home about me our home

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Do You Have Enough LIGHTING In Your Rooms?

   

Did you know that there is a formula on how to figure out how many watts of light your room needs?

I read a little formula a long time ago that said  find your square footage (example 12ft X 16ft = 192sq.ft)

Then multiply your square footage by 1.5 (192 sq.ft. X 1.5 =288 watts) so that means your room will need 288 watts of lighting sources.

An average room should have approx. 4-5 lamps.
My family room is 17ft.X 20ft.=340 sq.ft X1.5= 510 watts are needed to light my room properly.

I will be the first one to admit that I do have a need for light. Lots of natural light in the day, and  ambient lighting at night.

There was one darkish corner in my family room since we made our changes so I HAD to get another light source.

I knew exactly what I wanted to get. Since my sconces are an antique brass I thought something simple, and antique brass would be a nice accent in the room.

I was telling some friends that I really wanted a pharmacy/apothecary floor lamp for that corner.

One of my friends, who could be a personal shopper found the perfect floor lamp for me…..

BALLARDS JULIAN APOTHECARY LAMP
T_WithoutZoom

ballard
Go to Ballard HERE!

Are you ready to see it in my family room?

new lamp 004 (713x800)


new lamp 002 (600x800)
The white mirror is also from Ballard, it is the Atoll mirror found HERE! 

I did put two coats of my trim paint on the mirror. It comes in a gray based white with some distressing and that is not suitable for my room, but the fresh crisp white worked out well.

new lamp 006 (687x800)
In this image you can see how well it works with the Mary Mc Donald antique brass sconces.

Now all the main elements are in the room!!

Things to do are:

Finish wainscoting around the room (we are now wondering if the room really needs it all the way around.)

Crown molding around the entire room plus carry it into the kitchen area that joins the family room.

Paint my childhood desk.

Paint barstools, and have seat upholstered.

Find some interesting art, possibly architectural blue prints, or an old sign.

What is to come next:

A Before and After

Show and Tell of my new pillows that I just got.

 BTW:
Thank you to those of you who emailed me wondering if I was alright. 

I have not blogged this past week because I was out playing with three lovely design chatroom friends that I met in blogland. I was showing them a little of Northern California and it’s offerings.

I had a friend from North Carolina, Illinois and Missouri staying with me for 5 days. Oh the fun we had!! One big slumber party.

I am back on track now so hopefully I will be up and running full speed ahead this next week.

Happy Weekend!!

 
 

16 comments:

Sharon @ mrshinesclass said...

The lamp and the room looks great! Can't wait to see the full reveal.

Glad you had a fun week.

The enchanted home said...

Glad to hear you have been having fun, the light looks great and you are right good even lighting is super important. Good luck getting the rest done, its looking great!

Marty@A Stroll Thru Life said...

Your familyroom looks amazing, such a fabulous change. Hugs, Marty

Sarah said...

Glad to know you've been entertaining friends and having a grand time.
Interesting post. Wish we had more natural light in our home.
Hope your Mother's Day weekend is filled with delights.~ Sarah

Teresa Hatfield ~ Splendid Sass said...

Heck no! The older I get the more light I need!!!
I love this lamp, Kathysue!
Come over and enter for my blue pagoda linen towels.
Happy Friday.
Teresa
xoxo

Patty Day @Pattys Epiphanies said...

I'm doing my "math"!
The new floor lamp is Perfect!
Welcome back.

michele said...

oh i love coming here. i'm next! invite me to the next slumber party and watch me show up.

happy weekend, gorgeous.

michele

Woodside Park said...

Hi, Kathysue -
Welcome back! I have been swamped, and didn't blog this week either. Your new lamp looks like it has always been there. Perfect for reading in that corner by the fireplace. Everything is looking so fresh, crisp and pretty. Happy Mother's Day weekend!
Take care,
Loi

Victoria said...

The room is really taking shape, Kathysue. I love the pillow on your white chair. Have a lovely Mother's Day.
XO, Victoria

Julie Taylor and Danni Greenwalt said...

Kathysue...your family rooms is looking so good....have a great M.Day!

debra @ 5th and state said...

we did MISS YOU!
how fun to host bloggy friends and show them california

ok, your room is so inviting and lovely, crisp & fresh. loved what you did with the mirror. and a wattage formula, who knew!

wishes for a delightful and heartwarming mothers day
xoxo
debra

Leslie said...

Glad you are back Kathysue. Sounds like you had a great time with your friends:)

Your room looks great! I like this formula for lighting. I'm trying to do this in my family room. Getting just the right lighting is a challenge!

Have a nice weekend!

xxleslie

Dream House Trish said...

Love the lamp & thanks for the lighting formula, this is probably the next thing on the agenda for the dream house !!!

Melinda said...

That's one of the mirrors I have had my eye on since I saw in at the NYIFG a few years ago, and fell in love with it. Looks fabulous in your room, and with the lamp and that stunning new wainscoting. Have you done a big reveal that I missed on that?

Mary Ann Pickett said...

Love the lamp...and the mirror looks perfect and fresh!

Stacey said...

Beautiful! I am really interested in the lighting formula information. We have definite dark areas in our home. Sometimes it's just hard to figure out where to put a lamp so that it doesn't add to visual clutter. I don't like clutter.