Have an enjoyable safe trip. Here is one more idea that you could do that may increase the odds of keeping your new flowers alive under intense sun exposure - acclimate your newly purchased flowers for a week or two in the original nursery containers and at he same spot as the hanging planters under like growing conditions before repotting or transplanting them. Transplants (and seedlings) are vulnerable and very sensitive to external changes in light/wind/heat/water even just with a foot of difference in relocation and without direct sun exposure in my experience. When I start to see some wilting (due to more loss of moisture on top by the leaves than is taken in by the roots) in new transplants and always in shade first, I sometimes have to partially protect the top wilting portions of large newly transplanted plants in light-weight small clear plastic boxes or enclose smaller transplants entirely in glass jars in the new shady location for a week. Moving and gardening in steps help the flowers avoid and slow some transplant shock and moisture loss even when they do not have the scortching sunlight to contend with.

Light box with a couple florescent tubes on each side running vertical with the front of the tubes obscured by the 'frame'. Paint the back of the box the whitest flat white you can find. A daylight color tube often looks best, but you may want to try other CRI tubes depending on the colors in the glass panel. A daylight and a couple incandescent bulbs will make a very accurate 'daylight'.' This combination was used for many years to judge color balance in photography.

Ah, gotcha. I misunderstood. I still do like those rooms and would consider them inspirational, at least partly. I am working around a few constraints for the room so maybe that accounts for the differences? - I need to find a chandelier that has a single round canopy, due to the way our ceiling is. In searching for a chandelier, it's been hard to find something that I think works with the room and has a single round canopy. - I really like the paned mirror in the first inspo room, but I'm looking to put one of those in the foyer. - I would like to find an affordable table that looks like the first inspo pic. I'm searching a local store's inventory for the table and chairs to find something we could potentially really get (and afford) instead of incorporating a picture of the *perfect* table that I don't know the make/price of. - I would also like to use parsons chairs for all of the seats, but I already have two and doubt I'd be able to match them easily to another 6. I think a contrasting chair type would be a better fit because of that. In the second insp pic I like how the room is generally neutral but has subtle color to it. I like the lantern light fixtures in that room but realize they won't work for my space. I also like the artwork in the room and I could use something like in my room in place of the circular mirrors. For my room, I knew I wanted to find a rug with a neutral base that had a few bits of accent color. The accent colors in the rug shown in the mock-up might be more vivid than I pictured in my mind, but I think they work. I also like the idea of an oriental rug that's not so traditional. I hope that helps explain?!? Maybe those rooms aren't exact inspirations. I'm still on the lookout for room designs to help guide me. My unusual dining room doesn't make it easy to compare online dining rooms to my own.

Hi darbuka & B F, Sorry to hear that you two feel differently with the light fixture suggestions but the OP, Missi, did ask for ideas and decorative lighting suggestions. We are simply offering those ideas and suggestions. Given the space as it is, which is still a work in progress, it would be hard to say for sure whether recessed lighting--or any other type of lighting, be it decorative or functional, or both--is the way to go. Sometimes, people just need some inspirational ideas and having photos as well as the availability of different types of light fixtures that can be possibly made can help home owners decide which way to move forward--with what colors to paint the walls, with what furniture to buy, with what decor, artwork, & decorative pieces to accentuate the space with, etc. It's a fairly common practice to look and see what other colors and furniture are in the space, which is the more traditional route to go about this but what if the space hasn't been fully built or remodeled yet? Or hasn't been fully conceptualized or determined yet? What does the interior designer do in those cases? The answer to that depends on the interior designer, their professional experience, and how they approach a space. No two interior designers will make the same judgment call for the same set of colors, space, furniture arrangement, and budget. In other words, it's purely subjective on what will ultimately end up there and will usually involve a combination of the interior designer's input and suggestions and the home owner's wants and needs. Our sister brand, Luxe Light and Home, can make the above light fixtures but they also have the manufacturing capacity and expertise to customize all of their light fixtures to fit the space as desired by the home owner. For example, this is a customized 'rectangular' version of the Tessa that was made for a client's dining room: This is a customized oval-shaped Roxi Chandelier that was made for the great room for a different client: This is a customized vertical Lucia that was made for a farmhouse: Home owners looking for a specific look or has specific space requirement needs won't be able to achieve that using generic-looking light fixtures sold at hardware stores like Home Depot, Lowe's, Menard's, etc. Sometimes, it really is worth it to spend a little more for better quality lighting. That being said, if showing decorative lighting ultimately pushes the OP to actually hire a professional interior designer and make the decision that recessed lighting is the better route to go, then isn't that a way of helping the OP? We think so. Very Best, Tai Truong Elements of Design 3400 Medford Street Los Angeles, CA 90063 tai@lusivedecor.com www.elementsofdesign.com