I grew up in the 90’s, back when thrift store shopping was considered alternative and grunge.  While I tooled around Goodwill listening to Nine Inch Nails on my Walkman, my more sophisticated friends were at the mall, looking adorable & stylish in the latest trend from The Limited.

But that was the 90’s.

Thrift-store shopping, dumpster-diving, and hand-me downs deliver a new parlance that has clever DIY’ers quaking with excitement for Saturday yard sales and obsessively scouring Craigslist for the Next Big Find.  This elegant new term for taking used items and making them new = REPURPOSING.

Also commonly referred to as recycling, upcycling, reinventing, revitalizing and/or reusing, entire boards are dedicated to this subject on Pinterest. Everything – and I mean everything – can be repurposed.  So why not the light bulb?

With a few basic tools and a steady hand, a light bulb can be hollowed out and transformed into a unique gift or decorative project.  Prepping the bulb, however, is not a task that we recommend for the kids.  Before you undertake any of these projects, take a moment to read a tutorial on how to safely hollow out a light bulb.

1. Witches Brew

Will Los Angeles Drivers Ever Switch to Electric Cars?

Electric cars have been driving L.A. roads in large numbers since 2003. The Toyota Prius is a type of electric vehicle (EV), a “hybrid.” Despite a price tag of about $36,000, Toyota says that by December 2009, it had sold over 800,000 Priuses in the U.S. Its engine is powered by both electricity from a battery and by burning gas in its internal combustion engine. The battery is charged whenever the driver puts a foot on the brake. Braking triggers a mechanism that generates electricity and stores it in the car’s battery. In 2009, the Toyota Prius was rated by the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as the most fuel-efficient car on the road, averaging 50 miles per gallon.

The Big Leap Forward – Plug-in Electric VehiclesA plug-in EV can be plugged into a regular electrical outlet or special charger to charge the battery. It is currently not possible for drivers of a Prius to charge the battery by plugging into anything, only by stepping on the brakes. There is a big change coming this year when the new plug-in electric cars, the Nissan Leaf and Chevy Volt, are fully launched.

The Nissan Leaf, at about $33,000, began deliveries in L.A. in December 2010. The Chevy Volt at about $40,000, will begin deliveries in L.A. early in 2010. While these prices may seem high, they’re effectively lowered by government tax and rebate incentives.

President Obama, in his 2011 State of the Union speech, set an objective of one million EVs on the road in the U.S. by 2015, four years from now. The Administration’s goals, of course, are to reduce our dependence on oil, deal with air pollution and climate change, and create new, green jobs. The federal government gives a tax credit of up to $7,500 to buyers of the Leaf and Volt. The State of California, on a first-come-first-served basis has limited funds available to give EV buyers up to an additional $5,000 as a rebate on purchase. These incentives can lower the effective price of EVs so that they’re competitive with similar gas-burning cars, especially when considering the savings on fuel year in and year out.

The Leaf had a waiting list of 40,000 buyers when it started delivery in L.A. in late December 2010. The Chevy Volt is expected to start delivering vehicles to L.A. buyers early in 2011. Several other car companies are developing EV models. By 2012, there will likely be a dozen different EVs for sale in L.A. including a plug-in version of the Prius.

The actual number of electric vehicles that will be sold in L.A. is hard to predict. A 2009 University of California study determined that even if gas prices rise only slightly, by 2030 about 75% of new car sales will be electric. If gas prices jump, we’ll start hitting 75% of new car sales a lot sooner. The safest thing one can say about plug-in EV sales in Los Angeles is that they’re starting now in a big way and they will be increasing over the years.

We at The Electric Connection install chargers for electric vehicles. Click here for more information on installation of EV chargers. 

If you want to take your lighting customization to the next level, try a new smart phone controlled LED light bulb. You can change this light bulb’s color temperature, along with its brightness, and even place it on a timer to help your kids learn how to fall asleep and wake up on their own.

