Tait's Room Week 4

I recently moved into my new place along the boardwalk in Newport Beach. It’s a pretty nice house and a great area but there’s just one catch, I live with five other guys, each of whom has a big enough personality to fill the beach house on their own. As you could guess, things get pretty competitive so when in came to setting up our rooms, things quickly escalated. After a few trips to IKEA and everyone tapping into their inner interior designer, seeking the ultimate budget-bachelor look, the rooms were looking pretty ridiculous. When the cringe-worthy one-up fest, was finally settling down I was lucky enough to be a few weeks into this lighting class. Although we have hardly even scratched the surface of professional lighting, I still had a good enough head start and appreciation for the power of it, to no the do’s and don’ts. Once I mentioned lighting my roommates sped off in search of black lighting, strobes, red bulbs, and any other hideous impractical thing they could hope to add to their space’s “cool factor.” I resisted, and decided to go with soft white light to keep it bright and natural (after all I do have to live here) while also keeping my room relaxing enough to counteract the chaos that was outside my door. I am not completely innocent in the quest for cool however; I did turn my giant fur blanket, which was too hot for so cal, into a tapestry covering an entire wall. This darkened the feel considerably so I hung two of my three wall lights on it to counteract. I also under lit my bed frame for a source of mellow light that was good for winding down. No matter how tacky or absurd the room looks, I’m proud of my upgrade from the “laundry strewn, mattress on the floor, lit by a duct tape desk lamp” room. Lighting has made a huge difference in the space that I spend the most time in. This first had account has definitely made me appreciate the enormous effect lighting has on most everything, and makes the subject very intriguing. On the most basic level, I am reminded every day when walking by my roommate desperately trying to study in a room filled with nothing but deep red light. Wrong paintbrush buddy.

Tait Gabrielsen