Dark Sky Friendly
Have you taken a trip to the country lately? I'm one of those lucky devils that grew up in a small town and the one thing I miss most is the incredible starry nights. Thousands upon thousands of stars, big bold moons and shooting stars. The reason we don't get this spectacular show in metro areas is due to light pollution.
Focused Lighting
Lighting can be magical, yep magical. Uplighters on architectural details, pinspot down lights above paintings, led strip on staircases, lamps or pendants to highlight a statement piece of furniture can create a whimsical illusion with just a flush of light.
Sculptural Lighting
Artworks are among the few purchases in ours homes that grow with us and stand the test of time. Homeware styles come and go but a well-chosen painting or sculpture is often something that will never be replaced and will evolve with your homes style.
Adding Layers To Your Lighting
Creating ambiance and successfully using task lighting isn’t always as simple as picking out the most appealing lamp at the store. Learn more here.
Lighting Your Home Office
One of the most important parts of your workplace environment is the lighting. It can either help you feel alert and productive, or sleepy and languid.
The Importance of a Good Lighting Plan
Whether you’re building a new home or remodelling your current space, lighting is one of those often overlooked factors that has a huge impact on the mood that emanates from each room.
Keeping Life Bright - How Lighting Affects Your Mood
Lighting is one of the most important aspects of room design, and oftentimes one of the most overlooked. The intensity and type of lighting in a room can play a huge part in the intensity and type of emotions you feel
Choosing the Right Ceiling Fan
You’ve made up your mind that a ceiling fan or two is the best cooling option for your home. Excellent move – air conditioning’s way too expensive to run all the time and the days of extreme summer heat are increasing.
So, which one to pick? White, black, colonial, industrial – there are hundreds of ceiling fans on the market. Thankfully there’s one expert team here at Urban Lighting. We’re going to simplify the process with the tips and tricks that we apply to choosing the perfect ceiling fan.
How To Utilise Downlights In Your Home
When downlights first came to prominence, we marvelled at their beautiful recessed design and the amount of light you could get from one little spot in the ceiling. Homes across Australia started showcasing the grid-like patterns of downlights.
Festoon Light Enchantment
There really is something about light that mesmerises and transforms the human spirit. Tourists chase the bright Aussie sun for its warm, healthy properties. Outdoor barbies roll on longer when soft globes light into the night. It was only natural then, to put this happiness on a string, which these days is famously known as festoon lighting.
Wabi Sabi
Wabi Sabi is hard to define, not necessarily and style or an object but a feeling. At the core Wabi Sabi speaks to your surrounding environment and is there to remind you that everything natural is impermanent, imperfect and incomplete. Finding the beauty in the imperfect, whether it be a place, person or thing, by removing the impossible task of pursuing perfection it leaves space for what is important. When thinking in terms of how we decorate our homes, asymmetry, simplicity, modesty and minimalistic all come to mind.
A Complete Lighting Overhaul – How a Lighting Designer Can Help
It’s the middle of the year and now’s when we all start feeling a bit, well… dull. Just imagine how your house feels! It's last spruce up was probably last October when the spring cleaning bug took a big bite into your sanity.
Go Big or Go Home – Big, Bold Pendant Lighting
Generally speaking, Australians are more the relaxed type of personality where the ‘she’ll be right’ ethos suits just about any situation. Except when you’re talking beautiful, bold pendant lighting. An understated look just doesn’t cut it when you’ve chosen the attention seeker of the lighting family. That’s why we’re urging every Aussie home to go big ‘n’ bold for your next foray into classic, modern, industrial/rustic, and chandelier pendant lighting.
LED Strip Light Magic
Urban Lighting would like it to be known that magic is not just for kids. The astonishing ability to make things disappear, and just as importantly, appear in sharp focus, rests firmly in the magical realm of strip LED lighting too.
Entryway Success - How to make a lasting impression
If home is where the heart is, the entryway is the main artery. It waves goodbye to you as you leave in the morning and greets you when you come home every evening. The entrance to your home should be welcoming, a reflection of you and your family. Just like families, entryways come in all shapes and sizes, so a one size fits all approach definitely does not apply and a personal touch is most certainly recommended.
Perfecting Task Lighting
Whether you are prepping food, cooking, reading, studying, applying makeup or inspecting the newest addition to your forehead wrinkle collection, these are all tasks that require lighting. When it comes to task lighting, particularly down lights and pendants, a wrong step and you will be forever cast in shadow. Literally.
It's a New Year
And just like that, we're back! We hope you have enjoyed (or are still enjoying) a relaxing and enjoyable break from the usual routines of the year.
Happy Holidays
As we round out the year and reflect on 2018, we would like to say thank you to those that have made our year a great one. It has been a busy one for us at Urban and bitter sweet as we farewell our veteran team member Rod, who has been with us for 20 years. He will be greatly missed!
Summer Heat
As the days get longer and the thermostat reaches those unbelievable high highs with no signs of a southerly reprieve and the family huddles around a rotating pedestal fan, you start to wonder why you didn’t get around to it last summer…… installing a ceiling fan.
Downlights + Christmas!
A conversation about downlights would normally draw eye-rolls and yawns. But folks, no more! These are exciting times as downlights break out of their square grid layouts and transform themselves into main players. Robert has been doing some amazing things with downlights – instead of lighting your hallway, lighting your artwork using the VARANO, and instead of hiding downlights away, surface mounting the KINETIC in a contrasting colour. Come and have a chat with him if you’re in a downlight rut.
Bedside Pendants
Lighting a bedside is one of the slightly trickier decorating conundrums. Any light needs to look good, give enough light to read by and not take up too much space on the bedside table. You can see why it poses a problem.
Decor + Design 2018
It has been a busy few weeks here at Urban. In July we launched our very first range of lamps at Décor + Design in Melbourne. They were received very enthusiastically so we are thrilled about that! We now have stockists in Sydney and Melbourne, including our two Urban Lighting stores of course. Have a look at a few images of the show below.
CRUSHING ON BRASS
Everywhere we turn we are seeing moody hues and brass. It’s just beautiful! Sofas are in luxurious fabrics, walls are dark, and light fittings are sophisticated.
Exterior Lighting
We are using our outdoor spaces more than ever thanks to an explosion of design interest extending into our gardens, possibly because of the plethora of TV makeover shows, or maybe we’ve finally worked out we have the climate for it?
Hamptons Darling!
Our love affair with The Hamptons doesn’t look like ending any time soon. Who didn’t want to move into Meryl Streep’s house in It’s Complicated and whip up something delicious? Or even date Jack Nicholson in Something’s Gotta Give if it meant having Diane Keaton’s fabulous house? It’s not hard to see why this look is so appealing - it speaks of relaxed, family living. Nothing too precious, and effortless in style.
Bathroom Lighting
Let’s talk about bathrooms. Whereas once they were utilitarian rooms of the house (or sometimes the whole street) we now see bathrooms in a very different light. They need to be beautiful spaces to look at, practical, and maybe even a little glamorous. Rather than places we rush in and out of, we now like to linger there; we enjoy being there, and we want their aesthetic to reflect this.