Track lighting illuminate your home in designer styles

Many people are discovering that track lighting is an incredibly versatile and fashionable style of lighting that can be used for illuminating areas in your home or office.

These lighting systems differ from traditional fixtures or overhead lights in that a series of lamps, or fixtures, are attached to a track that can be installed to your wall or ceiling. This type of lighting is also referred to as monorail lighting.

Another advantage is that the lighting fixtures can be directed to provide both task and general lighting, allowing you to use the same system for multiple purposes.

Choose from a pre-assembled kit or build your own  lighting package, or choose new track or lights to add to or reconfigure an existing system. Easy for the do-it-yourselfer to install, track kits can connect to existing electrical outlets or just plug into a handy wall outlet.

• Click here to shop for monorail and track lighting ceiling fixtures

Use tracks to spot light different areas of a room

There are many different styles of track lights. Some are affixed to metal tracks while others use cables. If you are lighting a large area or room, you may need a more substantial system.

Most people like these fixtures because they allow you to customize the position of the lamps on the track so you can illuminate particular areas for both for general lighting and task lighting. It is also a great option for illuminating art, as the lamps can be focused on paintings, photographs, or collectibles.

If you are looking for focused light or illuminating a smaller area, you may choose a more simple system to avoid a cluttered look on your walls or ceiling.

If the area has corners or beams, you should consider a flexible, tape-like track. There are also several different choices for the fixtures and the color of the track. If you change your décor frequently, pick out a system that can be updated with lampshades in different colors.

This is a great way to update the look of your lighting without having to reinstall the track. For a modern look, I would choose a polished metal system.

If you are lighting a room with a more traditional look, a white lighting system will fit in beautifully, the track systems themselves can be found with both incandescent and halogen lights and both offer a warm, inviting look and are a great alternative to fluorescent lighting.

Choose the proper light bulb for your track lighting system

One of the more important aspects of using these types of fixtures is choosing the right strength of a light bulb. There is more to it than just buying a 25 or 40 watt bulb, learn more about choosing light bulbs in our lighting section.

Add a cool wave of light for a counter-top setting, a bath area, a work area or study area with this clean, contemporary wave bar track light. It features four adjustable lights, which can be aimed to provide task light or general room lighting.

A great look for kitchen lighting. Measures 36" long and drops to an adjustable length from a minimum of 16" to a maximum of 24" from the ceiling. Comes with 4 50 watt GU10 base bulbs.

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