I am all for being green, but please don't take my beautiful lighting away....and don't tell me to just use candles!!  I really didn't mean to "make a statement" in this post, and call me "old fashioned" but I love my old bulbs.  I contribute to the green movement in other ways, I recycle furniture for goodness sake!!!, I am sure there is some sort of carbon footprint analysis that says a piece of furniture is = to a certain # of incandescent bulbs !!)  I know there might be some alternatives, like the Philips AmbientLED has a a bulb that can replace incandescent bulbs...but, still, not the same.  

As far as I know, there isn't a ban on dimmers so if you have to have green bulbs you can get DIMMABLE BULBS...something I didn't know, is that you must buy a bulb that's specifically made to work with dimmers (check the package). GE makes some dimming compact fluorescent light bulbs (called the Energy Smart Dimming Spirals) that are specially designed for use with dimming switches.

So go out and get yourself some dimmers (if you don't already have them) I promise your guests will thank you!

Anyway, I am so happy to have my dimmers, especially since it has been dreary outside...dim lights, rainy days, a nice ambiance in the house....so happy!  One project down, 100 more to go!