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Light in the Stone/Digital Age

So much of our modern lives is digital that we scarcely stumble across the archaic digital versus analog debate. No one uses an abacus in high school math class. Finding a land line to make a phone call is increasingly difficult. Clacking typewriters have given way to silent computers. Some of us wear watches that […]

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Is Smart Lighting a Dumb Idea?

A wood finished attic room with a desk on the left with a chair and computer and purple lighted lamp

No. Er, Yes. Wait a minute, is this a trick question? Retailers and websites are hawking new smart gadgets for our homes incessantly, essentially trying to do what Apple did for smart phones: make them cost a whole lot more. There are smart coffee makers, smart pet feeders, smart doorbells, smart thermostats, smart irrigation systems, […]

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Sorry, Mom.

An overhead light that has a gold base and tip, and a textured clear glass globe

My mother has carefully and meticulously curated a style for the family farmhouse over the past 45 years of residency (we’ve had the farm since about 1882, but none of us remember that). In the 1970’s and 80’s when I was growing up it was, well, very 1970’s. Then, when we finally all went off […]

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Don’t Mock Me

A window with four panes in a wooden wall, lit from above with tape LED lights, it's dark outside

Light is a tricky substance.  You cannot hear it, taste it, feel it, or smell it.  You can only see light when it comes directly into your eyes or bounces off of something.  It is predictable, so long as you can memorize the trillions of possibilities and recall the correct answer. I can’t. Lighting design […]

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Does it cost more?

An industrial ceiling with red lamps hanging down at intervals

One of the reasons that light in our homes and workplaces is not good for us is that our primary considerations are 1) how cheaply can we get lighting and 2) how few watts can we use.  I am often asked “will good lighting cost more than regular lighting?” Yep. Let’s say you hire a […]

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Lighting Malady: 4CnF Syndrome

A yellow triangular warning sign with a lightbulb symbol and crossbones below it.

The most common lighting malady I diagnose is CFLS, or Ceiling Fan Light Syndrome.  Statistically speaking (and I am completely making this up), CFLS affects three of every four Americans at some point in their lives.  If you or someone you know is suffering from CFLS, please contact your designer immediately. One common side effect […]

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Houzz, Bulbs, & Photos

A brightly lit modern kitchen with drawings of three people doing various tasks in it

My latest story from Houzz.com shares the same information from my light bulb buying guide but in National Geographic Style (lots of pretty pictures).  I think that helps the medicine go down a bit better! Read my version of the story. A Lighting Pro’s 5 Tips for Buying LED Bulbs […]

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Rainbow Red Velvet

An illustration of a person holding a prism with light going in and a rainbow emerging with these words on each of the colors: Change easier, Focus clearly, Feel better, Know more, Do better

The Gift of Light must be fully unwrapped to be understood.  Inside the gift box of white light are all the colors of the rainbow, only visible when we split the wavelengths apart with a prism or raindrops.  The power of light is also multi-layered, affecting our lives in many ways.  My approach to better […]

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The Good Old Days of Light

An icon of a sun on the left labelled: how we used to light. An icon of an LED light bulb on the right labelled: how we light today.

I like to believe that I am a forward thinker and not a person who looks behind longingly at The Good Old Days. Most of the time. When it comes to architecture, I love where the world is headed. We’re seeing modern homes with large expanses of glass, schools with huge amounts of daylight, factories […]

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Lighting can hurt you.

An icon of a red light bulb with a smile to the left of an icon of a blue light bulb with a frown. Underneath it says "lighting can hurt you"

I believe light is a gift that can help us live better lives.  A powerful combination of human history, personal experience, and deepening research backs me up: light can help us sleep better, wake up easier, heal faster, feel happier, suffer less pain, reduce the symptoms of aging…and the list goes on. My teenage sons […]

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Light Can Help You