Parade of Homes

And while traditional five- and six-armed chandeliers still work fine in foyers and larger spaces, you're just as likely to be smitten by a piece with a specific purpose: Tiny mini-models for bathrooms or baby's nursery, for instance, or longer rectangu- lar and oval pieces for hanging above dining room tables and kitchen islands. Equally ubiquitous these days are LED lights and fixtures, with sales continuing to skyrocket as products become more efficient and afford- able. Though LED first gained popularity as a source of accent lighting — and remains an effective means of adding dra- ma when used in toe kicks, kitchen cabinets and art niches — dedicated LED fixtures are now efficient enough to light entire rooms, and come in a wide variety of fashion-for- ward styles, shapes and colours. Even the above-mentioned Edison bulbs are now avail- able in LED form, a far more eco-conscious alternative than their famously inefficient incandescent counterparts. "You wouldn't even know it's an LED lamp," says Simkin of the updated Edisons. "They're dimmable, and in reality they're only going to retail for $4 more than a car- bon filament lamp — the difference is they're going to last probably 10 or 15 times as long." The same is true outdoors, where LED pot lights and other contemporary fixtures have already supplanted more traditional two-lantern set-ups. In Winnipeg, most newly built homes feature some form of LED lighting outdoors, either modern updates on traditional lanterns or coach lights, or far more contem- porary pieces that add atmospheric impact to your curb appeal. "It could be something geometric, or it could throw an interesting light spray pat- tern on the wall," says Simkin. Dedicated LED fixtures are now efficient enough to light entire rooms, and come in a wide variety of fashion-forward styles, shapes and colours BrigHT ideaS in LigHTing Cont'd from page 95 96 Parade of Homes Spring 2015

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