Right Light: Lighting Essentials for the Home

Rating:
Summary: Well presented but shallow
Review: I know 'nothing' about lighting in the home, so I decided to gather some knowledge before redoing the appartment.
The book is well presented and organized, with chapters covering the usage of light in various areas of your home. I noticed straight away it only describes the tradional house, but I gathered lots could be applied to my appartment.
What's good is that it describes what light does to us, how it works around the house, how to utilize different types of lights, tips&tricks, etc., and for the light-dumb this means one can learn a lot from this book, and I did. It does not cover technical installation issues, such as installing built-in ceiling spots or hiding wiring. The book delivers knowledge and ideas, from there you're on your own.

Now for the bad, this is a 140 page book so one expects lots of content. At least half of the book is photograps. It would have been excellent if things described in the text where illustrated by these photographs. Alas, the photographs are 'stock' photos an employee gathered from media-libraries and the like. They looked for photos to go with the current subject. You get nice pictures of living rooms and such, where lights happen to be installed, trying to be relevant, but they usually fail. They look like photographs you see in magazines at your hairdresser.

The usage of fonts and line spacing is from hell, really. They start a chapter with big letters, then the next line with slightly smaller letters, and so on (Star Wars anyone?) to the default font size. But between every line, everywhere, there's a blank line. I'm sure they'd claim it's 'design', but I think this is how you get a 140 book full: fill it with blank lines and useless photographs. To make it worse, 16 pages are covering 'do it yourself' plans to make really ugly lamps no one would ever want. Not only this example, as a man it could be noted for fellow men this is a very feminine book. As with the lamp making, some things might not appeal to you.
What's left could be fit in 15 to 20 pages of information in a 'normal' book, some of which is iterated. That stuff is OK. Not brilliant, but OK. I give 2 stars for that.

Rating:
Summary: Packed with tips, tricks and tips, great craft projects
Review: This is a wonderful book for any individual who is decorating their home or any design professional who wants to know about as many lighting options as possible. It is packed with tips, tricks and ideas to make successfully lighting your home easy.

The book starts out by explaining natural light and then helps you develop a lighting plan. There are lots of decorative tips and tricks such as using uplights to made a ceiling look higher or washing opposite walls with light to make a room look bigger. It even discusses how lighting effects mood.

Lighting specific to certain areas of the home is covered next with sections on special lighting considerations for living rooms, bedrooms, kitchens, baths, entrances, staircases, your home office and outdoor areas. Everything from built in fixtures to accent lamps to candles is covered as a total lighting plan is conceived.

The strength of this book is its coverage of both the aesthetic and the technical. Special mini sections explain types of light, minimum lighting levels, and tell all about lamps and shades. They also help you choose light bulbs, lighting fixtures, and window coverings. The final chapter addresses special lighting needs such as increasing light at night, or using light create the right mood. A quick fixes guide shows you how to correct many lighting problems with a minimum of effort and expense.

Along with decorating advice there are several craft projects throughout the book. These include a leaf and paper hurricane lamp, punched paper light string, Japanese table lantern, papyrus shade lamp, marbled hanging lantern, henna pattern lamp, pearled shell night light and sliver tea light votive. The projects are sophisticated looking, yet easy enough for anyone to make. They include step-by-step instructions and a picture of the finished project.