Star Light, Star Bright...

Yet another internal project of ours is nearing completion, almost ready for an unveiling. You'll notice from the sneak-peek photo above that the piece resembles a star. A bright, new star. A piece of star light. Oh, the pun-ny possibilities!

And so we ask you, dear readers, what witty wordsmithing should we employ in our upcoming starry, red-carpet rollout? Calling all pretty puns and corny quips, please!
 
Either leave your ideas in a comment below, or join in on our Facebook page.

New Pearls

We in the R&D department are getting very excited about some new internal projects nearing completion. We'll be unveiling them soon; until then, here's a sneak peek at two in particular:

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How to Decorate Like it's 1956, part 7

[This is a recurring post dedicated to highlighting snippets of "Chapter 7: Lighting" from Fire Farm's copy of the Better Homes and Gardens Decorating Book, published in 1956. To see all posts from this series, click here.]

This week's pearl is dedicated to all of you gamers out there (and we're not talking Xbox-ers), wherever you may be. Yes, even at play, lighting can make or break the experience. Here we're informed that one strong light source is not ideal, "for your eyes glance about." Oh, and I feel obligated to point out: the ladies are winning. How perfectly marvelous!

Light for play and work

"For easier seeing at cards, sewing, and reading, you need at least a 150-watt bulb. But you will need other lights in the room, for your eyes glance about. The stronger one light is, the greater is the danger of too much contrast.

The chandelier pictured is a pulley type that draws down so that beams fall on the cards but never directly on the eyes. Another good lamp for card playing is the swing-arm bridge type, used with a glass reflecting bowl."

[Better Homes and Gardens Decorating Book. Des Moines, IA: Meredith Publishing Company, 1956. Print.]

Pendant Patterns

One of the Fire Farm staff, Bob Griffith, brought in a picture of one of our pendants he made for his granddaughter. Instead of the usual frosted bulb, Bob put a clear bulb in the fixture which threw some spectacular patterns on the ceiling and nearby walls.

Click here to visit the Paper Ceiling Pendant (Body Type P) stock product page.

(Note: This fixture is modified slightly from our stock version in that the interior is painted white, and the exterior painted forest green.)





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How to Decorate Like it's 1956, part 6

[This is a recurring post dedicated to highlighting snippets of "Chapter 7: Lighting" from Fire Farm's copy of the Better Homes and Gardens Decorating Book, published in 1956. To see all posts from this series, click here.]

Aaand we're back in the New Year with another pair of primo, prodigious, possibly pedantic paragraphs. Plus an illuminating illustration, of course. This week we learn the effects of dark- and light-walled rooms, and how they should inform your lighting decisions.

Adjust light brilliance to color

"Shiny and light-toned surfaces throw back the light, while dark surfaces soak it up. If you choose dark walls, plan to use more lamps and bigger, brighter bulbs. Keep the ceiling color light, so light will reflect. Average-size rooms need at least five lamps distributed around them, assuming there are pale walls and ceilings in the rooms.

Some ways to add light to a dark-walled room are by the use of mirrors, translucent shades or groupings of spot-lights, as shown in drawing here."

[Better Homes and Gardens Decorating Book. Des Moines, IA: Meredith Publishing Company, 1956. Print.]

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Sun + Wave = Awe

An Orion Wave on a shop table, waiting to be shipped out -- lit only by the morning sun coming through the window.

Coming to work in the morning to discover moments like this = Priceless.

Click here for Project 22802-01 (Orion Wave).

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Think Big with Fire Farm

At 11 feet in diameter and 3 feet tall, these cylindrical shades, which just went out the door, rank as some of the larger lighting sculpture/fixtures we have built to date.

Their scale required fabrication in four sections to fit in the truck and through the door. We estimate it will take about one hour to install each one, and each will weigh less than 450 lbs hanging. Each fixture uses high-efficiency T5 fluorescent bulbs.

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