The History of Domestic Lighting

The phenomenon of magnetic and electric lighting was studied by ancient Chinese, Greek and Roman scientists.

In 1750, Benjamin Franklin, an American writer, tried to collect electricity in a kite during a thunderstorm. An Italian scientist and Professor of the University of Pavia made an appreciable step forwards with the discovery of the continuous electric power in 1800 which was named after him, called the Volta Pile. The announcement amazed the scientific world and it was from this basic concept that electric light was later developed.

There were several areas of investigation into the electric light, namely, the carbon arc, the incandescent filament bulb, gaseous discharge lights and chemical light.The carbon arc light was the earliest form of electric illumination.

In 1809 the English chemist Sir Humphrey Davy demonstrated his carbon arc lamp at The Royal Institute in London. His invention known as the electric arc light was not put to widespread use until the 1850s.

The sheer intensity of the light and the need for low voltage electricity prohibited its use in confined space unless the illumination was muted by blinds. It was used for street lighting and for lighthouses, but had largely been discontinued by the First World War and replaced by other forms of electricity. However, carbon arc lighting was continued to be used in military applications like search lights on aircraft.

The Incandescent Bulb
The development of the incandescent bulb continued in parallel with that of the are light. In 1865, Hermann Sprengel invented a mercury vacuum pump which allowed a sufficiently high vacuum to be obtained in the bulb for further experiments on the filament to take place. The American, Thomas Edison (1847-1931) - who invented the telegraph — and the Englishman, Joseph Swan (1825-1914) are both credited with having discovered the incandescent filament bulb.

In 1878 Swan heated the filament while evacuating the bulb of its gases, so prolonging its life while Edison achieved 45 hours of illumination from his bulb in 1879. Refinements soon followed: Edison devised the screw-in brass cap and Swan the bayonet fitting. Both were marketing bulbs by the 1880s. A partnership was formed between Swan and Edison, creating the Edison & Swan United Company which later became Ediswan.

In 1881 The Engineer claimed that the first house to be completely lit by electricity was the house of Lord Kelvin, a close friend of Swan. His house in Glasgow had been illuminated by 106 gas lights which were converted to electric lights powered by a dynamo, driven by a gas engine.

In the same year, Sir William Armstrong, engineer and armament manufacturer, lit 45 electric lamps in his famous picturesque Cragside mansion at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, which had been designed by Norman Shaw in the early 1870s. The electricity was generated by a water turbine sited 1500 yards (1.3 km) from his home.

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Apartment Redecorating Considerations for the Trendy

Chic apartments take on many styles and forms. They might be decorated in high-style Victorian or in clean, minimalist Italian themes. They might even be arrayed in an eclectic mix of styles in which antique pieces are artfully displayed in a floor of modernism.

One thing’s for sure about these kinds of apartments: each has a style all its own. Whether large or small, divided by rooms or wide-open spaces, you know when you’ve walked into one of these gems. Your reaction is to stop, took around, and soak in every piece, every detail.

Creating a chic apartment is reliant on many factors. Exquisite taste and an eye for one of a kind pieces is part of it, but a sense of architectural form and detail can play a huge role in how your trendy apartment evolves. The space itself is as important as the pieces you bring to it so the first step is to find just the right shell in which to show off your works. Whether you choose an older building replete with architectural charm of its own, or a glass box in a modern skyscraper, this will set the backdrop for how the rest of the design evolves.

In some cases, apartments in older buildings have retained their luxury of space and also preserved their architectural charm. Details, such as moldings and carved ceilings, abound in such apartments. These spaces can be desirable, but the downside is that some of them may have been ignored or altered unfavorably through the years, thereby requiring a great deal of time and money to bring their structure and design back to life. They may also require excessive work and funds to maintain them in their improved state.

There are many questions you should be asking yourself before selecting an apartment. Do you want to rent or buy, and based on this, how much money do you want to spend? Are you willing to forgo some of the ultra modern conveniences like a deluxe shower system that an older building might not be able to accommodate, or are you willing to live in a uniform space without any architectural charm? And if it’s a matter of simply redecorating your present residence, can you work with the existing architectural style to create the fashionable apartment of your dreams?

Once you’ve selected your shell, its time to start decorating. In a chic apartment, hardwood floors adorned by elegant area rugs to designate room areas are common, but so are spaces covered in plush, thick, wall to wall carpeting. There is no one floor-covering standard in determining what makes an apartment “chic,” so there’s no one way to decorate it either.

The decisions you make about wall coverings will set the mood in your apartment. Will it be serious and plain, or warm and feminine? Do you want to introduce a lot of pattern on the walls and then select more subdued furniture pieces, or do you want the walls to serve as a backdrop for what you bring in?

Certainly some might say that the walls should be the backdrop and that’s all, but what if you decide to cover the wall in an exciting hand painted mural that spans floor to ceiling, or inlay a mosaic pattern in one of the walls? The point is that there are times when the walls themselves can be focal points so you must decide carefully on how they will look and what kind of statement they will make in your trendy unit.

Furniture selections should be taken very seriously. No matter what kind of apartment you live in, your furniture is a natural focal point. In a chic apartment, furniture can mean the difference between chic and ordinary. The same holds true for accessories. Depending on how interesting or eye catching these pieces are, finishing touches like an antique vase or a carefully placed lamp can take attention away from prominent furniture pieces and become focal points in and of themselves.

But how you decorate a chic apartment need not be all on the inside. If you have a view, it can become part of the design. Flaunt it to make the room and your apartment look larger. Balconies, patios, roofdecks, holland blinds, and window seats offer private places and make an apartment seem larger and cheerier because of the light and outdoor vistas they reveal. A nature-scape or cityscape will create different moods in a design scheme. Think carefully about whether or not your particular view will enhance your decor or detract from it before you bring the outdoors in.

The most important consideration for decorating a chic apartment is to not let form overcome function. Remember, this is not a museum piece, it is where you live. No matter what means you take to make it a showpiece, don’t forget you have to exist there every day. Consider why that means in terms of what goes on in your home on a daily basis, but don’t forget the most crucial concept: comfort. No matter how wonderful you apartment looks, it still must be a space in which you can get away from the world up and call it home.

Just Roller Blinds supply a wide variety of holland blinds and custom made blinds for your unit or work space. Order online and save today. Fabric samples are also available. BSJRB151208-4