The Simple Gift of Light #9 Comfort. Work. Safety. Three of our lighting zones have names that invoke ideas that most of us want: few would say “no comfort, please.” The Glare Zone, however, has a much different ring to it. Perhaps every human eye should come with a READ ME FIRST! warning, every home […]
Fifteen years ago I did a budget-friendly lighting design for my mother’s total kitchen remodel as shown in the photograph above. I delivered 50 foot-candles to the horizontal task plane, as I’d been taught to do. I had multiple downlights over the sink and placed the downlights directly over the counter. I didn’t like the […]
Disclaimer: I am a lighting designer. I want you to hire me (or a lighting designer like me) because I need to eat. But I am not writing this article to get more work. I just want you to think about light and lighting differently. There are two schools of thought on why you might hire […]
I was thumbing through the latest issue of This Old House last night and stopped cold at a beautiful advertisement for a lighting company. “Good Lighting is Everything,” it said. That may be a stretch, but I’ll take it. And then I got just a bit angry (with apologies to my wife for the outburst) […]
You’ve got the wrong professional. A long time ago I spent several years as a full-time construction supervisor responsible for training volunteer crews and building new homes from the ground up with Habitat for Humanity in Mississippi. I learned how to pour slab foundations, rough in plumbing, wire a breaker panel, install cabinets, put on […]
Here’s the scenario: you finally decide to trade in your car for new one, and make the decision to go electric. You’re thinking you’ll get a Tesla: high tech, fast, beautiful and long range. But without knowing it, you bought a golf cart. It’s electric, like a Tesla. What’s the difference? “We’re getting LEDs.” When […]
The locally quarried stone and stained concrete shapes that make up Frank Lloyd Wright’s iconic Fallingwater are key ingredients of its success, but the maintenance is expensive. Natural stone needs care and mortar; concrete cracks and spalls. So last year the Foundation that oversees Fallingwater made the sensible choice to reduce maintenance costs. They covered the house in […]
It’s undeniable: we’re working at home more than ever. The US Census tells us over 8 million work entirely from home and a Gallup survey reveals that at least 43% of employed Americans said they spend at least some time working remotely. Add in those who pay their bills at home, use a computer to […]
COMMON MISTAKES THAT STEAL YOUR COMFORT AND JOY They are all around us, lurking in our homes and threatening to harm us every day and every night! Be very afraid! Stay tuned for updates! Oh no! I like to think of myself as the Evangelist of Light, spreading the good news that light- the first […]
Sadly, my latest article on Houzz.com received about 10,000 views in the first week. Why is this sad? Because way more people need to prepare for their electrical walk-through, when most residential lighting “design” is done with a Sharpie and the “you need about four cans here” approach. Make it 10,001 by reading the article […]
I finally found it: a light bulb that performs just like the beloved 60-watt incandescent. And I am very, very unhappy. Angry. Because this pack of bulbs costs me $4 to buy but will lock me in to spending an extra $300 over the next decade. And that’s not the only downside. Let me explain. I […]