Home Décor – Lighting fixtures Designed to your Desires – At times, selecting a lighting fixture is a simple task – simply run through a lighting catalogue or call into a lighting specialty store and pick up the items that you like.  However, there are those times when a project may require a lighting unit that is so unique that it has to be custom made to suit the project.  Your first reaction to this idea might be that ‘custom-made’ fixtures are very expensive.  But, undertaking such a task can be less expensive than you think.

Our story begins at a ‘mini-mansion’ directly overlooking the turquoise waters of the Beef Island Channel, with a bonus view of the deep blue nightlights of the airport.

This elegantly designed, contemporary home required lighting in two areas: the first within the space overlooking the contemporary chrome and glass staircase; the second in the 27’extended open ceiling area that engulfs both the lower and upper floors of the home.

Our task required a contemporary lighting fixture that provided “bold yet elegant, empowering yet soothing” qualities.  To satisfy this need, we decided on customized fixture featuring a chrome rail lighting system with large, vertical strips of frosted glass suspended at various intervals along its length.

The Staircase
The ‘zigzag’ staircase extends 12’ from the top of the stairs to a glass-enclosed landing offering a picturesque view.  Our chrome rail was offset 2’ from the top of the stairs and runs an extended length of 9.5’ perpendicular to the central joist in the ceiling, stopping directly over the landing.  To further accentuate the downward slope of the chrome and glass staircase, we vertically suspended three 2’ wide strips of frosted glass, cut to varying lengths, to mimic the descent of the stairs, just under the rail using thin, stainless steel aircraft cables anchored into the wooden ceiling.

The final and most important step in the design was to shed light onto the frosted glass which would, in turn, throw soft reflective light into the area, bringing the staircase to life.  To achieve this a decorative, 300w dimmable rail-light was attached to the rail directly behind the shortest length of frosted glass, angled to the left at 40 degrees facing the mid-length glass piece.  A second rail-light was situated directly behind the mid-length frosted-glass, also angled 40 degrees left and facing the longest frosted-glass length.

Central Area    
Lighting in this area is based on the same design concept as the staircase, but instead uses a V-shape pattern.

We hung a 15’ chrome rail, with five 2’ wide frosted glass strips suspended along its length, perpendicular to the central line of the arched ceiling.  The glass lengths forming the V comprised a 12’ centre piece, two adjacent 9’ lengths, and two 6’ lengths at the outer ends.   In addition, the rail consisted of four decorative rail lights of 300w capacity.  These were set between each pair of frosted-glass strips and angled 40 degrees to illuminate the strip of glass directly to the left.  The massive unit now emits a soft, reflective light along the entire length of the suspended rail.

No longer should homeowners shy away from the word custom-made. These days you can create the look of your dreams without breaking your bank account.  Visit www.uniquelifestyles.com today and let us take you an enlightening journey in to the world of architectural lighting!