Lightingmajestic.com Has A New Website!

Posted on February 23, 2012 by David

This Month (Feb 2012) has seen the arrival of a new website for Dudley based lighting retailer Lighting Majestic. After months of development, design, product organisation and test runs the finished product is now live, and the customers, as well as the Lighting Majestic staff, couldn’t be happier with the result. It has been an arduous process but a fulfilling one as the improvements were certainly worth the effort. This new website much easier to navigate, and as for product choice, the difference between our old website and are new one is staggering, whereas the old website had a little over 2,000 products to choose from, the new Lightingmajestic.com has over 7,000!  Covering all manner of fittings from ceiling lights to floor lamps and of course the popular Tiffany Lighting.

The Homepage:

Lighting Majestic “Request a Callback” button

Those of you that were familiar with our old site will of course notice the improvement in the overall appearance of the homepage. When you first access our site, there is a lot information right in front of your eyes to help guide you to exactly what you are looking for, as well as bring you up to date on our latest bargains, bestsellers and other promotions. Another thing you will see is the “request a call back” button. Simply click this image to bring up another screen where you can enter your name, contact telephone number and a lighting related question and a member of our team will get in touch and offer any helpful advice they can, regarding your query.

Categories:

Like our old website you can shop by category, simply by selecting the kind of fitting you want from the list down the left hand side of the homepage. Then you will be taken to a sub category page. This page gives you the option of viewing the category as a whole by just continuing to scroll down, or click any of the buttons that appear on the page to define your search even more. For example; let’s say you’re only interested in Italian wall lights. You would select the wall lights category from the left side of the homepage, you will then be taken to the wall lights page where you will be presented with the sub category buttons e.g. modern wall lights, traditional wall lights etc. Simply select the image with the tag “Italian wall lights” and you will be given a page with nothing but Italian wall lights. A lot of thought and time has gone into defining the style and type of light fittings into categories to make finding what you want as easy as possible. The new Lighting Majestic.com has 19 main category and over 70 sub categories!

Example of Sub-Category Buttons

Search by Department:

New Search By Department Bar

This handy little feature can be found on the Homepage, situated just to the left of the search bar. Selecting by department is a great way of shopping on lighting majestic for those customers are looking to light a particular part of a home and only want to view fittings that are suited to a certain room. Simply click the small arrow on the right hand side of the bar to be presented with a choice of; Living room, Bathroom, Outdoor, Kitchen, Bedroom and Hallway and Stairs. Click the department you wish to find fittings for and get instant access to room specific light fittings and accessories.

 

Light Bulbs:

Yes, Lighting Majestic now sells light bulbs online, and just about any kind of light bulb you could want is available for home delivery. The range includes; Incandescent, Halogen, Fluorescent and LED bulbs, and each category of bulb in this range has many varying styles and wattages within it. Lamps such as energy efficient bulbs (Compact Fluorescent), candle, tipped candle, twisted candle and golf ball Incandescent bulbs, G9, GU10, GU5.3, G4 Halogen lamps (among others) and GU10 style triple LED bulbs.

Easily Add The Bulbs You Need Before Checking Out

The addition of light bulbs to the Lighting Majestic product range would have been enough, be we felt the need to go one further. On the new Lightingmajestic.com there is a helpful system in place for purchasing light bulbs. Say you are about to purchase a light fitting from Lighting Majestic and the fitting you would like to buy does not come with the bulbs included, and you’re unsure as to what bulbs the fitting actually requires. In this case, when you arrive at the Checkout, Lighting Majestic will present you with the option of adding the correct bulbs for the fitting you wish to buy to your cart, so you can be assured you will not only get bulbs with your fitting, but the right ones.

From all of us here at Lighting Majestic, we sincerely hope that you enjoy our new website as much as we do. To find out more about Lighting Majestic you can visit the About Us page or if you want to get in touch then see our Contact Us page.

