Like everything else, light fixtures both inside your house and outside do and will get dirty. Your fixtures can acquire anything from dust, cobwebs, dead bugs, to a build up of heat inside an enclosed fixture that creates a fog that will make a clear glass fixture look cloudy. With any or all of these conditions happening, you can take a few simple steps to make this part of your weekly, monthly, or seasonal cleaning routine and eliminate that dirty look and make your light fixtures sparkle.

1.  First things first, turn off power at switch and circuit breaker.
2.  Remove light bulbs, glass, globes, shields, grills, and shades to ease the cleaning of the hardware part of the fixture.
3.Clean this hardware, along with any other metal parts (shields, grills, etc) with a soft cloth that has been moistened with water and a mild detergent. Then dry with soft dry cloth.
(DO NOT use harsh cleaners on this metal hardware, a protective coating has been put on by the manufacturer to protect the finish and could be damaged by anything abrasive.)
4.Wash the glass and /or globes from the fixture by hand in warm soapy water. Dry with a soft cloth and attach back on to the light.
5.Put your light bulbs back into the dry fixture.
6.Turn your power back on and enjoy your sparkling lights!

The term “curb appeal” is used to denote the attractiveness or allure of the exterior parts of a residential or commercial property. Don’t forget to enhance the evening curb appeal of your home. One of the things that you can do is to improve the exterior lighting. Simply adding a series of low voltage lighting along the sidewalk or driveway can make your home look more appealing. You can also make your home look more beautiful and secure even at night if you put a decorative light fixture in the front porch.

Different Types Of Exterior Lighting

New technologies and many different types of outdoor lighting products make it easy to create lighting zones. Different areas of the landscape can be lit independently– to highlight a special tree or to cast brighter light on the grill in the outdoor kitchen, while keeping the patio lighting softer and more suitable for conversation.

In fact, lighting designers typically use four main kinds of outdoor lighting to get exactly the effect they want:

• Uplighting: fixtures aimed upward for accent and drama
• Downlighting: safety-oriented; used to illuminate large areas or define a pathway
• Zonal lighting: highlighting individual objects and plants
• Moonlighting: a natural effect, evoking light cast by a full moon. Fixtures are often mounted in trees; mix of uplighting and downlighting.

Right now is a better time than ever to design with light outdoors because Creative Lighting is offering a discount to our Social Media customer.  Save 10% on all exterior lighting through July 30, 2010 with our Social Media coupon.  Click here to “Follow us” on Twitter and Click here to “Like us” on Facebook.