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Architectural Design, Home Lighting, Home Electrical, Decorating - General & Miscellaneous
Lighting Style: The Complete Visual Sourcebook for Every Room in Your House by Kevin McCloud β€” book cover

Lighting Style: The Complete Visual Sourcebook for Every Room in Your House

by Kevin McCloud
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Overview

Good lighting can make or break a home in the same way that furnishings and interior decoration can set a style. This magnificent new volume-- with more than 275 full-color photographs and 20 full-color and black-and-white illustrations-- shows readers how to use lighting to maximum effect in every part of the house. From flickering candles to state-of-the-art micro systems, "Lighting Style" displays a breathtaking range of lighting effects for every room, every mood, and every budget.

Kevin McCloud, a shining new talent in interior design, draws upon his extensive theatrical background as he explains the emotional response you can elicit through different lighting schemes as well as offering practical solutions to problems of task lighting-- from areas to read, cook, and work in to mood lighting for the bedroom and night light for parties, ponds, and gardens. Inexpensive materials and a repertoire of imaginative techniques form the basis of McCloud's decorating philosophy, which celebrates fresh new interpretations of traditional styles and encourages all to create their own distinctive interiors.

The "case studies"-- one for each room in the house-- are double-page photographic spreads that include detailed descriptions of how and why each lighting scheme works, with cross-references to the "Practicalities" section at the back of the book showing readers how to duplicate the desired effect. A photographic glossary of fixtures and fittings, from bulbs and lampshades to wall lights and desk lamps, helps the reader make the best choice from the often bewildering range of products on the market. This section also provides the essential technical know-how, from the fundamentals of wiring to how to brief an electrician.

Informed throughout by both the practical lighting expertise and the imaginative design techniques for which Kevin McCloud is renowned, this innovative book will be a revelation of the real potential of good lighting, and will enable you to realize that potential to stunning effect in your own home.

From flickering firelight and romantic candles to state-of-the-art micro systems, this innovative visual guide displays a breathtaking range of lighting effects for every mood--emphasizing affordable choices for the average homeowners. Over 275 4-color photos. 20 color and b/w line illustrations.

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Editorials

Library Journal

The owner of a lighting and furniture design company, McCloud provides an excellent, comprehensive guide to the different types of lighting (ambient, accent, task, decorative, and kinetic) as well as how to use them in every room of the house. He also explains the basics of bulbs, fixtures, and lampshades. While these areas may be addressed by other books in your collections, McCloud also considers lighting in the garden and includes a discussion of working with an electrician. The book is filled with very appealing colored illustrations. Recommended for any size library.-Barbara Bartos, St. Croix Central Elementary Sch., Roberts, Wis.

Barbara Jacobs

In a somewhat scholarly manner touched by romance, British furniture designer McCloud tackles the subject of lighting--and manages to emerge the winner. Few dare take an entire book to explain this topic to laypersons, since lighting is itself a combination of science, engineering, and, many times, just plain decorating magic. But by applying each of the five illuminating types (accent, ambient, decorative, kinetic, and task) methodically to each room in a house, the author in turn brightens up a once-dull subject. Each space in the home nurtures specific work and leisure activities; McCloud's lighting schemes reflect those needs at different times of the day. A final chapter on practicalities features photographs and descriptions of virtually every lighting question under the sun, from what kind of fixture and bulb to use to how to work with an electrician.

Book Details

Published
March 1, 1995
Publisher
Simon & Schuster
Pages
144
Format
Hardcover
ISBN
9780671887063

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