Design Solutions: Easy, Rustic Lighting

lighting tips


Some tips on lighting up your cabin life, from Sea Gull Lighting Products (www.seagulllighting.com):

• Accent lighting can dramatically highlight artwork, architectural details, display areas and prized possessions.    

• Backlighting, up-lighting or down-lighting can boldly highlight artifacts and make porcelain and glassware shimmer.

• Task lighting positioned under cabinets or above key workspaces can help with any chore.

• Task lighting – when dimmed or used with beam control options – can also set the stage for entertaining. Create mood or drama through wall washing or by splashing color above coves, tables or other work areas.

• Wall sconces add a soft diffused light for parties.

• Pendant lighting positioned on flexible rails or tracks can be used to provide a trendsetting, sleek look over bars, countertops and tabletops.

• Recessed lighting is another way to creatively light portraits and other works of art.

Rustic in appearance, the custom-made light fixture shown below and at right is fabricated from two weathered boards, some rope and a line of 50-watt halogen bulbs. It is a perfect example of how creative use of everyday materials can give your cabin a comfortable, original look – as outlined by Kira Obolensky in her book “Good House Cheap House,”?published by The Taunton Press, www.taunton.com.

A sturdy rope is tied around each board (they’re actually reclaimed 8-foot ceiling rafters), then the boards are joined together by several 2x4s. The halogen lights are from a simple track lighting kit. The whole apparatus is attached to two hooks bolted into the ceiling.

Total weight: about 80 pounds.

Available light: 150 watts.

Design panache: priceless.