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 […]
When my wife was expecting our second son, I turned my remodeling do-it-yourself muscle towards an unused room occupying our former attached garage. Hastily turned into an extra room by previous owners, the space was all but unusable and served as a storage room while we remodeled the rest of the house. Now, with our […]
Science is catching up to what professional lighting designers have known for years- great lighting can help us feel better. The right kind of light can help us relax or be more alert, and nowhere is this more important than in our homes. It is light for feeling that can fill us with delight when […]
Most dining areas, whether small traditional rooms or large contemporary spaces, have one thing in common: a table. It is easy, therefore, to begin lighting the dining room with light above the table that provides light for doing,but stopping there would leave the room unfinished. If we do not address light for knowing, the dining room will […]
I enjoy crafting articles on Houzz.com for a number of reasons, including having access to millions of photographs of beautiful projects. When writing the most recent article (link below), I found dozens of examples of lighting stone and brick to include. But my favorite aspects of the process are figuring out how to simplify my […]
The Gift’s second promise is that light can help us know where we are, where we are going, and who we are with. Light for knowing may take the form of “ambient” light, which is soft, diffuse, general light that dimly fills a space. But it may also be much more focused light that gives […]
Choosing a lamp can be just as much fun as choosing a chair…until you get the chair home and realize it doesn’t fit/doesn’t coordinate with the room/or isn’t comfortable after an hour of reading. Guess what? A lamp can also be uncomfortable or not fit with the room and leave you wanting more. As […]
Author’s note: I think of myself as a strange hybrid of wannabe tree-hugging liberal and stumbling follower of Jesus. From time to time you may see one or more of my values and beliefs come to the surface in my blog, such as in this post. Yet the only “religion” I will push on this […]
Recently a reader posed a tough question following one of my articles on Houzz.com: “I am often stumped by the variety of sizes and baffle colors of recessed lights. Any info regarding how to choose?” Hmm. I had to think about that one, as I often make choices subconsciously from my own experience and preferences. […]
Most folks I know never ask me to advise them on lighting their living rooms, but I get called in often to take a look at kitchens. Modern lifestyles place a much higher emphasis on kitchens than when many of our homes were built, and it makes sense that lighting these spaces has become more […]
CFLS: Ceiling Fan Light Syndrome. Great for vacuuming the carpet, awful for everything else. Everyone uses their living rooms differently, which means everyone’s idea of great lighting will be different. In your living or family room you might watch television, read books, play games, relax on the couch, surf the internet on your iPad, knit, snack, […]