Glen Sayers wrote:

could you possibly check
http://www.allthingsmini.com/forum/i... T&f=28&t=1084
and make comment?

Well that didn't work

It worked just fine - because the URL is so long, it wrapped to another line.
You have to cut and paste the url back together. A trick is to use TINYURL
www.tinyurl.com that will create a very small, PERMANENT substitute url.
Here's the TinyURL equivalent to your link:

http://tinyurl.com/b5wry

but here's my question.
Now working on finalising lighting. There really don't seem to be any
written suggestions out there. i.e. watts per square foot seems a logical
way to do it for me.

Ahh.. We have the engineering mind at work!

It's not an engineering question, but one of artistic and human factors.

If you were an architect designing the lighting for a 1:1 scale house or room
(i.e., a REAL one), you certainly wouldn't use some fixed ratio. You'd consider
dozens of factors, such as
What's the room to be used for?
When is it to be used (at night or day)?
How good is the residents' eyesight?
What kind of ambiance is desired?
What color is the decorating scheme?
What is the purpose of the lighting? (Not to fall down when walking, desk
work, watching TV, reading, cocktail parties, light shows)
What KIND of lighting - overall even, spotlighted areas,
Where is the lighting going to be placed?
How far away is it from the area to be lighted?
Are we talking about built-in lighting or separate fixtures?

For a dollhouse, some other factors:
Where will it be located - what's the lighting OUTSIDE of the house?
What's the purpose of the lighting? (Visibility, realism, decorative)
What kind of maintenance is needed or possible? There's nothing worse than
tearing up floors and ceilings because a connection came loose.
What's the dollhouse for? - a plaything and a showpiece have vastly different
needs.
The array of lights in your photo is very impressive - it may overshadow (pun
NOT intended) the content of the room.

Wattage isn't a measure of light, but of power. A 20 Watt fluorescent bulb
produces the same amount of light output as a 60 Watt incandescent. If you must
measure the light, you need to measure it in lumens or candlepower or
teraphotons per nanosecond or ...

small lights, low power = more lights to get up to a recommended wattage.
One big light = watts in one hit.

What would you do in your own house or flat? Use one megawatt floodlight or a
selection of well-placed smaller fixtures?

Can anyone suggest a starting point?
My conclusion is 1.73 watts/square foot would make an acceptable starting
point.

Per square foot ... a pretty meaningless measure - what is being lighted? The
floor? And then where are the lights? If you're lighting the floor, you need
more generated lumens if the lighting comes from the ceiling than if it came
from table lamps - or in-the-floor panel lights

Yes I realize there are lots of variations like types of bulb but I'm
looking to a safe starting point.

There is none. Your basic judgement and instinct will be far better than any
formula! What LOOKS right? We sometimes use a combination - hidden lighting to
light up a room for being viewed, plus lamps and fixtures that don't produce a
lot of light, for a realistic look.

- Herb