3. Light Layers

Here’s where a bit more magic comes in. We always recommend using multiple light sources in whatever room you decorate. It adds visual interest, useful illumination for tasks, and helps make a space feel more inviting. In the the kids’ room, adding light layers the perfect opportunity to encourage self-expression.

Today, there are three things that are impacting outdoor lighting trends, taller elevations, the shift from brown-based to grey-based exterior materials and the continued desire for Outdoor Living elements and accessories. Together or separate, these changes are having an impact on outdoor lighting.

Taller

For almost ten years now, the height of interior ceilings has been shifting from a longstanding norm of eight-foot to a minimum of nine-foot tall. Many homes and many geographic areas are seeing minimums of ten and even twelve-foot. Homeowners love the expanse this provides. The unintended result of this growth is taller exterior elevations. Because of these increases in the exterior elevation and the commensurate growth of exterior door size and height, the standard, wall-mounted lighting fixtures that flank the doors and garage of a home had grown. Gone are the 8” porch lights of the past. Consumers must seek out taller exterior lighting to compliment the extended expanses outside.

Occurring almost concurrent with the interior ceiling height increases has been a growth in urban infill architecture. Central city lots are not the same as suburban plots. They often were extremely narrow, but also quite deep. The resultant architecture is significantly narrower and usually over two-stories tall. A three-story or four story façade again warrants a taller lighting fixture, but these must also be substantially narrower. For this type installation, seek out narrow and tall lighting.

From Brown to Gray

The dominant color of residential exterior has been beige/brown/tan for an extremely long period of time. Over the last five years, a larger and larger percentage of new homes have been using grey, slate, black and even white. Stones, siding, roofing, trim and windows are all experiencing this shift. Exterior lighting has primarily been some form of bronze. That is shifting now to colors and finishes that work better with the new material palette. Look for more black, variants of grey and even aluminum, stainless and nickel finishes. Each of these will more effectively compliment the new colors.

Keep in mind that there is a fair amount of regionalism in this particular trend. Housing colors in “dessert” areas (Phoenix, Southern California, Nevada, Florida and parts of Texas) where stucco homes are de rigueur will not see this shift. The stucco is naturally beige and roofing must be terra cotta to withstand the elevated temperatures. It is highly unlikely to see the demand for bronze-based finished altering here. Expect continued demand in these specific locations.

Outdoor Living Continues

The trend toward more and more outdoor use of a home shows no signs of stopping. Homeowners want to maximize their living space and extending to the home’s exterior is a natural reaction. There are typically thousands of square feet of living space outside. Why not use it? That space has been filled with kitchen equipment that rivals the inside and seating and tables that delivers the same type of comfort as interior furnishings. Look for lighting to follow this path. Exterior chandeliers continue to grow in popularity. Pendants and linear lighting have recently appeared. Landscape Lighting provided by LED remains a viable way to add interest to these outdoor spaces. Relatively recent additions are battery-operated LED Portable Lamps than can be positioned around the area to add light where people tend to congregate. All of these forms of light are designed to enhance the already inviting outdoor spaces.

It is interesting to note, this is not a regional trend. People in the north are as likely as southerners to equip their homes with these accessories. It is often said that northerners must pack 12 months of outdoor living into four or five months and they do that with gusto! Every outdoor is primed and ready for these products.

Outdoor Trends

A tertiary trend that is slowing gaining foothold is a more contemporary overall design. Initially this started with architect-driven homes and urban infill architecture, but more contemporary or contemporary-leaning residences are appearing. For that reason, an uptick in the demand for modern designs is becoming evident. While small today, it cannot be ignored. More will inevitably be employed in the future.

Outdoor trends in residential exteriors tend to be slow in coming and they typically hold for a longer period of time than interior trends. These shifts have been accelerating for a while now. When they peak, they will hold for a longer period of time. Our love for the outdoor seems inexhaustible.