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Lighting & Shading

See your home in an entirely new light

Lighting Design

Feeling truly at home in an environment requires more than comfortable furniture and a pleasing color palette. Lighting adds depth and detail to décor. It highlights architectural features and showcases art. It draws attention to your home’s best features, and can downplay weaker ones. Both an art and a science, lighting design is the surest way to make your home shine.

Why hire a
lighting designer?

Why risk NOT hiring one ? Lighting isn’t just a functional element of design, it’s absolutely central to the experience of living – bolstering your mood on a gray day, calming the soul after a hectic one; setting the stage for a party, or focusing your attention on work. Unique in their ability to integrate the technical and creative aspects of design, lighting designers leverage an impressive – and essential – array of skills.

See Lighting Temperatures
  • Knowledgeable about the latest lighting technology and trends
  • Trained to transform light into dynamic architectural design
  • Schooled in physics, optics, electricity, codes and environmental impact
  • Adept at reducing equipment costs through competitive bids and manufacturer partnerships
  • Able to identify lighting techniques that will reduce equipment and labor costs
  • Attuned to the requirements of the home and the preferences of its owners.

Color Temperatures at a Glance

Lighting Tones

1,700 K

Red lighting reminiscent of a match flame offers a calming effect in the evening.

2,700 - 3,300 K

Elevate warm interior colors and wood finishes with warm, soft white lighting.

4,100 - 4,150 K

Stay focused on tasks in workspaces or kitchens with cool, white lighting.

5,500 - 6,000 K

Enjoy vertical daylight hues in the afternoon to stimulate your mood and décor.

6,500 K

Deliver lighting in main living areas with hues reminiscent of overcast skies.

15,000 - 27,000 K

Reserve clear blue lighting for activities that require ample energy or focus.

1,850 K

Craft the perfect date night light with romantic candlelit or sunset hues.

3,000 K

Facilitate relaxation with neutral white lighting while reading in the family room.

5,000 K

Employ crisp-white daylight hues to highlight artwork and bolster security.

6,200 K

Blue-white light mimics natural sunlight and delivers bright, energizing illumination.

6,500 - 10,500 K

Turn to blue hues for hyper-focused task lighting in your primary workspaces.
Lighting Tones

1,700 K

Match flames & low-pressure sodium lamps

2,700 - 3,300 K

Incandescent lamps & soft-white flourescent lamps

4,100 - 4,150 K

Moonlight; cool-white lamps

5,500 - 6,000 K

Vertical daylight

6,500 K

Daylight; overcast fluorescent lamps

15,000 - 27,000 K

Daylight; overcast fluorescent lamps

1,850 K

Candle Flame, sunrise, sunset

3,000 K

Warm-white fluorescent lamos

5,000 K

Horizon daylight

6,200 K

Xenon short-arc lamp

6,500 - 10,500 K

LCD or CRT Screen

Essential Layers of Light

A combination of ambient, task and accent lighting helps to create visually balanced, flexible spaces. Laying light sources also reduces your risk of eye strain, minimizes obtrusive shadows and softens the hard edges of rigid spaces.
Ambient Light
Soft lighting from natural sunlight, recessed ceiling lights or pendants illuminates the entire room.
Task Lighting
Special pendant, desk or under-cabinet lights provided bright, focused illumination for specific activities.
Accent Lighting
Highlight artwork, photos and architectural details with lighting three ties brighter ghan ambient fixtures.
  • Daytime

    Optimize focus and concentration in your home office with bright white-blue ambient lights and desk lights. For added convenience, integrate the settings into a “Daytime” lighting scene that automatically activates weekday mornings at 9 AM.

  • Bedtime

    Prepare for restorative sleep with a “Bedtime” lighting scene, activated by a bedside remote or tablet. Lights will dim gradually, casting the room in a warm, orange hue that induces relaxation.

  • Entertaining

    Want to keep guests energized? Activate your “Party” lighting scene and illuminate the kitchen and living room with a white-blue hue. Augment the scene with landscape lighting that prompts guests to explore your outdoor spaces.

