Journal · 10 articles
Design by Home Style
Colonials, ranches, farmhouses, brick, stone and log homes.
Design by Home Style · 6 min
Lighting a Brick Colonial: Track, Zones and Scenes
Where permanent track goes on a symmetrical brick two-story, which zones make sense, and why one Erie colonial with 312 ft of roofline appraised $42K higher afterward.
Design by Home Style · 6 min
Lighting a New-Construction Home Before You Move In
New builds let permanent lighting get planned before landscaping, siding touch-ups or a final grade are finished, so track goes on once with nothing to work around later.
Design by Home Style · 7 min
Lighting a Victorian With Trim to Spare
Victorians offer turrets, wraparound porches and ornate trim work, more surface than any other style, so the discipline is choosing which details to trace and which to leave alone.
Design by Home Style · 5 min
Lighting a Cape Cod's Symmetry and Center Dormer
A Cape Cod's balanced roofline and center dormer reward a symmetrical lighting plan, mirrored left and right off the front door instead of measured as one long run.
Design by Home Style · 6 min
Lighting a Log Home or Cabin's Deep Overhangs
Log homes and cabins have deep overhangs, big gable ends and wraparound porches, and permanent track survives the woods just as well as a river-town roofline.
Design by Home Style · 6 min
Lighting a Stone Home: Roofline Track Plus Uplighting
Stone homes pair roofline track with uplighting on the facade itself, since stone texture reads best when lit from below and the two zones run on separate controls.
Design by Home Style · 6 min
Lighting a Split-Level Home's Staggered Rooflines
Split-level homes stack two or three roof heights instead of one, so permanent track is measured and mounted in separate runs per level rather than a single continuous line.
Design by Home Style · 6 min
Lighting a Craftsman Bungalow's Deep Eaves and Porch
Craftsman bungalows have deep overhangs and tapered porch columns built for shadow, which means permanent track tucks in tighter and hides better than on almost any other style.
Design by Home Style · 7 min
Lighting a Modern Farmhouse's Gables and Porch
Modern farmhouses bring tall gable peaks, black trim and a full-width porch beam, three separate zones that read as one clean line once track is tucked to the fascia.
Design by Home Style · 6 min
How to Light a Ranch Home's Long, Low Roofline
A ranch home's single-story roofline runs as one continuous line of track, with zones for the eaves, garage returns and porch columns, tucked tight to the fascia.