The Simple Gift of Light #10 There is a part of me that wants lighting design to be so complicated, technical, and artistic that no one else tries it, leaving all of the opportunities to me. In this fantasy world- the one where lighting is too complex for ordinary citizens to grasp- I get to […]
Category: Kitchens & Dining Rooms
DINING ROOMS: Pick the Places 2
Giving the Simple Gift of Light #11 We spent an entire post exploring how to illuminate the Comfort Zone in dining rooms and discussing the difference between beam angle and field angle. The Comfort Zone, while very important, is not the only place we need to consider when planning out lighting. We also need soft, […]
The Glare Zone
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 […]
Pick the Places: Dining Rooms 1
Giving the Simple Gift of Light #10 As I sit down to write about dining room lighting fixture placement, it occurs to me that most people would consider an entire post on this subject a bit excessive. What is there to write about? Just hang a chandelier of some kind over the table, right? This […]
Coming in January…
2026 is going to be an epic year. The first of several major announcements is coming soon. Stay tuned…. […]
Dumb…or Digital?
Would you rather invest in expensive electrical equipment or your quality of life? Recently one of our custom integration partners asked me why homeowners should choose digitally controlled lighting over panelized dimming systems. As a lighting professional, the choice is so clear to me that it can be difficult to imagine why anyone wouldn’t want to go […]
The Comfort Zone
The Simple Gift of Light #8 I am looking out my window as I write, and the neighborhood is filled with the sights, sounds, and smells of autumn. It is the time of year when, in Wisconsin where I currently live, we pull out our puffy jackets, fleece zip-ups, stocking caps, and gloves. We light […]
In the Zones
The Simple Gift of Light #7 The key benefits of light- gentle mornings, energetic days, relaxing evenings, and restful nights- come only when we consume the right light at the right time. But what makes some lighting good and other lighting bad? There are seemingly endless technical considerations that quickly get overwhelming and, honestly, few […]
What’s Your Angle?
Giving the Simple Gift of Light #8 Lighting design is at once quite simple and quite challenging, and the concept of viewing angle is a perfect example of this paradox. Simply put, light travels in a straight line and so does our vision, which makes predicting glare and comfort easy. Easy, that is, so long […]
THINK LIGHT, Think Flooring
One of the perennially difficult aspects of the role of lighting designer is the struggle over budget allocation. Lighting is most often viewed as a utility or commodity, something to be installed as cheaply as possible, but that too often robs the homeowners of comfort, relaxation, energy, and more. So how do we help homeowners […]