In the home office or studio workspace lighting is one of the most important elements for productivity. Getting this right is vital to your success because you spend so much time there. Here are 4 types of home lighting you will need to consider in setting up your home office room, shed or even nook.
Natural Light is Key
I’m sure there are anomalies and some people might work most productively in the middle of the night, or in their dark and moody basement setup, but for most daytime workers, actual daylight has a lot of positives towards mood and productivity. Cornell University studies proved that office workers with natural light were more productive and more healthy – daylight reduced eyestrain, blurred vision and headaches by 84%.
Where possible if your office has access to natural light and windows during the day, then this is the most significant element of design placement for your desk.
As everyone knows with the sun rising in the east and lowering to the west, the best natural light comes through any northerly aspect throughout the day. If you have a window which faces the north or north-east where possible place your desk close to this window, and with your computer monitor and chairs facing it.
Avoid facing directly east or west where possible as early morning or evening sunlight is lower and has a tendancy to cast right into your eyes. If you live in a climate where direct light from the north is too intense or harsh or hot then use window treatments like blinds or sheer curtains to control and diffuse your natural lighting. These help in colder climates also in insulating the room from the outside chill. Not liking shades or blinds? Use screens or large potplants to filter the light through.
If you are fortunate and have a larger work area to place your workspace and desk into, then check your orientation to the North. Most smartphones have compasses which can show you this information, and allow you to start off to place your desk well for natural light.
No windows or small windows in the wrong place? If you’re able, consider installing skylights overhead, or introduce a daylight or sunshine lamp into the officespace. You can now buy these with natural cycles of light. Crafters such as needleworkers and those who work with small detailed crafts have long appreciated the fact that daylight lamps allow them to focus and see tiny things much easier.
Avoid Shadows and Glare
After working out where your best (natural) light is coming from, your next step is to eliminate shadows and glare.
Never set your desk with your back directly to your windows as you’ll curse the glare or even the window reflections of light off your screens. And not just your screens. I love all the latest glass-top desks or the shiny white desk surfaces – many of these will also reflect back lights or harsh sunlight from windows.
Shadows are another element to consider. Overhead and task lighting can both eliminate or cause shadows. If you are placing a desk lamp for task lighting try it out in certain places on your desk – the correct placement depends on if you are right or left-handed and where your hand – or head and shoulders will cast their shadows.
General Ambient and Indirect Lighting
Home offices aren’t generally a place for mood lighting (unless you have the space for a sofa or a reading nook or even a library – all of which may be more cosy with some shadows and mood lighting).
Offices will profit from some general diffused light. Gone are the days of flourescent tube lights, but downlights, spotlights, tracklights and even pendants or wall-sconces can all work to fill the space with general ambient lighting.
Obviously watch where certain lights cast shadows or harsh glare. And just because you have ample ambient lighting in other areas of your home thanks to modern downlights, don’t consider the same lighting as being designed for home offices and studios. Just as you need ample overall lighting in a kitchen, you will need even more in places where you work to detail and for many more hours.
You should aim to provide soft and diffuse overall lighting and not work under concentrated hot spots of light. Lighting should be balanced across all of your workspace, and not form pockets of contrasting light and dark. Whilst task lighting (see below) is for getting the work done, the right ambient lighting creates the overall productive mood.
Tracklights and movable downlights allow you to train their light onto walls to bounce back and diffuse the spots. Pendants and hanging lights can be diffused with lampshades but these may add hanging shadows also. Or at a push, hook up some low floor lamps and train their lights onto the walls to bounce back and fill the area. Another way of filling the space is to install wall sconces which wash the walls with reflective light. Even trendy dark walls will provide some bounce of light, but not as much as lighter walls.
This brings up the point of your wall colour. Darker trendy wall treatments won’t bounce back as much light – that’s why when you paint your walls white you are said to be “lightening” the room. If your office space is small consider using white or light paint to open up and lighten the overall space. For those males who want a moody and masculine darker home office, consider how you are going to provide indirect ambient lighting for the room when it needs it.
Task Lighting
Most workspaces have certain work areas – like desks – where more concentrated lighting is needed. Task lights generally take the form of lamps – desk or floor lamps – the best are articulated and adjustable so that you can also orient them when you need direct lighting on other nearby tasks, or when the natural lighting entering the room has changed position to cause shadows.
Where you have multiple work stations, setup task laighting at each. Also for desk or table lamps, consider ones with dimmer switches – not all your tasks will need the same concentration of light.
In the tip for Natural Light I spoke about daylight or sunshine lamps. For artists and hobbyists who work in small detailed areas, having a natural lamp for task lighting assists eyesight. Artists and designers also are rewarded by seeing natural values in colours You can purchase hobbyist daylight lamps with attached swing-arm magnifiers which provide those with eyesight issues even further help in continuing with their work.
What do you do when you only have a tiny desk nook and work space is at a premium?
Many WFH spaces are now setup in nooks or small alcoves, or are in rooms with multiple functions meaning that the workspace itself may need to be cleared away. With these office spaces the desk space is often minimal and putting a lamp on it for task lighting is difficult.
The solution here is to turn to the walls and ceiling. Hang a diffused pendant or drop light above the desk, or have spot lights installed for ambient lighting. And for task lighting, put the lamp(s) onto the walls or use a clip lamp or similar. In fact many modern alcove offices have space for shelving above the desk. With backlit shelving or recessed lighting you have the best of both – ambient lighting overall in the space, and some feature or decorative lighting behind the shelves to boot. Shelving or recessed lights can also highlight the accessories on the shelves so choose your art pieces or books for display.
The Reading Space
The reading space is another case in point for special task lighting. Many writers in particular dream of having a lovely nook or even a wall of book shelves and the proverbial chesterfield leather armchair to snuggle up to with a book. For reading nooks – no matter their seating choice, think about using a floor lamp behind the seating to allow better visuals directed onto the book being read. If it’s one of those newer reading daybeds up against a window there will be great natural lighting during the day, but put in an overhead or wall-fixed articulated lamp for reading task lighting at night, or during rainy days.
Decorative or Accent Office Lighting
This is an area not obviously considered but it’s beneficial to include some decorative lighting elements for your mood or to make the officespace more livable or simply beautiful. Women have enjoyed fairy lights or candles for many years, but there are also several less feminine lighting features such as a neon wall sign or strip lighting which can be put underneath shelving or the desk. Decorative lights are there for their own form – you will appreciate looking at them when your eyes are tired from working.
Also take a look at introducing some battery powered lighting elements – tornado lamps or battery fairy lights. If you have a power cut but still must work, your computer laptop will often work for a few hours on battery, but you’ll also welcome clicking on that tornado lamp sitting on your shelf.
Finally accent lighting has the function to illuminate or focus on certain objects. Your office desk or workspace does not have to be the only focal point of your office. If you have a beautiful bookcase full of books, or a stunning art print on your wall, then use accent lighting to highlight and draw attention to it.
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