Common Questions
How do I choose the right size?
Once you've chosen the design/s you are drawn to, selecting the size is the next fun part. Here's some advice to help you with your decision.
Low Ceilings
If you are walking underneath the light or have a low ceiling (remember to allow some cord length above the light for visual appeal). Consider Flax, Kina or Maru.
Larger Spaces
If your space has lots of height, then match the shape of the light to the space. We recommend going as bigger rather than small. Our lights look smaller once installed and are much bigger in form than usual lighting shapes. We have more customers who wish they'd gone larger, than smaller. Feel free to get in touch with us to help with plan visualisations, or find a contact near you to help.
How do I choose a design?
Choosing a shape or design can be a personal preference, but there are some benefits of various designs.
Physical Space
Over a table (or other object or void) you can go bigger. If you will walk under the light then measuring is vital.
Lighting Requirement
Reading or working light. A light with an aperture/hole is good… like Kina or Koura....as it makes a clear spot of light. Middle of the room or for effect/emotion. Choose any light from our range.
Brave Ideas
Groupings of lights can create dynamic effects such as putting one in the corner of the room, hung low. Or grouping different shapes/sizes in clusters. If so, odd numbers look better together. Using them as bedside lamps hung beside each bedside table.
Other things to consider
- You still can use task lighting in conjunction with our lights, you still need good clear light in kitchens.
- You could still have one in the centre of the kitchen or over the dining table.
- You might want to also have spots or directional task lighting for chopping food. then once you are ready to serve keep the DT on for some ambience.
- Get a dimmer for extra control and mood
- Don't be afraid of colour - use it as a focal point in the room - remember, it will change colour when the light bulb is on!
- Remember - the close to a surface the stronger the shadows - so play with the length of the cord to achieve the pattern strength you would like at night.
- The lights look nice with a bit of cord drop..right up tight is not the best...so it looks like Kina, Flax, or a round light like Coral or Floral gives you the best look.
What colours do you offer?
Our main range of kitset lights come in a range of stock colours. There are many to choose from and you can even pick your own.
We paint our lights here in Hawke's Bay. The colours are vivid and stay that way for years. The main finish options we stock are:
Bamboo
Is a light brown colour. We use this plywood for our painted lights. Does lighten over time.
Painted Colours
Red, Pink, Blue, Orange, Lime, Aqua, Black, White. Both Black and White can be 1 or 2 sides.
Custom
If you have a specific colour in mind we can produce these at a one-off cost. Ask your local stockist for a quote. We can match to any Resene Lustacryl swatch or colour match samples sent via courier to us, but please email us or include a note with an email and address. Find our courier address.
How much light output is there?
Once you've chosen the design/s you are drawn to, selecting the size is the next fun part. Here's some advice to help you with your decision.
We are often asked, "How much light is emitted from your lights?". For most designs (excluding Navicula, Maru and Baskets) the output is determined by:
Choice of Bulb/Lamp
The brighter the bulb/lamp the more brightness you will get. Our lights do create shadows, however, and this is one of their advantages. A moody dappled effect can be created at night.
Addtional Lighting
Many houses have a layering of light including table lamps, downlights, and reflected light from other rooms.
Design choice
A closed-form such as Floral, Coral or Sola will only emit dappled light. Whereas lights like Kina, Flax and Snowflake have an opening thus allowing some light to project.
How do I choose a bulb/lamp?
We review some bulb/lamp options. Watch our helpful video!
HOW TO CHOOSE A LIGHT BULB
Depending on the look you want to achieve we can recommend some LED bulbs/lamps suitable for our lights. The main features of a bulb/lamp are:
Lumen output
Lumen means light output or the brightness of the bulb. In most cases, the standard would be around 1000-1500 lumens or 'Lm'. If you want a noticeably softer light you'll see examples on the video below in the realm of 400-500lm.
Temperature
Temperature means the colouring of the light. The main choices in the market are 'Cool White', 'Daylight' and 'Warm White'. We do not recommend Cool White as it is quite cold but do get asked about it. Daylight and Warm white are more relaxing colours for the home.
Bulb Style
LED technologies are rapidly advancing. You likely have more options available than we have here in New Zealand. The things to consider about the bulb/lamp are: - Frosted vs Clear. Clear gives crisper shadows. - LED construction. If there are multiple LEDs inside the bulb, the shadow is less-crisp. Each LED point acts as a single light source, creating overlaps of shadow.
Bulb/lamp size
It's important to match the size of the lamp to the size of the light. For large sizes, you can select a larger round globe. Keeping to the proportion of the light design will help your overall look and help emit more or less light.
