Distinctly Montana Magazine

Photo courtesy Bozeman TV and Appliance Perhaps the most overlooked as- pect of a renovation, says Leuschen, is the lighting. It's "one of the most important design elements that peo- ple think of later in the process and should really be thought of first," she says. That's where Doug Brekke, of Black Box Design in Bozeman, comes in. A designer and installer of lighting systems made by LiteTouch, Brekke specializes in controlled lighting, a computerized system that stores and reproduces presets to keep the lighting in a room at its optimum level. "The traditional way to control lights is with in-wall box dimmers where you vary the brightness of the light by raising and lowering it," says Brekke. "But kitchens generally have different lighting loads," used for general, task, accent, and decorative lighting purposes, "so there are four, five, six, or seven loads, which means that there are that many dimmers." Lighting control systems replace all that hassle with a single button, allowing the homeowner to "record and reproduce" optimum lighting levels at any time. The most common overhaul when it comes to renovat- ing kitchen lighting, says Brekke, is the incandescent bulb. "Back when Grandma was cooking, she was stuck with one incandescent bulb that made up the overhead light in the kitchen," he says. And that resulted in a poorly-lit space. The new holy grail: dimmable fluorescents and LEDs that produce more natural lighting and are energy efficient. Once the general ambience is accounted for, task lighting can be added to illuminate specific areas of the kitchen. Todd Allmond, of J. Todd Allmond Builders in Ka- lispell, says most kitchens he renovates lack under-cabinet lighting, which makes the work space "dark and uninvit- ing." His solution: Xenon under-cabinet lights," which "produce a bright white light that closely mimics natural diane leuschen design interior & Architec tural 1204 south bozeman avenue bozeman, montana 59715 www.distinctlymontana.com dleuschen@aol.com studio 406.586.9684 cellular 406.600.6244 57

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