Contemporary Chandeliers Milano by Artcraft Lighting

What do the dream kitchens on HGTV for 2012 have in common? Fluidity between cooking and dining area. A blending of food preparation and entertaining areas. Imagine friends coming into your cooking arena to chat and help marinate. What are the colors that make up the palette of the 2012 dream kitchen according to HGTV? You see soothing hues such as blue, cream and gray.

What are some fresh ideas for colorful kitchens from Remodelista? Add color to your cabinets using plastic laminate over plywood or switch to open shelving. Use flower wallpaper that you would usually use for bedrooms in the kitchen. Create vignettes on your kitchen counter with colorful art, plants, and decorative containers.

What if gray and blue are not for you? How about using Pantone’s 2012 color of the year? Tangerine Tango. Expect to see this vivacious orange popping up in cosmetics and women’s clothing for spring and summer 2012. House of Turquoise Blogger is delighted with this color. Why not introduce this color to your dining room with upholstered dining chairs in Tangerine Tango? You can decorate your kitchen and dining room with Artcraft Lighting for balance. For instance, off-white linen shades and black finish of Artcraft’s Coventry Collection of pendant and kitchen island lights would be a good contrast for vibrant colors. Artcraft’s 6-Light Milano contemporary chandeliers in chrome are an excellent choice for a vibrant dining room.

Artcraft Kitchen Island Lighting Coventry

Pendant Lighting for Kitchen Cargo by Wilmette Lighting

You can visit HGTV for its kitchen remodeling videos and guide to kitchen lighting. In a nutshell, consumers’ expectations have evolved. They expect pendant lighting to be an artful addition to their decor, they want the cooking area to have bright light and their kitchen to transform into a bar with ambient lighting. I recommend Cargo pendant lights by Wilmette Lighting to achieve two of these objectives. Contemporary pendant lights such as these work well in a bar setting as well as bright task lighting.

Homeowners can create different moods with Cargo kitchen lighting pendants. You might want to serve dessert from Lucy Baker’s The Boozy Baker. I recommend the homemade port ice cream and enchant your guests in the kitchen. You can read more about bar lighting on our Squidoo lens on homebartending.

Space Glass Modern Ceiling Light Fixtures by Zaneen Lighting

I look up to my cousin Jen. She was a lacrosse-playing star in Catholic high school while  I was a bookworm in elementary school. I remember how her first dance at her wedding with her husband Kevin was the hustle. She looked awesome doing the hustle in a red and gold mandarin collar Chinese dress. I’m a ballroom American Foxtrot gal myself. I think of Jen when I see Zaneen Lighting. Why? Because this Space Glass is unmistakeably contemporary. Maybe I’ll see her side of the family this Thanksgiving or Christmas!

I’m glad I have my cousin Jen to keep me from becoming artistically and musically “dusty”. I’ve only begun to move away from Art Nouveau interior design books to Stephen Holl architecture images. Although I’m not ready to torch my Victorian teacup collection like Ms. Koons, last week’s New York Times’ article, “All That Authenticity May Be Getting Old” by Emily Weinstein has prompted me to rethink my personal approach to interior design.

Space Glass by Zaneen is designed by Rafa Ortega. Zaneen Lighting strikes again with their sleek European contemporary ceiling lighting fixtures. The hanging overhead lighting is slightly industrial-looking because Zaneen displays rather than hides its cables. This can be an especially handsome look as dining lights for bachelor lofts or apartments of young families in the city.

I vote for Zaneen Lighting’s Space Glass collection. The Space Glass family includes recessed lighting too but that’s for another post. Back to this contemporary multi-light pendant. Of course this Space Glass pendant lighting fixture has a metallic gray finish. Can you imagine Woody Allen’s “Sleeper” costume  in anything but shiny chrome?

Install this indoor ceiling light over the kitchen island or your bar seating for a futuristic look. Select this European-designed and manufactured ceiling light fixture that is 34.25″ long and 4.25″ wide for your home office too!

Meridian Semi Flush Ceiling Light by Hinkley Lighting

For the most modern and contemporary light fixtures, interior designers and home renovators all turn to Hinkley Lighting. This company has really achieved brilliance with their new, and very large, family of lights, Meridian. This lighting family definitely made waves at the Dallas International Lighting Show a few months ago and for good reason. Meridian features minimal transitional styling with clean lines and low-profile faceted 1/2″ thick glass.

Hinkley Lighting Meridian Wall Light and Linear Pendant Light

Contemporary lighting is an enormous design niche so it’s hard to make a big impression with one lighting family. Meridian really steps up to the challenge though, with its sleek Satin Black, Brushed Nickel, and Chrome finishes. Over scaled barrel knob detailing completes this simplistic design and no one could overlook the softly diffused light starkly contrasted by the hard edged, industrial lines of these creative contemporary lights.

