Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Lighting design dilemma

I have a design dilemma.

It’s a lighting problem .
Basically I don’t have a lot of space to work with nor a lot of money.

The current light is a flood light located above the door in this photo below.
On one side of the door is the garage and the other side is my outdoor sitting area.

I appreciate the flood light due to its security foot candle power but its wide shape makes it hard to find a fixture that would fit over it.

There is also a space problem. There is not a lot of space between the light fixture and the top of the door.

And of course I am working on a pretty tight budget, as many folks are these days.

So I thought I would put it out there and see if anyone had any great ideas.

Thanks !
Mucho gracias.

Michelle

From Pina Colada


another view of the area, with the “minimalist” flood light cut off.
From Pina Colada


and a shot of the strolling garden path taken today -
From Pina Colada


From Pina Colada

4 comments:

Linda@ Lime in the Coconut said...

I have a thought(I've been planning it for our pool area)...you are a potter (or work with clay, yes?) How about making (out of red clay) a cover (have you seen the talavera ones?) It's really just a big square, curved and affixed to the wall with some cut outs in it.

Beautiful outdoor space BTW!!

something along these lines:

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.equipale.com/site_img/ClayRusticSconces1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.simplysouthwestandbeyond.com/&usg=__OEKaMUzOyp0_L5bC6J63RHR4bBk=&h=190&w=158&sz=9&hl=en&start=2&sig2=lNbGrFN6GtiBYekmFqxnHw&um=1&tbnid=spM-Upw-CSUY2M:&tbnh=103&tbnw=86&prev=/images%3Fq%3Doutdoor%2Btalavera%2Bsconces%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1T4SNYR_enUS310US310%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1&ei=rU0VSt66JcOHtgfr-tHhDA

Deviant Deziner, aka Michelle said...

oh la la Linda,
thanks for the tip and the inspiration.

Phrago said...

Michelle, Instead of fighting with the space above the door, how about getting two pieces of conduit(very cheap) and some electrical boxes, connectors, and wire, and send conduit out in either direction horizontally, connecting to as many lights that you might need. You could put a light or two on each side of the door, in any spot you like. You could even install plugs in the boxes instead of light fixtures and hang light strings across the patio for that festive party look. This may sound like a lot of work, but actually it is a simple project that you could do for about $60.00 dollars conduit, electrical boxes, connectors, and wire) in an afternoon. You could even instal one side at a time as money permits. Paint the whole instalation to match your trim and it won't be that noticable. Use your wholesale license and get the parts as cheap as possible. Use cheap fixtures to make it work now, change them out for something that better suits your artistic sense later. You will need to take down the existing light and put up a cover box that will except conduit connectors. Price it out at El Cheapo... Phrago

Deviant Deziner, aka Michelle said...

Patrick,
that is an EXCELLENT idea, and very affordable too.
I'm putting that on the list TO DO !

thanks !!!!!!!!!!