Selecting the right fixture
is key to creating perfect harmony
By Bo Sullivan
 If lighting is music to the eyes, then lighting fixtures are the instruments playing the tune. Choosing the right ones can go a long way toward creating harmony - and avoiding "off" notes. Just like rock-n-roll calls for drums and guitars while a sonata may be played on a single violin, interiors require fixtures that accurately reflect the composer's intentions. And you are the composer.
Regardless of lighting type - ambient, task, accent, or decorative - all will be found in a wide range of designs, from period reproductions to ultra-contemporary. Once you have determined the kind of lighting you want, take some time to explore the style it might take.
If you have an older home or a home filled with antiques, consider period lighting that evokes the same classic qualities. For more rustic interiors, fixtures that show the hand of the craftsman - like wrought iron or hammered copper - help reinforce the down-to-earth feel. Should inspiration come from galleries and loft spaces, follow that more modern, minimalist aesthetic with high-tech, high-style designs. Your taste and style is more eclectic? Take cues from favorite sources, like flea markets, folk craft fairs, or international travels, to select lights that will feel at home among the variety.
The key to making interiors sing is finding balance among the many elements that make up the composition - furniture, artwork, rugs, knick-knacks, and the architectural components of hardware, molding, and lighting. Considered together, these diverse pieces create a sense of style and integrity that is uniquely and emphatically your own.
Bo Sullivan knows the American house. As resident architectural historian and hardware expert at Rejuvenation, Sullivan is the arbiter of authenticity when it comes to restoring or reproducing period lighting, hardware, and house parts. Call 503-238-1900
The Light Bulb Lady Has It All
 Kay Newell started Sunlan in 1990 in the historical Albina district on Mississippi Avenue in an old warehouse. She is known as the "Light Bulb Lady." Newell's Sunlan business is the only woman-owned business in the field in the Northwest. She built the business without grants or loans.
Every time someone ordered 5 boxes of bulbs, she ordered 6. That way she built up her stock from zero. Sunlan stocks one of the areas largest selections of bulbs and lamps. You can locate hard-to-find bulbs and unusual lamps. Also stocked are batteries, ballast, replacement plastic and glass globes, sockets and lamp parts. Fluorescent industrial fixtures are stocked. Other fixtures can be ordered. Non-neon or rope and decorative lights are on display in the Playroom.
Sunlan stocks industrial bulbs, which save time and money because of their low cost and long life. The Light bulb lady knows bulbs and can help you select the correct bulb for your needs.
Sunlan Lighting, Inc.
3901 N. Mississippi Ave.
Portland, OR 97227
503-281-0453
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