task lighting | Breay Design Associates Blog

Are you familiar with ASTM (American Society for Testing Material)? This is a good source to check for safety standards for cribs, crib mattresses, etc.. Textile materials are tested for harmful dyes and fire codes, and dangerous construction techniques may also be identified. There are warnings about the dangers of cribs that have a side that can be raised and lowered. Lead paint is another danger to avoid.

Other furniture to consider are storage items. A well planned storage area is a wonderful element for baby’s room. It keeps the area visually tidy and makes cleaning less time consuming. You’ll need a changing table, as well. Add a clothes hamper, and diaper pail.

Although Baby is a bit young to learn computer usage, electronic items will help YOU. Consider an infant monitor, you will feel so much more secure knowing you can hear (and see) baby. A CD player allows soft music for you both to enjoy during the night and at naptime. A night-light allows you to find your way through the room to check on baby at night without disturbing him/her. And a lamp is always softer than an overhead light.

Careful planning of the nursery will save you time and energy. To get ideas for decorating it, refer to our previous blog posted March 30, 2012.

Remember, your spaces need to fit the user like a favorite shoe. Ask yourself, “DOES the shoe fit?” If you think you need some help, contact us. We’ve given hundreds of clients personalized solutions to their design dilemmas.

compliments of OutdoorLights

Once there was a poem about a light in the garden. Is “a” light enough? Probably not. Exterior lighting needs to be planned as carefully as we plan our interiors and our architecture. So often when I am looking out the window of a home in evening, all I see are the reflections of the interior home staring back at me. I see none of the lovely grounds beyond! If this sounds like your home, here are tips to rectify the problem.

Yards are to be enjoyed in the evening as well as in the day, and from the inside as well as from the outside. A little string of low voltage or LEDs, or solar lights usually won’t do the job—not because of the type of light, but because of the straight line of lighting fixtures. Too much of a good thing becomes too predictable—and ultimately, boring. Nor will a huge sensor light over the garage door create the feeling of peace and mystique that are so appealing in a night garden. Nor will lighting up the yard like a commercial parking lot be appreciated by viewers, particularly neighbors!

By mixing lighting heights and intensities, and what the light illuminates, we can create an interesting, unobtrusive night scene that can be enjoyed both from inside and outside. Think about the spaces in your yard. You will do well to provide some ambient, low level lighting for general visibility, some task lighting at areas such as steps, and some accent lighting to focus on a favorite area of architecture, or lawn ornament, or shrub or tree. The task lighting should be about twice as bright as the ambient light, and the accent light, which will only shine on one element of focus, can be 15 times as bright as the ambient light, for real “punch.”

Next blog, we’ll discuss some methods of lighting the entry.

See you then!—Sharon Breay

Tag Archives: task lighting

Baby Furniture–

A Light in the Garden