Resources for Better Lighting Design

Outdoor Lighting Tips From a Pro
Ready to install pathway and landscape lighting in your front yard? Avoid common mistakes by following tips given by Commonwealth Landscape Lighting’s Mark Piantedosi in this article by This Old House. Common outdoor lighting errors include wiring, placement, spacing, positioning, and aesthetics. You would be able to glean helpful and easy to follow instructions about how these errors could be eliminated. If you plan to illuminate the walkway, for example, you do not need to flood it up with lights; the ideal spacing between walkway lamps is 10 to 15 feet. You would also do better to position lights properly so their glare does not hurt the eyes.

7 Tips For Better Bathroom Lighting
Learn how to mix general bathroom lighting with task lighting and accent lighting to truly highlight your bathAs well as to avoid common mistakes in an article from Pro Remodeler. The bathroom is one of the most critical rooms in your home when it comes to proper lighting, the article points out. Included in the tips for bathroom lighting is the use of natural daylight lighting, overall bath lighting (paying attention to local regulations and the color rendering index), vanity lighting, lighting at the tub, light in the shower, at the water closet, and night lighting.

Outdoor Garden Lighting
Information about outdoor garden lighting techniques is detailed in this collection of garden lighting tips by Lighting for Gardens in the UK . Includes how to set a scene featuring cross lighting, shadowing, silhouetting, path lighting, up-lighting, spread-lighting, accent and spotlighting. Descriptions of various landscapes give visitors ideas about what type of garden lighting to select. There are some very technical arbles, such as choosing transformer size or cabling for various lights, and then also some more general topics like uplighting large trees and creative lighting design.

How to Choose Your Bedroom Lighting
Bedroom lighting is made up of several different elements, depending on the time of day and the desired mood. Bedroom lighting needs to take into account mood, task, and general lighting needs. This article on Houzz provides four steps to get the lighting rights in today's multi-functional bedroom. Learn the various types of lighting needed for dressing areas, bedside tables, specialty lighting for paintings or artifacts, low voltage lighting, dimmers, wall sconces and other contemporary lighting issues as they apply specifically to the bedroom. Lastly there is a general discussion of power points in the room to adequately handle such diverse needs as lamps, track lighting, curling irons, hair dryers, musical systems, televisions and more. Proper bedroom lighting is a mixture of several different kinds of household lighting, each with a function that varies by task or mood required.

Lighting the Way to Information on Lighting
The Resources section on Lighting Design Lab have some of the best articles on lighting on the web. The articles from this site cover everything from advanced lighting design, which takes all elements of a space into consideration when creating contemporary lighting, to Olympic lighting and security lighting, to residential lighting fixtures which includes specialty lighting, kitchen lighting, bathroom lighting, patio lights, deck lighting, garden lighting, landscape lighting, dimmers, low voltage lighting and so much more. This site also links to articles covering such technical lighting topics as lighting controls and power distribution, color rendering and color temperature, and a green home lighting guide.