Meridian Pendant Lighting and Chandelier

The Meridian family by Hinkley Lighting is a sprawling genealogy of brothers, sisters, mothers, cousins…it’s difficult to keep track of all the different models. You could literally decorate your entire home, lighting up every room of the house, with Meridian light fixtures. This contemporary lighting family includes bathroom lighting, wall sconces, vanity lights, ceiling lighting, pendant lights of different lengths, and even chandeliers.

And one of the most appealing aspects of the Meridian lights is that they are available in energy efficient lighting models as well. Using G9 halogen bulbs, these contemporary lights will really save you money off your electric bill and fill your home with a warm, comforting glow, all while helping the environment at the same time. If contemporary lighting wants to really make a splash in designer markets, they must include energy efficiency and environmental sustainability as part of their features and standards. Meridian definitely encompasses all of these wonderful concepts and would look truly amazing in any modern home.

Meridian Product Page: http://www.affordablelamps.com/hin-3871.html

Meridian Contemporary Lighting by Hinkley Lighting

Celina Linear Pendant Light (Dark Rust/Fire Red Glass) by Elk Lighting

Sometimes colors and shapes just strike a particular chord in a designer and that is definitely the case with the very large Celina light family by Elk Lighting. This ravishingly new and refreshing collection highlights the beauty of hand-blown art glass, which is nicely complemented by Celina’s simple, yet refined frames. Choose from one of two finishes, Polished Chrome and Dark Rust, to match your home’s modern decor. Either finish will subtly add a note of elegance to your lighting layout, so why not mix it up and choose both?

Celina Swing Arm Wall Light (Polished Chrome/Sapphire) | Linear Pendant Lighting (Polished Chrome/Multi Fusion)

This broad, contemporary lighting family really makes an impression when it comes to color. The range of art glass shade options is incredible! With creative names like Canary, Espresso, Scarlet, Cocoa, Candy, Sandy, Mountain, Starburst Blue, Copper, Gold Leaf, and White Swirl, it will be difficult to choose just one. All the vibrant hues and curls of color will really bring new light to your living or dining room, especially as you turn the Celina lights and let the shades really glow. The intimate and productive energy that these contemporary art glass lights create will really knock your socks off!

Celina Wall Sconce in Snow White Art Glass with Polished Chrome Finish

There are so many wonderful Celina light fixtures to choose from–wall sconces, swing-arm wall lights, semi-flush mount ceiling lights, chandeliers… Such a versatile family! But my favorite of these fixtures is the linear pendant lighting. I can easily picture these lights brightening up a kitchen or dining room and doubling as kitchen island lighting. The 4-light linear pendant measures an impressive 30″ wide, 10″ high (before the hanging rod is added), and each pendant is 5″ in diameter. I would be very proud to showcase any of the Celina lights in my home–mix and match colors and styles to find the perfect balance in your contemporary lighting design. The Celina fixtures are so new that we’re still in the process of uploading them on the AffordableLamps.com website, but keep a lookout for these art glass beauties–they’ll show up in the Elk Lighting section just when you’re ready to be blown away.

Celina Ceiling Light (Dark Rust/Emerald Glass) and Chandelier Lighting (Dark Rust/Yellow Glass)

Cosmos 3-Light Contemporary Pendant by Elk Lighting

In a bold move, Elk Lighting decided to take to the heavens and create a beautiful lighting family called Cosmos. Modeled after the glory of the starry night and the immensity of the universe, these pendant lights come in different art glass designs creatively called Solar Flare, Comet, and Jupiter, and mimic the intensity of each of these things. Perfectly complemented by a Satin Nickel finish, the organic swirls and brilliant colors of Cosmos make this family one of the most exciting new developments of the season.

Jupiter and Comet Cosmos Pendant Lighting

Contemporary Lighting is constantly evolving to include new wondrous ways of imitating nature and Cosmos shines as an example of art imitating life. Jupiter showcases the majesty of its namesake’s circles and clouds of color, just as Comet and Solar Flare attempt to give off the essence of such fiery cosmology. Carefully crafted art glass makes each pendant lighting masterpiece unique and any decorator, designer, astronomer, and Carl Sagan fan would be proud to hang one of these dazzling light fixtures in their home.

Cosmos pendant lights are funky, refined, and dynamic all at the same time. Available as single pendants as well as 3- and 6-light fixtures, Cosmos contemporary pendants are versatile in terms of how you can show them off in your home. Exhibit them as a single pendant light in your foyer or display the 6-light fixture as kitchen island lighting in your kitchen or dining room. My personal favorite of the Cosmos lights is the 3-light pendant which has an elegant simplicity and balance about it. This light fixture measures an impressive 3 feet wide and I’d love to hang it in my living or bedroom, admiring the soft, glowing color patterns that remind me of far-off galaxies. So keep your eyes to the sky (and on the Elk Lighting section of AffordableLamps.com) to see just where the Cosmos lights land–they’re coming soon!

Solar Flare Cosmos 6-Light Pendant Lighting