Style Illuminated

Warmer weather will be here any day (we promise!) To get you ready, here are a few simple ideas and products that will help you enjoy your part of the great outdoors in the spring and summer days ahead.

• Add string party lights to patios and porches. These create soft, warm lighting perfect for relaxing after dark.
• Stay cool with an outdoor ceiling fan. These are wonderful additions for gazebos and covered porches. They'll keep you cool day or night, plus they shoo away pesky flying bugs.
• Outdoor water fountains create soothing sounds in seating areas or garden settings.
• Create layers of light. Adding landscape lighting or solar lights into dark areas of your yard pulls the eye into these areas and helps create outdoor living areas.
• Light that BBQ! New BBQ lights will help you fire up the grill at night.
• Create a warm welcome. New porch lighting creates curb appeal and welcomes guests in style.

These new table lamp designs from the Martha Stewart lighting collection caught our eye. They feature mouth-blown glass reminiscent of classic Venetian glass creations, and a delicate, fluted base. Very sleek, very calming and chic...just what you'd expect from the queen of home decorating. They are available in waterfall or cloud glass.

POST UPDATE: We're sorry, but the Martha Stewart lighting collection is no longer available. We invite you to browse our designer lighting section for other brands and designers. Thanks!

I recently revamped my guest room, and the Stacked Ball Acrylic Table Lamp fit the bill perfectly. They add a touch of contemporary flavor, and they're light and fun. Plus, three-way sockets let them serve as both room lighting and reading lights.

Since the picture, I've added a headboard. Next up ... wall art! Here's a pic of the new table lamps. Find your perfect look ... Browse all table lamps.

Porch lighting, and outdoor lighting in general, is a great way to highlight your landscape when the sun goes down. It also adds security by lighting up the areas around your home.

Because your outdoor lights may stay on much of the night, energy efficient fixtures are a great choice. We recently added three new collections of energy efficient porch lights to our site. Featuring appealing traditional design, these fluorescent outdoor lights have all earned the ENERGY STAR -- click here to see them.

Find the perfect fit for your exterior -- browse all porch lights and outdoor lighting.

Triggering a child's imagination doesn't take much but you can help it along by choosing a table lamp for their room with bold design and color. The lamp's charm should be immediately accessible with easily read themes.

Crystal transforms an ordinary bedroom into a princess hide-away while bright, happy colors lighten a room's atmosphere. From sports to animals, kids table lamps can be found with almost any theme. 

Check out our best sellers here.

One of our readers, April Force Pardoe, has a great guide to hanging photos above a staircase.

These handy tips to hanging photographs can just as easily be applied to wall art or your own giclee canvas print.

This new crystal chandelier offering from the Vienna Full Spectrum lighting collection represents a real melding of old and new. Strands of crystals accent the decorative, vine-like frame, representing a very traditional look. But the chrome frame and the black thread shade present a more contemporary, modern vibe.

It's a nice mix, at once elegant and fun. For rooms decorated in a traditional manner, the design offers a bit of fun and playfulness. For more contemporary rooms this crystal chandelier design can help anchor different elements with its traditional form. The best of both worlds! 

Crystal and Black Chandelier. View all styles of crystal chandeliers.

We've added loads of new pendant chandeliers with giclee art shades in the last few weeks. These new contemporary designs feature custom-made art shades in bright, eye-popping patterns printed giclee style on high quality canvas. The swags offer quick and easy solutions for apartments or bedrooms. Just hang them up and plug them in for an instant style makeover. The hard-wired designs come in a variety of shapes and sizes that can be used over counters, tables and more. Keep an eye on the pendant lighting pages, as we are adding new patterns all the time!

Happy birthday Aries! According to Astrologyindepth.com, you are "the most hot-blooded, assertive and bold sign in the zodiac." Here are just a couple of items Aries may like.

I found this crystal swag chandelier inspired by Aries' birthstones, aquamarine and diamond. The red and black chandelier reminded me of his "hot-blooded" personality. The Aries ram got me thinking wool, and I remembered our Woolrich table lamps. Find lots of other looks in our big selection of table lamps.

Next month -- practical, sensual Taurus.

Earth Hour began in Sydney in 2007, when 2.2 million homes and businesses switched off their lights for one hour to drawn attention to energy efficiency and the global sustainability movement. Last year, 50 million people switched off their lights, and global landmarks such as the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, the Sydney Opera House and the Coca Cola billboard in Times Square all went black. 

This is a great family activity, and you can participate this year by switching off your lights for one hour on Saturday, March 28, 8:30-9:30pm. Read more: Earth Hour 2009. And when you do power back up, take a look at our energy efficient lighting to make your move to energy saving lighting sources. Lights out!