1) I live in a loft in TriBeCa, and since a new building began going up next door, there is very little light in the apartment. I have seen alarm clocks that work by strobing light and have definitely thought of one of those old school lamp timers but I'm curious as to what you and your readers might suggest for both the dearth of light and the problem of waking up in pitch black every morning. Thanks in advance, Evan
2) Do you have any ideas for lighting basement apartments with windows solely exposed to the airshaft? I like natural light... can it be mimicked? Thanks, Meri
Yes, yes, yes. While it will increase your electric bill, we find that even sunny apartments we visit are underlit, and we strongly suggest more lighting every time.
TIPS
1. Indirect light and low light is best for adding light and energy to a space. Turn off the overhead, and use table lamps for general illumination, uplights to illuminate walls, and use closet lights to open up these dark spaces.
2. Try full spectrum light bulbs. We use them all over, but sometimes find they can cast a cool glow, so we mix them up with halogens and regular bulbs too.
3. If waking up is a problem, put some of your lights on a timer. We have plants with plant lights in our bedroom and these go on every morning at 6am. It's nice.
Anyone else? MGR
LINKS
- All Good Questions
Light pipes:
If you can do actual renovations you might want to try this, but mounted horizontally out to a sunny wall, if you had really tall windows you could use some of one as a source and pipe back into the dim reaches:
http://www.sunpipe.com/iz10.htm
Are there any souces for relatively inexpensive alarms that start really quietly and don't go to end-of-the-world noise impact level for several minutes?
I want to wake up, but I don't need to peel myself off the cieling every morning.
Mirrors, mirrors and more mirrors. It worked in Versailles. Why not a studio? :)
Have seen where mirrors were used above interior doors, like faux transoms, and also where an inset window was flanked by angled mirrors creating a pseudo-bay effect.
The other alternative, especially if you spend the bulk of your at-home time at night: embrace the darkness! Go dark on the walls, floors and furniture, and get those light pools going with lighting as MGR prescribes... moody, mysterious, and sexy!
I have the Sunrise Alarm Clock. It becomes gradually brighter for about 20-30 minutes before it's set to go off and then beeps.
This isn't the one I have, but it's similar:
http://www.dreamessentials.com/a_clocks_sunrise.aspx
www.gaiam.com has a couple of chiming alarm clocks:
http://www.gaiam.com/retail/product.asp?product%5Fid=02-0303
and
http://www.gaiam.com/retail/product.asp?product%5Fid=12-0058%20MSTR
Re: Full spectrum bulbs
I also really like the light from GE's (I think) "Reveal" bulbs. Much truer color than from most.
On the other hand, we're only starting to understand the harmful effects of lighting at night (this is the abstract from an article put out by the Lighting Research Center - I couldn't get a link to it):
Stevens, Richard G., and Mark S. Rea. "Light in the Built Environment: Potential Role of Circadian Disruption in Endocrine Disruption and Breast Cancer." Cancer Causes and Control 12 (2001): 279-287.
Abstract - - Life in industrialized societies is primarily life inside buildings. Illumination from electric lighting in the built environment is quite different from solar radiation in intensity, spectral content, and timing during the 24-hour daily period. Humans evolved over millions of years with the day-night pattern of solar radiation as the primary circadian cue. This pattern maintained a 24-hour rhythm of melatonin release, as well as a host of other physiological rhythms including the sleep-wake cycle. Electric lighting in the built environment is generally more than sufficient for visual performance, but may be inappropriate for the maintenance of normal neuroendocrine rhythms in humans; e.g., insufficient during the day and too much at night. Lighting standards and engineering stress visual performance, whereas circadian function is not currently emphasized. The molecular biological research on the circadian clock and on mechanisms of phototransduction makes it clear that light for vision and light for circadian function are not identical systems. In particular, if electric lighting as currently employed contributes to 'circadian disruption' it may be an important cause of 'endocrine disruption' and thereby contribute to a high risk of breast cancer in industrialized societies.
What about the snowlab therapie lights? While they aren't cheap, they do have a cheaper priced version that is more acrylic. I saw one this weekend at Apartment Zero in DC and its not as substantial as the therapie lights.
The Therapie lights have a plastic canvas. (its not stiff at all) and you can really change it around with the filters. the light does have a uv filter on it and its a full spectrum bulb. It really showed me that on cloudy days you can make them bright again.
I use the blue filter to mimic a blue sky on cloudy days, and I like to put in the orange filter at night to mimic the sunset. They are fairly easy to change as they velcro on over the light bulb.
They purport to help your spleen, but I have no idea about that. I have the tendency to leave mine on all the time, but now with this lighting post, I am going to turn it off.
a couple of places to try for good prices on snowlab lights are http://gnr8.biz and http://vassardesigns.com. You can order as many filters as you want for an extra fee. You can see all the different filters at http://snowlabdesign.com
The sun pipes are a very nice concept if you can install where you are living. All of the apartments I have lived in would never allow such a renovation - even the coop that I just moved to. What I HAVE done (which is also in the spirit of Egyptian ingenuity) is put long, rectangular mirrors in the base of my window frames. The mirrors, when properly angled, would bounce sunlight from outside onto my ceiling. It doesn't work in all situations, but when it does it is the most wonderful lighting you can have throughout the day.
I'm not a big fan of that mirror trick. When I was looking for a studio, I found a place where the previous owner has installed floor to ceiling mirrors along one long wall, as a backsplash in the kitchen and on the closet doors in the foyer. It made me seasick to have so many mirrors without furniture. About a month after I bought my place, the broker called and said the mirrored house was still on the market and had dropped $20k off the asking price. Mirrors work best in small doses, when they bounce a view or light to a part of the apartment that needs it, like Matthew's idea.
I live on the upper East side. There is an apartment building blocking much of the light on the only side I have windows. They are West facing. Is there anything I can do to get the reflection of this sunlight?