And...we're back. The conversation around my first BS* + Beer guest appearance was so, er, illuminating that we found ourselves together just a few weeks later. This time the focus of the conversation was on lighting for the rest of us, or practical strategies we could apply on our own projects. Once again the hosts... Continue Reading →
BS* + Beer Show
*BS = Building Science When Green Building Advisor and Fine Homebuilding friends asked me to join an episode of the BS* + beer show, I was honored and a little scared. Why? Because builders and lighting designers do not always get along. In retrospect, I need not have feared. BS* + Beer is a weekly... Continue Reading →
Seven Saintly Solutions
Seven Saintly Solutions, Presented by David Warfel from DMF Lighting on Vimeo. One of the perks of starting your own company is that you get to pick your job title. At some point I decided that "Chief Evangelist of Light" (CEL) would be my own. Evangelist is a term that can have positive and negative... Continue Reading →
Time Zooms By
Whew. It's been hard to find time to blog the past few months. I can blame that on the pandemic, but that is only partially true. I'll blame it on Zoom instead. Our design team is spread across three time zones and six states, and we rely on remote communication tools like Zoom for continual... Continue Reading →
Bedrooms: Beyond Sleeping
We have a certain number of formulas for illuminating a bedroom. We layer in lighting to deliver our five promises of light in these rooms just as we would anywhere else in the home. The solutions are different in a bedroom than in a kitchen because the function and form of each space is vastly... Continue Reading →
Time to Glow
It all started with a sketch. I wanted to add glow to a table that would be easy for clients to use every night, like candles but without the dripping and smoking and constant replacing. It is easy to sketch, but something altogether different to make happen in reality. Then we moved into our current... Continue Reading →
Endgame: Lighting Designers vs Interior Designers
"But we already have an interior designer who is helping us with lighting. Why should we hire a lighting designer?" Here's the answer: Lighting Designers are lighting designers and Interior Designers are...interior designers. Make sense? Okay, let's put it another way: Interior Designers craft and coordinate the entire look of a home. Lighting Designers make... Continue Reading →
Fine Homebuilding Kitchen
Imagine the future: light helps you keep your balance as you age, cuts down on point sources that cause glare, minimizes sleep disturbances, and helps you see what you are doing better than ever. Wouldn't it be nice? Pushing these boundaries requires experiments like our recent lighting makeover at my parents' farmhouse in Illinois. The... Continue Reading →
Lightovation 2020
January is a good time to fly south and check out Lightovation at the Dallas Market Center. The annual event for buyers is focused primarily on showrooms and distributors but integrators are beginning to show up- especially those that also do decorative lighting. I was at Lightovation to share my passion for linear lighting with... Continue Reading →
Review: CSL
We stumbled upon CSL a year or so ago and were immediately in love with the Gyroshift recessed multiples. They are the cleanest fixture of this type I have ever seen and come in a staggering array of options. I just finished a cruise ship project with a number of these and, well, I'm still... Continue Reading →