Posted in Ceiling Lights, Chandeliers, Electrical Advice, Flush Ceiling Lights, Lighting Manufacturers, Living room lighting, Outdoor Lighting, Pendant Lights, Tiffany Lighting | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Hallways and Stairs: Lighting Your Home’s Connectors

Posted on February 14, 2012 by David

Adequate lighting in your home’s hallways stairway and landing is essential, but your options simply do not end with a single fitting with a high voltage lamp to light the space. Many people are completely unaware of what can actually be achieved with the thoughtful placement of quality, practical light fittings in this small, seemingly insignificant and often forgotten part of our homes. Many of you would also be surprised to learn that just as much can be done, in regard to attractive accent lighting, in these connectors as can be achieved in one of the main rooms of the house, such as a living space or kitchen.

Most people have the impression that they are limited by space in hallways and stairwells, however there is a lot to be said for the advancements in both flush light fittings and recessed fittings for use in smaller spaces, which correctly positioned can provide attractive and practical accent lighting. But for the people that have properties with large staircase and halls then the great selection of ceiling pendant or even stunning chandeliers on the market today can certainly be taken advantage of.  

Wall lights are a landmark in hallway lighting. Back when they originated in castles all over Europe and England, wall lights were the only hallways lighting option, and they came in the form of blazing touches placed into fitted, iron forged, cones or baskets. But you will be happy to know that things have progressed greatly since those humble beginnings and today there is an amazing range of wall light fittings available in a variety of styles, from the classic and traditional to more modern, sleek, almost futuristic designs. Wall uplighters or downlighters are perhaps the best way to generate a feeling of great depth to a hallway and create the illusion of space with a warm glow gently washing up or down the walls.

Recessed light fittings, as we have previously mentioned, is a great way of getting additional light into your hallways and stairwells and you will find that most homes (particularly modern structures) can accommodate it. Having recessed light fittings placed into the skirting boards on your landings is perhaps the best way of accenting your home’s walkways, and also , if place on to a separate circuit they can act as a handy night light all on their own. Recessed light placed into stairways can, under the right circumstances can make a dramatic effect on you lighting plan and perhaps make your stair case the most eye-catching and noteworthy part of your home. A recessed light placed into the wall next to a step will wash a very attractive glow or warm light of the foot tread and can create a spectacular effect in open or closed stair plans.

An important thing to remember when planning your hallway and stairway lighting plan is you keep the lighting temperature and intensity a close as possible from space to space. Different levels of light and noticeable change in intensity over such a short area can be very confusing for your eyes and can bring on headaches and migraines, not to mention generate a cluttered and puzzling feel to the decor of the house. It is also a handy tip to layer you lighting plan on different circuit for when it is not necessary to have an intense or universal source of light filling the space.  This particularly comes in handy for getting up in the middle of the night of on dark mornings and you need to navigate from room to room without shocking your retinas with an intense glare which we all know can be very uncomfortable.

Hopefully now, we all understand a little more about our lighting options in this often neglected part of the home and help us get a little more overall enjoyment and comfort from our vital connectors, to provide a more relaxed and even flow to the overall feel to the your home.   

Posted in Ceiling Lights, Chandeliers, Flush Ceiling Lights, Pendant Lights | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

The Culture And History of Italian Lighting

Posted on January 17, 2012 by David

Italian lighting design, unknown to some, has a rich and extensive history steeped in tradition and innovation that has been very influential primarily since the 1940’s.

Tolomeo Table Lamp

It was during this time, post world war two, that Italian lighting design became recognised around the world and become renowned for creating, what are now considered, commonplace classics in modern and contemporary lighting designs. To this day Italy is known as one of the world leaders in lighting design for continually bringing fresh, exiting and highly original masterpiece fittings among the more well known, traditional and practical lighting solutions all with, as they say in Italy “l’intenzione di illuminare” (the intension to illuminate).