  • Movie Night

    Recessed lights and decorative sconces dim. Floor track lighting illuminates. It all happens when you activate “Movie Night” on your handheld remote or touchpad.

Lighting Control

The easier your lighting is to control, the more readily you can realize its potential to transform your environment. When you have a range of fixtures in your home, it’s best to take a centralized approach to lighting control. Not only will your lights be easier to install and simpler to operate, you’ll minimize clutter.

Interfaces

High-end lighting control systems feature personalized interfaces available on dedicated touchpads or mobile apps. Easy-to-use graphic menus show the status of lights in each room and let you make changes with a simple button tap. You can also adjust intensity, color and color temperature for fixtures individually or as groups, then save your favorite settings.

Processor

The heart of your lighting control system, the processor connects your control devices and fixtures by providing clear, uninterrupted communication without any lag. As soon as you input a command – no matter the source – you’ll get an immediate and accurate response. During the initial design stage, we’ll help you determine which model best fits your needs based on bandwidth and processing power.

Dimming Panels

The best professional lighting control systems provide centralized control using dimmer panels. All dimming and control capabilities are routed through these remote panels that are installed out of sight in an equipment room or utility closet. Dimmer panels reduce wall clutter in individual rooms, simplify the wiring infrastructure, allow for more complex programming capabilities, and minimize the need for power boosters while also controlling fans and motors.

Smart Dimmers/Switches

Reduce clutter even further with smart dimmers and switches that incorporate complex commands and scenes. Replacing banks of switches and dimmers they’ll streamline your décor. To further improve convenience, choose keypads that offer instant access to scenes, let you manage lights throughout the house, and offer combined dimmer and switch control in one housing. Models fit most any décor with flush-mounted designs featuring matte, metal or glass finishes in plentiful colors.

Why Motorized Shading?

Improve your morning, midday and evening routines while enjoying the benefits of upgraded climate management and lighting control, as well as enhanced security and privacy. Choose from a vast array of fabrics and styles tailored to your décor. The added automation of motorized shades also enables effortless control of your home via timers and scenes.

  • Create perfect light every time by integrating motorized shades and window treatments with your existing smart home system and adjusting shading and lighting systems together.
  • Automate your home by creating zones for various lighting needs throughout your living spaces.
  • Enjoy enhanced control as your shades rise and lower in unison, quietly and right on schedule.
  • Straightforward control enables anyone in the home to experience the simplicity of automated window treatments.

Explore the Benefits of Motorized Shading

Save Energy
Program shades to block the sun during the hot summer months and let the sunshine in during the cold winter months.
Enhance Security
Timers raise and lower your shades automatically to keep up the appearance that you’re at home – even when you’re not.
Match Aesthetics
Don’t worry about having to compromise your aesthetics. Motorized shading is available in hundreds of materials and design motifs.
Maintain privacy
Raise and lower your shades with the press of a button, or program them to operate automatically at high-traffic times.
Protect furniture and art
Ultraviolet rays can damage valuable possessions like artwork, furniture, flooring and rugs. Prevent sun damage by programming your shades to lower during the brightest time of day.
Blue frame with fabric Lutron Palladiom roller shades
Roller Shades
Lutron Solar shades in a white loft
Solar Shades
blue honeycomb shades on a window overlooking the ocean
Cellular Shades
woven wooden roman shades by Lutron
Woven Roman Shades
Blackout shades by Lutron in a cool grey bedroom
Blackout Shades
Horizontal Sheer Blinds by Lutron in an olive green bedroom
Horizontal Sheer Blinds
Roman Shades by Hunter Douglas in a home office
Roman Shades

    Let's have a light conversation.

    From design to installation, our experts deliver elegant lighting solutions with white-glove service and unprecedented quality in Greater Philadelphia, Southern California and South Florida, including San Diego and Palm Beach.
    Talk to a Lighting Expert