Monthly Archives: October 2011

Gallery Track Lighting

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Gallery Track LightingGallery lighting and gallery style lights make great additions to any room. Whether you are a professional art gallery, or just prefer the look of clean, focused light within your room’s design, gallery track fixtures are a perfect choice.

Depending on the layout of your room, art gallery or otherwise, track style fixtures can provide the light you need throughout the room within a single track lighting system

There are two sorts of track light systems. Some are flexible and can be moved in any direction you need, others are fixed and will need to be positioned in a specific ceiling location to provide proper light. Pendant lighting is an example of fixed rail track lighting. In this instance, the pendent can face only one direction.

In many cases, you may want to opt for track heads that may be adjusted to point in any direction. This will help, especially when running a professional art gallery, to adjust the beam’s direction depending on the show.

Keeping your gallery lighting diverse will increase the number of options you have within the design of your room. There are many gallery lighting styles including contemporary track lighting, classic gallery track lights and even antique styles as well.

Also consider the added benefit of LED Track fixtures. LED track pendents will save the hassle of changing light bulbs over time and have the added benefit of being both earth friendly and cost effective. Just think of not having to change light bulbs every three to six months. Continue reading →

5 Most Expensive Banksy Art Pieces

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1. Banksy’s piece entitled “Picnic” was sold to American actress Angelina Jolie and actor Brad Pitt for $226,000. The artwork depicts a white family enjoying a pleasant picnic while remaining oblivious to the small crowd of starving Africans encircling them. Typical of Banksy’s trademark sarcastic political statements, this piece exemplifies much of what Banksy’s art appears to be striving to communicate. The piece is loosely based off of the classic Manet painting entitled, “The Picnic, or (Le Dejeuner sur l’Herbe) and uses the obvious contrast in the two main elements as a technique to satirize the inequality in income across the world and the often racial motivations behind that inequality.

2. Due to the unconventional nature of Banksy’s art, the auctioning of his art often comes coupled with the auction of the house attached to it. In one of the more notable of these situations was the $400,000 sale of a property, in southwest England. The mural on the wall of the house provided, courtesy of Banksy, was worth most of the price of the entire sale. The owners sold the home in 2007 through the Red Propeller art gallery. The owners were originally distressed that many of the prospective buyers would want to remove the mural so the sale to the art gallery was an all around good move; resulting in the preservation of the piece as well as a decent chunk of cash for the former owners.

3. The highest asking price for a Banksy piece so far has come from a couple selling a mobile home in Norfolk, UK. The couple had met Banksy at a music festival over a decade ago, before Banksy was anything other than “just another tagger”, and allowed him to use their mobile home as a canvas which as left them with a piece of art carrying a value that was formerly unimaginable to the couple. The owners decided to sell their home for $1 million because they believed that they were not capable of being responsible for such a work of art. Continue reading →

Canvas Prints 5 Different Ways

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Decorating your wall lets you complete the look of your interiors. If you are decorating your house or office, you need to consider not just choosing the right canvas prints but also how to hang and present them. Here are some ways to feature your canvas wall art:

1) Unframed in modern canvas – You can get photos printed on gallery wrapped canvas and hang them directly on your wall without framing. Gallery canvas are better looking and more presentable than regular canvas. You won’t need to frame these types of artwork because they actually look good as is. Most also come ready to hang.

2) Framed photo prints – If you are a bit traditional when it comes to presenting artwork, you can have canvas prints framed. Framing instantly makes artwork look more elegant and formal. This style of presenting your wall decor is ideal for offices and more elegant homes.

3) 3-Piece canvas art sets – There are artwork that you can hang as a triptych rather than as a single piece of canvas wall art. What happens here is that a single photograph or picture is printed in 3 separate pieces instead of one whole canvas. You can hang each canvas right next to each other or with an inch or two apart, making it look more unique.

4) Black and white pictures on canvas – Aside from hanging colored prints, you also have the option of getting the same colored picture in B&W versions. This kind of color scheme can make your room look more sophisticated. B&W pictures are classic and timeless decor pieces. These look good in minimalist interiors. Continue reading →

Lighting Suggestions For Your Home

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Track lighting is the classic gallery lighting set-up and has increased in popularity as a lighting option due to the ability to easily install the set-up and overall nice appearance. You can often install the lighting yourself simply by screwing the tracks into your ceiling and plugging the power cord into an outlet. If you want a cleaner look then its necessary to call in a licensed electrician.

Most track lighting can be found at your local home improvement store or big box home décor stores. Like all home light fixtures there are inexpensive sets or pricier and more durable versions. Understandably not everyone can purchase the upper tier versions, however they often use higher quality parts and last longer, meaning you won’t have to replace them after 3 to 4 years. Higher quality track lighting sets also come with better warranties (usually exceeding a year) and will repair/replace faulty sets.

Recessed Lighting

Recessed lighting is more common in homes and is excellent for kitchens, dinning rooms or bathrooms. It’s a clean look that is both functional and elegant. Sitting in your ceiling, the lights can be bought in fixed housings or oscillating housings for more versatility. Continue reading →

Contemporary Bedroom Furniture Combines Classic Elegance

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Contemporary bedroom furniture is designed to maximize space in a modern style house. It not only brings beauty to the bedroom but also makes it a wonderful, comfy place to have a peaceful rest. There are many bedroom galleries where you can find the best contemporary bedroom furniture along with a large selection of suitable mattresses, bed sheets, pillow covers and such. What is more, you can even find matching contemporary bedroom shelves, side tables, armoires, headboards, desks and many more accessories.

In a bedroom, the bed is the central furniture and a lot of care should be taken to make the right choice that will suit the room décor. Contemporary bedroom furniture is usually meant to convey a bold look and hence, black, white, red and other stark colors are generally chosen. The main function of contemporary bedroom furniture is to make a room look big, uncluttered and clean. Make sure your choice of other accessories like a night light or vanity also matches the contemporary décor.

Most canopy bed frames are usually elevated from the ground with four legs and bed posts in the four corners. The bed posts usually have a curtain-like canopy that provides privacy and yet adds elegance to the canopy bed frame. Contemporary canopy bed frames may be made from wrought iron or cast iron, which bring a modern look to the bedroom and make it both fashionable and trendy. Apart from that, wrought or cast iron contemporary canopy bed frames are extremely sturdy.

The height of the canopy will usually depend on the ceiling height in the bedroom. While a lower canopy offers a cozy, intimate feeling, a higher canopy reaching to the ceiling can offer more breathing space. The height and style you choose must depend not only on personal preference but on how easily you can maintain the canopy. Most bedroom galleries will have separate sections for contemporary and traditional bedroom furniture. Some customers prefer to check out models at online stores before making a trip to the gallery, which is also a sensible option.

Let us see the basic characteristics that identify popular bedroom furniture like platform bed frames:
• What is a platform bed frame
• History
• Styles
• Reasons
• Size

Platform bed frames are made from wood or metal, higher than standard spring beds and have a solid platform on which the mattress rests. They have a continuous metal or wood base to provide support. They are modeled after traditional Japanese bed frames that were low on the ground, flat and firm. Modern platform bed frames are higher than their Japanese counterparts to provide more space underneath for storage purposes. Continue reading →