Light has an almost magical ability to transform even the most ordinary space into something far richer and more beautiful. For this reason, lighting may be the single most powerful tool in home design. And while it’s easy to spend lots of money on lighting, it’s not necessary. In fact, it’s better to resist the temptation to overlight a house and instead to achieve the desired effects with fewer lights, carefully selected and well placed.

To begin with, every house has a pronounced dual nature as defined by day and night. Daytime is active, highly functional, and best lived under natural light. By contrast, nighttime is far more sensual and intimate, the time when most of us return to our bodies, our feelings, and our relationships. Above all, lighting should support this basic diurnal rhythm.

In the ideal scenario, natural lighting does the job all day long, with the exceptions of task lighting and brief illumination in closets and bathrooms. Conserving energy is a primary benefit of natural light, of course, but it offers other advantages as well: reduced overheating, a huge psychological lift, and a stronger connection to nature. So much the better if one’s house captures solar energy at the same time.

Windows, skylights, glass doors, and clerestories are the vehicles for natural lighting—and they should be used carefully. The same skylight that gently bathes you in April light can cook you in August, while those French doors, so cheery in October, can turn around and freeze you on a December night. Awnings and insulating window coverings are therefore the natural companions of natural lighting.

As a rule, it’s good to place the rooms of greatest daytime use on the bright side of the house (typically the south) and to locate bedrooms, baths, and storage in the naturally dimmer areas. Skylights are great in kitchens, where cupboards often limit the space available for windows—I like them in hallways and bathrooms as well. One of my favorite devices is a small skylight that illuminates a piece of artwork at the end of a hallway or framed behind an arch. Similarly, clerestory windows are wonderful for allowing light and solar gain to penetrate rooms more deeply than sunlight from standard windows can reach.

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