The Lighting Doctor
Farallon Restaurant in San Francisco uses unique decorative lighting fixtures to set an aquatic scene.
Many people live in apartments and don’t have the ability to add permanently installed lighting. This doesn’t mean that you can’t have good lighting, it simply means you need to be a little bit more creative about how to get the illumination you want.
Portland art gallery creates sculptural LED art.
As I have mentioned before, there are four functions of light — Task, Accent, Decorative and Ambient. Each one plays an important role in creating a cohesive lighting design. Here is an explanation… more
I have just come back from a trip to Holland and I must say that the bathrooms and the public restrooms were not only spotless, they were also quite beautiful.
Every public bathroom, whether in the… more
During the day I had passed by Rothy’s shoe store, located in the Upper Fillmore shopping district of San Francisco, many times. They manufacture a line of fashionable shoes made from recycled… more
Working with an architect and understanding a space's purpose can help direct lighting choices.
For those of you who are not familiar with the term, resimercial, it refers to the trend that we’re seeing in commercial spaces where they are now being designed to have a more residential appearance… more
What differentiates a chandelier from a pendant?
For me, the rule of thumb was that a chandelier had arms and a pendant fixture does not. It was also generally felt that chandeliers are more… more
I really like the trend of hanging multiple fixtures in a space. Visually, something happens that turns the fixtures into more than just lighting. They become room dividers or can help make rooms… more
Lighting really does have a language to it. There are terminologies to help us categorize the specific jobs they have in creating a cohesive lighting design.
While we are now adjusting to some of… more
There are just a few lighting fixture designers that have stayed in the public consciousness over the years. One of them, a favorite of mine, is Isamu Noguchi. His light sculptures, made of simple… more
Washing walls with light has become a whole lot easier. Before LEDs came along, you were pretty much stuck with track lights, using flood bulbs or recessed fixtures with reflectors and spread lenses… more
Good lighting design uses various types of illumination to create an inviting overall environment. As you have heard me say before, the best lighting happens when you layer different types of… more
Whether for reading or a decorative accent next to the bed, lamps can enhance the design of a bedroom.
Yes, I’m totally obsessed with LEDs. Admittedly, we got off to a rough start in the beginning. They got introduced onto the market a little too early. They didn’t have much lumen output, the color… more
When people are designing the lighting for their homes, they're thinking about lighting the art and the table tops or illumination for the bathrooms and in closets, but what they may not be… more
People may not realize it, but lighting fixtures do fall in and out of fashion, just like clothing. I look at the light fixtures that I had hanging in my house in the 1980's and I shudder. Some… more