Kevin McCloud's Lighting Style: The Complete Guide to Lighting Every Room in Your House

I agree with everyone else's remarks; this book is incredibly useful. I've been reading lots of lighting books because I want to redo my house's lighting right. Most of them show lots of pictures and talk about lighting through the ages (ask yourself, do you really need to read a chapter on lighting in caveman times?); most of the text accompanying photos is rather hazy, and the photos are of homes with noontime summer light pouring in three sides of their penthouse on the 22nd floor of some building in NYC. "Lighting Style", on the other hand, not only takes the same room and shows it with multiple lighting schemes, but breaks down exactly what lights were used to achieve the effects. The only con: it is from 1995 so compact fluorescents are not addressed at all (except in their primitive greenish takes-10-minutes-to-warm-up form). I could've used a comparison of newer CF bulbs vs. incandescents and halogens.

The author speaks to lay people such as myself. He illustrates and compares through photographs different effects of lighting upon the same scene, so you not only read, but get the visual idea. Through reading this book, I am able to plan a lighting scheme that works for my environment and have become my own lighting designer!

A really great book. Very charming and great photos.

Most lighting books show you lots of pictures and tell you what was done. They hardly help clueless DIY's like myself. Kevin's approach to lighting, however, is systematic and understandable. His ideas and methods are innovative yet simple. You'll be surprised at how much your room or house can be transformed with the proper lighting. Absolute must-get for new or renovating home owners.