The Lighting Center

We’ve just made a few changes to our Guildford showroom. Why not come and have a look at our newly expanded range of brass semi flush ceiling lights?

We’ve just made a few changes to the product pages by adding a banner highlighting the showroom and also a ‘free online delivery’ logo just underneath the item description. We think the changes look really smart and we hope you do too.

We have always sold Tiffany products in our Guildford showroom however they have not been on the website until now. We now have a small range of Tiffany products to view online. We will keep adding to the online collection but whilst we are doing that why not visit our Guildford showroom to view our full range of Tiffany lamps ?

The Lighting Centre is now on Twitter and facebook! So if you want to know what we’ve been up to or if you want to see our latest designs, then scroll to the bottom left hand side of the home page and you can find the links to our pages. ps Don’t forget to subscribe.

We’ve just had delivery of a stunning modern Italian stairwell light. With a maximum drop of 4 metres and a width of 125 cm it is perfect if you are looking for a large statement piece. It can also be made to your exact size requirements.

Click here for more information:

We have been selling fabric lamp shades from our Guildford showroom for the last 25 years, but because of their delicate nature we have never put them on the website…until now. Whilst we still aren’t going to post out fabric shades, we have added a few examples of sizes, shapes and colours to give you more of an idea of what is available. This is still a very small percentage of what we stock, so if you are looking for a fabric lamp shade, pop into our showroom and we can show you our range. If you don’t happen to find the shade you are looking for from our stock then we can have certain styles made to order from various colour swatches.

Once you’ve bought some of our lights, why not e-mail us a picture of your room setting. We will add your picture to our gallery and you will be entered into a prize draw to win £100 to spend at The Lighting Centre, either on-line or in-store.

Simply email your pictures to: info@lightingcentre.co.uk and you will automatically be entered into the draw.
The winner will be selected at random at the start of December 2010.

Anyone who works within the world of interior design knows how quickly fashions change. As a retailer of domestic lighting, it is particularly important for me to keep abreast of these changes so I can change my stock accordingly. It is one thing to attend the various lighting exhibitions in the UK or perhaps the german lighting shows or the Italian lighting shows, but these do not give you a sense of the bigger picture. Lighting is just one aspect of the interior design package and I think it is important to examine the other interior design elements to make sure we are all working together.

A great way of getting to see the bigger picture is by attending design shows such as Grand Designs Live, where you’ll find everything from stunning Italian lighting to simple waste paper bins or shower heads. This is where I have just been. So what did I learn?
Well, there seemed to be fewer examples of the very minimalist room settings that have been popular in recent years, instead more of the shaker style and country cottage designs were on display, using wood rather than polished metals and plastics. Perhaps this is a continuation of the popularity of eco building and low energy, sustainable living.
The low energy theme is still very strong. Philips Lighting had a large stand displaying all of their new LED lamps, which are fantastic. I also noticed a number of examples of Italian lighting. One exhibitor in particular stood out. He runs a family business manufacturing Italian lighting from his base in Venice. You could really tell that his lighting was Italian, the painted finish, the flowing natural lines and the beautifully woven glass are all very distinctive examples of Italian lighting and in particular Northern Italian lighting.
I also noticed a strong presence of crystal lighting designs. Both modern and traditional. One design in particular was particularly impressive, featuring a dark metal framework with heavy chunky crystal drops. This was another example of Italian lighting. The chunky crystal look is very popular in Italian lighting design.

To view a range of Italian lighting or crystal chandeliers please go to www.lightingcentre.co.uk or visit The Lighting Centre in Guildford, Surrey.

We’ve just had a range of fabric shades delivered in a range of bright and bold colours ready for summer. From sunset orange to deep purple and many in between. Available in all sorts of shapes and sizes from coolies to drums. Visit our Guildford showroom for more information.

Popular Lighting For 2010

It seems almost unbelievable that April has arrived already. The worst winter for decades is behind us and Spring has finally arrived. The colours in the natural world around us are changing, from the flowers on the ground to the leaves in the trees, but what about the changes indoors? The first few months of the year are a great time to re-decorate. So what has been popular as an interior lighting choice so far in 2010?

The Grossmann Leuchten Magic 52-653-163 has been an excellent seller. For those who aren’t familiar with Grossmann Leuchten, they are a German manufacturer of high quality lighting. Every single one of Grossmann’s lights has been designed and made by a Grossmann employee. Nothing is outsourced and this has led to really high levels of build quality and inspiring design. It has also allowed Grossmann to keep a strong and consistent brand identity. It is easy to recognise a Grossmann lighting product by it’s sharp modern design and it’s beautifully crafted sheets of metal and glass. The design of this particular light from the Grossmann ‘Magic’ range is a minimalist rectangular design. It has a flat plate of glass mounted to a small square piece of metal surrounding the bulb. Upon first inspection, the first thing you notice is the effect of the beam of light up and down the wall. But when you look more closely, you realise that the strong and well defined shadow is equally as important, and just as striking as the beams of light.

Another area that has been popular has been LED technology. In February we saw Philips release their 2nd generation of LED lamps. Complete with new heat-sinks which allow the heat from the LEDs to dissipate much more efficiently from the lamp. This increases the lamp life to 15,000 hours which works out roughly to be around 15 years with average use. Previous LED offerings have made similar life expectancy claims but have in reality fallen short. Philips’ large investment, combined with their enthusiasm for these new lamps, lead us to believe that they really are going to last the distance. The lamps look and feel like quality items and the light quality is fantastic too. The other massive draw for the LEDs is their energy efficiency. For instance, the 35 watt equivalent GU10 only uses 3 watts of energy. This represents a massive saving to the home owner’s energy bill over the life of the lamp.

In the past we have seen a resistance from the general public towards the different forms of low energy lighting. The low quality light levels of the early low energy fluorescent lamps put people off. Gradually over the years the quality has improved and now, at last, we have a light source that is going to outshine the original incandescents. I think 2010 is going to be the year of the LED.

To view a full range of Grossmann or LED lighting products visit The lighting Centre in Guildford or www.lightingcentre.co.uk