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1THING: New Build Decks

I once read that the easiest ways to increase the sale price of your home were to paint the front door for a good first impression and add a deck to the back yard. I suppose adding a deck makes the back yard more enticing, perhaps even subconsciously saying to the buyer “purchase this home […]

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An illustration of a deck at dusk

Vanity & Celebrity

A bathroom sink with a mirror above it and two light on either side of the mirror and a piece of art hanging to the right.

The stars of stage and screen spend a good deal of time in their dressing rooms in front of the mirror, checking to make sure they are ready for the literal spotlight. You may not be going onstage, but that is no excuse for poor lighting at your vanity.  Leave the film noir to the […]

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DON’T/DO THIS: Kitchens

A drawing of a kitchen with the left side an example of bad lighting, and the right side an example of good lighting

Drumroll, please! Okay, that was unnecessary, but I do feel like celebrating this first post in my 2023 DON’T/DO THIS series. I did a run of these a few years back that were featured on Houzz.com, but I’m older, wiser, and…well, at least older. So here I go again, revisiting, revising, expanding, and enhancing my […]

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Light Can Help Us…in 2023

The tail end of an airplane flying above the clouds

I am very, very excited about my writing plans for this blog in the year ahead. The excitement for this coming year began more than twelve months ago when I set a plan for my 2022 posts. I thoroughly enjoyed blogging in 2022. For the first time, my writing was guided by a year-long plan […]

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1THING: Plug In Sparkle

Pine tree branches with holiday lights strung on them

‘Tis the season…for lots and lots of darkness in the upper Midwest. Today there are exactly nine hours between sunrise and sunset, leaving fifteen in the dark. This is the season, in other words, for plug-in solutions to add a little light to my life. And that makes for a fitting end to my 2022 […]

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EXPOSURE: The Future of Power

A book/article cover for Return of the Standards War? by David K. Warfel

The third article in my series on Lighting Hope is out in Designing Lighting! I learned a few things writing this article about the future of power that surprised me, particularly that my focus on low voltage lighting may be suitable for the near future…but there could be something even more revolutionary ahead. Digital power […]

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THINK LIGHT: Solstice

A diagram showing how the earths tilt as it goes around the sun causes winter/summer seasons with the title "the lighting designer's holiday"

I have fallen into the habit of stating that while I personally celebrate Christmas, professionally I celebrate Winter Solstice. Winter Solstice, which for me in Wisconsin, USA, is December 21st, marks the point in the Earth’s annual orbit around the sun where we “tip” back towards longer days. As a lighting designer, that means that […]

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Light Can Help You