We are moving in next week!! This is the fun time-seeing all of the lights we have picked out over the last year ,the fixtures,the wallpapers and paint colors,the knobs,the mantle details,the column(exterior) details,cabinetry and so on.The floors are all done now-first floor just needs two more coats next weekend and then good to go!
Candlelit dinners really could be good for the heart, new Swedish research has suggested.
A candlelit dinner works wonders for romance.Now scientists say it could also be good for your heart.Breathing in candle smoke causes beneficial changes in cardiac rhythm, they claim.It is thought that tiny salt particles released when the candle burns are behind the effect.
The researchers monitored the hearts of 13 men and women as they breathed in air pumped into a small chamber. In some cases the air included smoke from candles in a second room.The volunteers didn’t know which type of air they were breathing, but when it included candle smoke, their heart rate variability improved.Everyone’s heart rate varies naturally all the time, beating a little bit faster when we breathe in than when we breathe out.
This is perfectly healthy and a sign that the brain is alert and able to regulate the heart. But this variation falls as we get older and if we develop heart problems. In the study, it was increased by inhaling candle smoke.
Researcher Christina Isaxon from Lund University in Sweden said the concentration of smoke generated during the study was similar to that created by a candlelit dinner.
As the volunteers could not see the candles and weren’t told what they were breathing, the effect could not be explained away by the calming effect of candlelight .Dr Isaxon said she thought tiny particles of sodium and potassium, which along with soot, make up candle smoke, could be responsible for the beneficial effects.The two elements are involved in regulating the heart’s rhythm and in sending messages between cells in the body.More salts are produced when a flame is still so she recommends that candles are burned away from drafts. Breathing in candle smoke causes beneficial changes in cardiac rhythm, the study found.
The study, carried out for her PhD, did not find any negative health effects of the smoke – although Dr Isaxon admitted said she did not ‘make a huge effort’ to find any.Soot, which increases when the flame flickers, has been blamed for health problems in the past.The American Chemical Society has warned that paraffin wax candles, the most common type, release potentially harmful chemicals linked to cancer, asthma and eczema. It recommends using beeswax and soy candles.Dr Isaxon used candles made of pure stearine, a natural fat, in her study. Many other types of candle also contain some stearine. Dr Isaxon found paraffin wax candles which had stearine in them also released potassium and sodium particles.
Stearine candles were first developed 200 years ago.They are very popular in Scandinavia and can be bought here from retailers including Ikea.Dr Isaxon recommended using candles that are as natural as possible and avoiding scents and dyes as they may give off dangerous chemicals when burned.Since we spend more than 85 per cent of our time indoors, what we breathe in at home is very important, she said.
from Mail Online February 28,2014
On the topic of “over the top” like Dubai, Las Vegas definitely does things big! A friend sent me these pictures from a recent visit, taken at the Bellagio and the Venetian hotels. The glass work is done by Chihuly and it is on the ceiling of the Bellagio.
Customers come into Concord Lamp and Shade every day looking for a replacement lampshade. Ideally, the lamp requiring the new shade should accompany the customer – it makes for a much more single and successful trip to the store; without the lamp – or at least the exact dimensions of the existing lampshade, we are guessing at selecting a shade that will fit the lamp; my track record is not great without the lamp, but very often spot on with the lamp.
Lampshades are measured and sized using the diameters of the top and bottom as well as a side measurement:
A – the width across the top of the shade
B – the width across the bottom of the shade
C – the slant height down the side of the shade
D – the distance from the bottom of the shade to the washer in the center of the top ring (on most shades, this measurement is generally about 3/4” less than the height from the top of the shade to the bottom of the lampshade; however, on larger shades the washer is often recessed several inches)
The width across the bottom is also the “size” of the lampshade – an 8” lampshade or a 15” lampshade. The top dimension is important to the shape of the shade – it does not directly contribute to how the lampshade will fit the lamp.
Blog post is repurposed from the Concord Lamp & Shade blog. To discover lighting tips, trends, and more visit http://www.concordlampandshade.com/wp/blog
If your summer house is on the Cape or one of the islands, you can choose a new lampshade made from the nautical chart that captures the location of your summer house and other shoreline locales. One of the most popular nautical chart lampshades is of the island of Nantucket, but Concord Lamp and Shade can design a lampshade using any nautical chart from the immense coastline of the United States, as well as inland waters such as the shade featuring Lake Winnipesaukee. We are currently working on a nautical chart lampshade that includes the cities of San Francisco, Boston and New York!
A nautical chart lampshade is not going to work in every room in your house, but we also have lampshades designed using the line of Cape Cod toile fabrics from Joan Peters. Whether it is the Cape, Martha’s Vineyard or Nantucket – Lobster Red or Lighthouse Gray or Sailor Blue or Vineyard Sand – we have a colorway, style and size of lampshade that will enhance any lamp in your summer house.
We had a lot of fun yesterday installing window treatments in a house on a lake that has been recently renovated. The Duralee and Thibaut fabrics are all fun and lovely together-they really reflect the personality of the client!
We had such a wonderful time being in Switzerland-Klosters,Davos and Zurich- again. Hope to be back soon!
The Hotel Widder is actually 9 historic townhouses all refurbished and made into one beautiful hotel right in the center of Zurich. It is a very interesting fusion of historic architecture and innovative modern design.Each room is completely different with detail from the historic townhouses in each.
On the way back to Zurich we stopped in Rapperswil to have dinner at a friend’s house. They had just built the house a few years ago. Her brother is an architect and she had done all of the decorating.It was spectacular and was right on the lake. Her brother’s firm is located in Zurich.www.domusmea.ch.Check it out!
I loved her chandelier in the DR,and the “screen” as you come in the door to hang coats on-very clever.She also had many incredible sculptures and paintings that we photographed.
I had a lot of fun yesterday at Concord Lamp and Shade getting the windows ready for the New Year. I loved using this Simon Pearce lamp-it is called the Nantucket Lamp. It has an outer layer of blown glass that you merely lift up off the inner layer and then you can put anything you want in it. Those are glass finials I used for the “bubbles”!
Lauren Huyett Interiors 