18 - Friday, June 29, 1990 - North Shore News Let lighting set mood IF YOU want to set a mood or create the best atmosphere in a room, there’s no better way to do it than with lighting. With the proper selection of light sources and coztiols, your dining room can be suitable for informal family gatherings or more elegant dinner parties; and the atmosphere in your living or family room can also be varied for a host of activities, from entertaining guests to reading or watching TV. “Living/family/dining room lighting must be flexible enough to suit every occasion and mood, so it takes careful planning,’’ says Peter van der Harst, lighting con- sultant for a major lighting com- pany. ‘Begin by listing all the ac- tivities you do in these rooms — when, how, where — and take note of furniture placements. Only then can you decide just what kind of light and fixtures you need.”” For reading, you should com- bine a fairly bright directional table or floor lamp set beside, and somewhat behind, the reader’s chair, in combination with general room lighting. Similar lighting would be appropriate for knitting or embroidery. For conversation, good ambient lighting from scver- al directions is recommended, as it’s important that the lighting should facilitate eye contact and faces should not be in shadow. Avoid ‘‘light sculptures’? or lighting that causes a glare near conversation areas. Also avoid watching TV in the dark, it’s hard on the eyes. A bright, glary lamp placed on or close to the TV is not advisable, as the brightness of the fixture will distract the eye from the TY. It is best to hide a diffusing light behind the TV itself, in combination with dim- mable general lighting. Alter- natively, indirect uniform soft ceiling lighting is also a good solution for watching TV. The table is obviously the focal point of a dining room and lighting over the table must work in two ways: it must flatter the food served, and it must be glare-free for the comfort of you and your fellow diners. A concen- tration of light over the dining table instead of uniformly lighting the emire area also provides a feeling of togetherness. Tepending on your decor, you may want to select a fixture such CERAMIC TILE BATHROOM WALL TILES and INSTALLATION from $4 9go0 WALL TILES 6"x6".6 colours ¢ t MOSAICS 499 from FLOOR TILES 12°xX142" sq/ft. from sq/ft. 1288 East 14th St. - 988-3160 as the classic candle-bulb chandelier, or a high-tech halogen design; or you may decide to opt for carefully placed downlighters (fixed or adjustable recessed lighting), possibly with halogen bulbs in them. These can also be placed around the perimeter of the room for ambient lighting as well as glare-free table lighting. Wall lights or sconces, are also popular in dining rooms and all help to set the appropriate mood. Whatever your choice of light sources, be sure to include dim- mers, three-way bulbs and a varie- ty of different circuits. Even indi- vidual canisters on a track of spotlights can be controlled sepa- rately. Multiple controls, which adjust light sources and inten- sities, allow you to create an endless variety of lighting schemes. Blinds, Draperies Re-Upholsiery 25-40% orF Pleated Shades Vertical Blinds Horizontal Blinds Bret, 254% oe OFF by HunterDougles MOST CUSTOM FABRICS 5 yards or more 3034 Mountain Hwy. (REAR) North Vancouver, B.C. 988-1220 v7) 2P1 ~ Mon.-Wed.-Fri. 9:00-3:00 Separate yourself from the ordinary! AND TAKE ADVANTAGE OF J. COLLINS JULY FURNITURE CLEARANCE Before you go on vacation, stop and see the terrific price reductions we're offering throughout the store through July Everything in Both Stores Will Be Hundreds of Styles Drastically Reduced Ready for immediate Delivery at Prices of UP TO Marked 50% 685-8414 1080 Mainland Street at Helmcken Downtown Vancouver, B.C. Now Two Big Locations CANADA'S LARGEST THOMASVILLE GALLERY Onllir$ THOMASVILLE GALLERY 435-5566 4240 Manor Street Burnaby, B.C. (Half a block west of Sheraton Villa Hotel) MONDAY TO SATURDAY 9 A.M. TO 3 BM. SUNDAY NOON TO 5 PM.