Innovative and revolutionary lighting designs from Italy can be seen all over the world. From office desks, fine restaurants, a variety of homes all the way to being praised for its influence in the display cabinets of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Here at Lighting Majestic we aim to bring you the very best in Italian lighting design from established manufacturers such as JH Miller and Elstead’s Silux collection both of which offer a wide selection of styles of Italian ceiling lights, Italian wall lights, table lamps and Italian floor lamps to offer you as much choice as possible when choosing a light with such an interesting background. 

Roma Ceiling Light From Silux

Silux is a company that operates from the Venice region of Italy. It’s only since the year two thousand that their impressive range of Italian lighting design has been available through the British lighting company Elstead and since this partnership formed they have proven successful in bringing unique, handmade designs to a greater market. Some of the more popular ranges including: Niagara’s spectacular glass and chrome bauble design, the Capri and Kingston range of handmade glass fittings and the stunningly rustic and ornate Mosca range made of blown amber crystal glass with antique brown finishes. 

JH Miller bring by far the largest collection of Italian designed lighting to Lighting Majestic, specialising in multi-armed pendants and Italian wall lights, with other lighting solution options available. All products from JH miller are and handmade in Italy inspected to ensure the highest quality product possible to meet the requirements of home and commercial use.

LED 12 Light, Ceiling Light From JH Miller

Choosing a light fitting handmade by Italian craftsmen from Lighting Majestic will not only ensure that you receive a standout fitting of the highest quality that promises to bring something special to your room of choice, But will give you the opportunity to own a significant piece of lighting design history.

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Understanding your light source

Posted on December 22, 2011 by David

Choosing the proper lighting source can be a daunting and confusing process. With so much selection available, each variation boasting their own set of advantages and disadvantages, it is important for you to get some perspective and background knowledge of not only your options but the benefits and draw backs of each type of lamp.

The following is a basic briefing for those new to lighting on some of the lighting source options available, and should help you come to grips with what the market currently has to offer.

• Incandescent Lamp: Perhaps the most commonly known of all lighting solutions, the incandescent lamp was the first “bulb” of its kind to be brought to a mass market. Over twenty-two inventors and scientists can hold some small claim to contributing in the evolution of this lighting solution; however it was the design by Thomas Edison that became known as the most effective and therefore commercially viable because of its advanced incandescent material make-up and vacuum system. The great advantage boasted by incandescent lamps is that they are relatively inexpensive to buy and easy to find, but these positives however do come with some negatives. As much as 90% of the power consumed by an incandescent lamp produces heat rather than visible light, which does not make them very energy efficient, which results in the lamps needing to be replaced more frequently than other lighting solutions (around every two thousand hours).

• Fluorescent Lamp: These lamps are becoming more and more popular as the world is becoming more and more energy aware and they are beginning to take over from the common incandescent lamp. This is becoming ever more apparent with the introduction of Compact Fluorescent lamps which are designed to fit the more common incandescent caps. This has provided the market with a dramatic change in trends in recent years. The main reason for this is how a standard incandescent lamp uses 90% of its power to produce heat as opposed to light; the fluorescent lamp directs only 30% of its power consumption toward heat giving the lamp a longer lifespan and more consistent light. Fluorescent lamps have come under some criticism however, for their somewhat annoying flicker trademark when taking time to warm up and produce light longer after switch on. Also, as they contain mercury, fluorescent lamps when damaged or cracked, can release hazardous contaminants into the surrounding environment, so be sure to take caution when using this more energy efficient lighting solution. 

• Halogen Lamp: Also known as the Tungsten Halogen Lamp, this lighting solution is a combination of an incandescent lamp with a Tungsten filament contained within halogen gas to set in motion what is called the halogen cycle to give out light. The halogen cycle is key to the advantages of halogen lamps as it provides the light source with extended lifespan and prevents the darkening of the bulb to ensure a more consistent source of light throughout its lifespan. Halogen lamps have come under close scrutiny from health and safety professionals due to the amount of heat they tend to produce. For this reason most halogen light sources are required to be fitted with a covering in one form or another. The source is more often covered by a grid, grille, glass or metal casing to ensure safety and to prevent the posed threat of fire or burn hazards when enjoying this handy lighting solution.

