Kenneth Crawford is a South Florida based interior designer and owner of Kenneth Crawford Interiors.  As the August Designer of the Month, he offers some professional lighting and decorative ideas.

Each element in a well-decorated room from paint color to the detail of each doorknob is important, and the right lighting is key to unlocking the true potential in your design. The space must be orchestrated perfectly, creating a cohesive flow through out.

I have over 20 years of experience with commercial and residential design, and whether you are building a new restaurant or renovating a 500 sq. foot dining room, the lighting fixtures themselves and the angle of illumination make a world of difference. That’s why I shop Capitol Lighting’s extensive database to find everything I need from unique ceiling pendants and elegant crystal chandeliers to simple bath vanity fixtures and top quality light bulbs.

The examples featured below show how the right lighting will create a custom finish and bring out the best in your decorative scheme:

Dining Room

When designing an interior space, you must look at the room as a whole. Light fixtures should blend harmoniously with the decor, adding color, texture and style to complete the design. The Philippe Stark fixture, purchased from Capitol Lighting, is more like a sculpture, making a stunning design statement and blending with the architecture without obstructing the view or overpowering the space.

Guest Bedroom

These nightstand lamps purchased from Capitol Lighting add the perfect finishing touch to this room. I wanted a metallic element to pull the silver embedded in the artwork and create a sparkling effect reminiscent of the Intercoastal on a clear day. 

Powder Bathroom

The Italian glass sconces were selected for their linear design, which adds to the architectural composition of the room.

Bedroom

Everyone is looking for ways to save power.  Whether to save money or the planet, one of the best and most popular ways to save power on lighting is by installing dimmer switches to control your lights.  Besides saving power, they’re also great for setting the mood in your home.  More and more dimmer switches are being installed in American homes every year.

Dimmer switches are easy to install, even for an everyday person. Of course, even an easy installation can be problematic, so you should always contact the best Dallas electrician to ensure that you’re doing things right, or to perform the dimmer switch installation for you if you don’t want to take a chance of making a mistake.  Either way, here are some important do-it-yourself electrical tip to keep in mind about dimmer switches:

The temperature outside is starting to rise, and it appears this summer with have some great weather. That means if you have a pool, you will be using it quite often. Consider having your pool inspected if this is the first season it will be used, or you own a pool with an electrical system. This is a recommend inspection to ensure that your family and guests are safe when they are swimming.

To regulate the temperature of your pool, you likely have a heating/cooling system connected. This could be connected to your home’s electrical system or a solar powered generator with wires above or below ground. Over the last couple of seasons your pool and its wires could have taken damage from the elements or animals, this could result in exposed wires. All wires that are connected to the pool should be inspected. If there is any contact between the water and electrical wires it could result in a serious electrical shock to swimmers. So before you begin filling up your pool and turning on your temperature regulation system, make sure there is no risk for electrical contact.

For those of you with below ground pools you may have had an automatic cover installed on your pool. The cover allows you to retract and expand your pool cover with the touch of a button without the hassle or doing it manually. While this is a very handy feature, it’s electrical features sit very close to the water. As with your heating system wires, make sure that your retractable cover is inspected carefully to check for cracked, broken, or exposed electrical wires. Contact with water could cause shock and also short out the automatic cover system.

If you are looking to have an inground pool installed, or have purchased an above ground pool and are looking to place it, take note of any electrical wires in the area. This can include any outside meters attached to your home, electrical outlets, and power lines running from or around your home. When the splashing begins and water is spread, it can create an opportunity for the electricity to travel through the water and toward the pool. Review the area you have available and create safe distances between the pool and electrical wires.

It is important that you consider each of these items before you start enjoying your pool. Save yourself from damaged electrical wire systems, and possible harm and injury to swimmers; have an Expert Electrician review your pool setup. For a proper inspection by a professional, licensed electrician, contact your local Expert Electric.

A recent TedTalk about LED lights has garnered about a million and a half views. That high number isn’t surprising, given that LEDs have been making headlines a lot, lately. Tons of informational articles about the efficiency of LED light bulbs and how to choose them have been circulating online. But this TedTalk is about something quite different – data transmission.