Guides

Notes from the drafting table. How we think about lighting gardens, trees, and the night, written for the people who design and build alongside us.

Understanding lighting design

• Why lighting design

  What a lighting designer does, why lighting gets decided at rough-in, and what a designed hierarchy changes.

• Lighting design vs. buying fixtures

  The fixture-first trap, why showroom design is free, and what changes when the plan is the product.

• What good lighting looks like

  Hierarchy, darkness, glare, and layers. A few things to notice tonight in your own home.

• When to bring in lighting design

  Before rough-in, before planting. Why timing decides what a design can still do.

• What lighting design costs

  What drives the fee, what you receive, and how a fixed fee compares to fixture-markup design.

• Lighting for aging eyes

  Older eyes need more light, less glare, and better contrast. How a house can keep up.

• Lighting and accessibility

  Even paths, gentle transitions, honest shadows, and controls everyone can reach and read.

• Lighting for children

  Circadian basics, nightlights done right, and the scenes a family house teaches its kids.

• Lighting and neighbors

  Light trespass, shielding, curfew dimming, and why the considerate scheme is the better one.

Technique

• How to light a garden path

  Spacing, fixture height, and glare. Pools of light, with honest darkness between them.

• Uplighting oaks and California natives

  Placement and aiming for native trees, moonlighting from the canopy, and root-zone care.

• What a landscape lighting plan contains

  The plan sheet, fixture schedule, aiming notes, and scenes a crew can build from.

• Color temperature outdoors

  2700K or 3000K, one temperature per property, and where CRI actually matters.

• Dark-sky lighting at home

  Shielding, aiming, and light trespass. Less light, placed well, looks better.

• Lighting scenes outdoors

  Zoning by use, and the three scenes a family actually lives with.