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 […]
Category: Kitchens & Dining Rooms
Kitchen Counter Lighting
The Right Light for Kitchen Counters (Read the companion story on Houzz.com) After the paint is dry and the counters are set in place, the kitchen becomes the most difficult place in the house to change. Getting lighting on the countertops has to be done right the first time, and here are a few tips […]
5 Tips for 1 Chandelier
I am delighted that Houzz.com continues to publish my stories in their news feed and newsletters. This week I pulled together information from several of my languageoflight.blog posts and a handful of images from the vast photo library on Houzz to simplify chandelier/dining room pendant purchasing. I made use of common wisdom and a few […]
Developing a Kitchen Lighting Plan
Another one just came across my desk: a kitchen where the plans call for lighting placed precisely in the wrong place. Chopping with large knives and dealing with hot pans is no place for poor lighting and obscuring shadows, and this is just one reason kitchens have the most at stake when it comes to […]
Fine Homebuilding (and Lighting)
Today I send a big THANK YOU to the fabulous editorial team at Fine Homebuilding for shaping my article for their readers. It was a fun experience for me and I am delighted with the final product! Read it online. […]
Chandeliers and Umbrellas
“Sacrifice for beauty,” someone once said. Not in my house. Lighting is not immune to questionable fashion trends, and we’re in the middle of one right now that makes many dining experiences less enjoyable. “Transitional” design has given birth to the open-structure chandelier, the philosophical equivalent of an umbrella without its fabric cover. You and […]
Buying Guides: Under Cabinet LEDs
Straight from the depths of the mind of a lighting designer, here comes another fascinating, edge-of-your-seat, page-turning buying guide for the most exciting of all light fixtures: under-cabinet LED tape light. Oh yeah! Buying LED tape light (those tiny flexible LED strips with adhesive backing) would be easier if it weren’t for the seemingly endless […]
Buying Guide: Dining Room Chandeliers
Let’s take a quick break from the philosophical and answer a very basic question: How do you choose light fixtures? The answer is different from room to room and from person to person, but here are a few tips to guide the process for your dining room. Step 1: Choose a Size Most online chandelier-sizing […]
4 Reasons Light Should Change
Adapting to changing lighting conditions is so critical to the human visual experience that we have a body part designed just for this task- the iris. Each eye has a constantly changing aperture- opening- that allows us to see easily at sunset and at mid-day. The iris allows us to appreciate a candle-lit dinner and […]
Light for Knowing: A Dining Room
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 […]