Though it’s tucked away in an unassuming brick building in a residential community off of Kernersville’s Union Cross Road, Illuminations of the Triad is impossible to miss. You’ll recognize it from the showroom window aglow with every light fixture imaginable, from Tiffany-style hanging lamps to wrought iron chandeliers, to contemporary pendant lamps—not to mention floor lamps, ceiling fans and a back room devoted to outdoor lighting features. Illuminations’ owner Angie Brown—with an appropriate kilowatt smile—had always enjoyed decorating friends’ houses and showed a flair for lighting. At the urging of an electrician friend she took the plunge and opened her business in August of 2006. “There was so much to learn,” she comments. “There must be thousands of different kinds of bulbs; you have to learn the specs of a house, the height of a chandelier, color and decorating of fixtures.” But Brown was undaunted and built her business working exclusively with builders, and in recent months with off-the-street customers. Serving residential and commercial clients, Illuminations’ has fixtures from 50 different companies, including Golden and Regency, and keeps careful records of all orders (so, if you should break that hard-to-replace globe, you can easily find another). Though it doesn’t do actual installation, Illuminations offers free delivery, supplies parts and does warranties. The company works on both residential and commercial contracts. Under-cabinet lighting, accent lighting, landscape lighting and lamp repair are its most sought-after services.

But perhaps the best service that Illuminations of the Triad provides is educating customers. “So many come in the door who do not know what they want,” says Brown. After all, there’s a lot to lighting a room—the size of it, for one, the ornateness of the fixture. Brown sees more outdoor elements, such as sconces, coming into houses, as well as a large variety of styles, from Old World to contemporary. “So many people want everything matchy-matchy, she observes. “We try to encourage individuality from room to room to customize a home.” And seeing a customer walk away happy is one of Brown’s greatest sources of satisfaction. The other is her sense of accomplishment. “It’s been an adventure,” she says of her enterprise, “I feel like I’ve been to college and flunked, been to college and flunked, and now I’m ready to graduate.”
With highest honors, no doubt.

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