• LED (Light Emitting Diode): Due to the vast range of ways that this lighting solution can be used it is no wonder why it is becoming more popular on the market. LED lighting is more commonly used to add additional light to a space, with the use of recessed wall lights, down lights and up lights as well as handy tape and strip lights. Now there are also LED lamps available that are interchangeable with incandescent lamps, these provide a much more energy efficient lamp as most of the power used is focused on light production. However LED lighting can prove more expensive than other lighting solutions, but it is a sound investment on the basis of life expectancy, durability and because of their safe make-up (having no filament) they will not get hot or burn out. LED lamps, although small, are rugged in structure. They are not made with any glass tubing and the internal fittings are well supported making them resistant to high levels of vibration and impact. Some LED lamps do require a driver to operate; this is a power pack supply that provides a constant and consistent voltage that is appropriate for the lamp. 

Hopefully the advantages and disadvantages of lighting solutions that we have touched upon here will provide you with some peace of mind when it comes to lighting your home or business.

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Understanding Lighting Colours

Posted on December 22, 2011 by David

Colour temperature is the foremost attribute of visible light and when delved into it can be a complex and intimidating topic to tackle. From a technical perspective; colour temperature is a numerical measurement, calculated by the response of black body radiators and the range of degrees of glow they go through during heating from cool black to white hot using the principle that any object, if heated to a high enough temperature will produce light in some form.

Colour temperature is measured in the unit of Kelvins and marked with the symbol K. Temperature can range from cool to warm on the Kelvin spectrum. Anything above five thousand Kelvins is considered cool light and anything below three thousand Kelvins is considered warm light.

To give you a clear representation of degrees Kelvin I will use standard benchmark for our perceptions of artificial light is of course natural daylight. Natural daylight read on the Kelvin spectrum measures somewhere in the region of four and a half to five thousand Kelvins.

Some of the specific Kelvin measurements are as follows:

• 2000k – 3000k is known as Warm White; found is standard 100w incandescent lamps, warm white fluorescents and warm white LED.
• 3000k – 4000k falls under the label of White light and can be found in tungsten halogen lamps and white fluorescent lamps
• 4000k -5000k is Cool White and is produced by cool white fluorescents
• 5000k – 6000k is known as Daylight which can be found in natural LED lamps and daylight fluorescent lamps.

For some it can be a little confusing when confronted with the notion that the higher the colour temperature the cooler the light produced and the lower the colour temperature, the warmer the light, this theory put simply is due to the fact that lighting temperature is ruled more by the psychological (visual) effect of lighting on a room as opposed to standard temperature readings and the mathematics behind these calculations are mind-bending.   
Now that we know about all the technical and scientific properties of lighting temperature, let us look at how to make it work for you.

The addition of warm lighting can give a room an overall cosy, welcoming and relaxing feel, ideal for the living room, dining rooms in your home as well as the lounge and dining area of bar or restaurants. Cool lighting on the other hand is great for areas such as the kitchen, office, garage and other places where we have to focus and concentrate. Both warm and cool light produce what is commonly known as white light however warm light boasts a sunny, slightly orange tinge in its glow whereas cool light emits an icy radiating bluish white to give the room a real sharpness. Warm lighting is produced more by high pressure sodium lamps and cooler light is produced by high pressure mercury lamps.

Typically, fluorescent lamps offer the greatest range of colour temperature as both warm and cool lamps can be found with a fluorescent make up. However, incandescent lamps are primarily the producers of standard warm light which flatter skin tones and prove to be visually appealing. Halogen lamps also provide predominantly warm light which was more perceivable intensity than a common tungsten lamp producing a whiter light to give colours a much sharper appearance.

Taking the time to examine your options in regard to lighting colour temperature can be very rewarding especially if you are trying to generate a certain mood for a certain room and get the most from your lighting fixtures.

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