lighting

drop it, recessed looks great and adds value to your place, we just did throughout our apt with 8 1/2 foot ceilings. If your apt has more of a pre-war look, you can build some horizontal columns with recessed lights inside which is what we did in certain areas. Good luck

I used to have one of those ubiquitous (and awful) halogen "torchiere" lamps that use ultra-bright indirect lighting. I was at Thanksgiving dinner at a friend's home out on Long Island. Even with her lamps, there were still dark corners in her living room (a generous 25x13 or so). Until she came in and switched on the torchiere in one corner. Literally night and day -- all that fabulous bright (and of course adjustable) indirect lighting. But ... then you have to have one of those ugly torchiers that take up space (in her big suburban living room it didn't really matter, but for tight Manhattan apartments, every square inch is often spoken for). I was mulling over how I could replace my existing ceiling light fixture in my living room (which, like most ceiling fixtures, gives dreadful overhead light) with what would be the "head" of the torchiere, suspended from the ceiling. Certainly, I thought, there has to be a similar light fixture out there.

There is. I've already ordered one. There's a fabulous pricey one that's bigger (and no doubt better able to light up larger living rooms), and a budget-priced smaller one.

Take your pick:

http://www.ylighting.com/vib-2007-03.html?productid=vib-2007-03&channelid=FROOG

http://www.amazon.com/Elom-Platinum-Ceiling-Light-Fixture/dp/B000QSK3OE

How about trying cove lighting? If you're going to be adding moldings to the space, I am sure a good designer could incorporate cove lighting into the moldings - gives a very soft look, and adds quite a bit of illumination.

we are actually not doing molding - keeping it lofty and a little more contmporary. as the ceilings are only 8 feet, the lack of molding gives them the illusion of being higher

That may work if the walls and ceilings are the same color - if the walls are one color and the ceilings another, the illusion would probably be lost, and IMHO would make the spaces look somewhat unfinished - unless you go the whole really modern way, and eliminate baseboards as well. (we just saw this done in a brand new custom house in Newport Beach - the only problem is that all the finishes and joinings have to be absolutely impeccable. Moldings do cover up a multitude of sins).

This is the time when getting a good interior designer on board could be helpful in your planning/design phase

NYCMatt - there are so many gorgeous vintage fixtures that accomplish the same thing - so much better than the truly awful amazon thing.

And Leelaura - one of the premier "modern" architecs, Annabelle Selldorf, very often uses vintage 1940's, 1950's Italian fixtures (and some furnishings) in her otherwise very modern, loft interiors.

Why not build small bulkheads in the ceiling/wall intersection to allow for low voltage halogen? I think this is what tojc516 is suggesting.

http://rebeccacowper.com.au/images/bulkhead.jpg

http://image26.webshots.com/26/7/2/15/390170215PqsCjm_ph.jpg

"there are so many gorgeous vintage fixtures that accomplish the same thing - so much better than the truly awful amazon thing."

No, actually there aren't. I've been looking for years. Most vintage fixtures aren't truly indirect -- they have glass bowls that diffuse the light, but the light is still coming from overhead -- dreadful.

so how low do you have to drop a ceiling for recessed?

I think there are recessed lights that require much less depth than the old ones,maybe as little as 6-8", but perhaps TOJC has that info .((but in that case the ceilings were 8'6""- makes a difference).

IMHO dropping your ceilings below 8' would be a big mistake - at least in terms of resale, and definitely in termns of "loft" feel.

Back when your apartment was built, there used to be indirect lights in white cans that sat on the floor and shot light upward. You can move them and they're unobtrusive, although if you have cats, they could burn their tails maybe.

trinityparent, right, I liked those. They came in brass or black or white, maybe a foot high. Looked good under the obligatory big plant in the corner.

Another idea is to skip ceiling fixtures as much as possible, and use switched outlets and table/floor lamps where you can.

You're probably spending enough on the reno to justify a lighting designer.

Don't drop your ceiling - 8' feels low enough as is, and the min. you'll lose is 6" which is a big deal.

I've lived in 8' ht spaces, and table & floor lamps were more than adequate.

leelaura- this is a little off topic, but one thing that does help ceiinngs look higher is to make doors full-height (i.e.8'or as close as possible) plays with height perception, and definitely gives a very modern look.

I've been using lighting from Rejuvenation in Portland, Oregon for well ov er a decade. you might want to look at some of their "flush mounted" lines.

http://www.rejuvenation.com/types/Flush_Lighting.html?iqg=c4428cbfd6d4cb10567e56cb206efe77

____________________

David Goldsmith
DG Neary Realty

Find some interesting contemporary wall lighting, like Fontana Arte. http://www.fontanaarte.it/usa/index2.php?l=eng

leelaura, try Herzog & de Meuron pipe floor lamp at Artemides.