Tips and Ideas For Lighting a Home Office

Lighting for a home office is an important element to consider when creating your workspace. Beyond productivity, quality lighting for a home office may aid in reducing eye fatigue and strain, while promoting a more productive environment.

In this article, we’ll take a look at the importance of home office lights, as well as how to properly incorporate them.

 

Why Is Home Office Lighting Important? 

Home office lighting can make or break the overall functionality and feel of your office. Prioritising home office lighting when designing the space can make it both more productive and aesthetically appealing.

Home office lights may also make the space more comfortable to be in, period. Quality office lights work well to reduce eye strain and fatigue. This is particularly important for home offices, since you’re already spending a lot of time staring at computer, phone and tablet screens. The blue light of screens and low lighting together can make it harder to see, and therefore harder to work.

An improvement in overall wellbeing may lead to an increase in the hours per day you are productive. Good lighting can keep you awake, alert and comfortable. At the same time, it gives you the option to do some extra work after hours when the natural light of day has disappeared.

How to Layer Lighting in Your Home Office 

Layering lighting is the process of adding ambient, accent and task lighting to a room. Each layer works with the other to create a well-lit space with balance and harmony. Lights for a home office can be layered as easily as they can be in any other room.

 

Ambient Lighting

Ambient lighting is the main source of light in the office. This usually comes in the form of office ceiling lighting, such as recessed lights, surface mounted lights or pendant lights. With your ambient lights in place, you can then supplement other layers of lighting to round everything out.

 

Task Lighting

The role of task lighting is to provide ample illumination for certain specific tasks. In the office, this usually means ambient desk lighting. Focused lighting in activity-based areas improves visibility and therefore your comfort.

 

Office desk lighting comes in many forms. Desk lamps, low hanging pendant lights and spotlights tend to work well. In your office, you should of course prioritise the actual area where you work when deciding where to place task lights.

 

Accent Lighting

With accent lights, you can add a little drama and charm to your space. Accent lights work well as decorative lighting fixtures and usually come in the form of picture lighting, and office wall lighting.

 

Beautiful accent lights can show off visually interesting areas of the home office. Usually, this includes accent walls or unique architectural elements. You can also light up any bookshelves or recessed storage units to give the room a nice glow.

 

Why Is Natural Light Important in a Home Office Space? 

Optimal lighting levels are beneficial in your office for many reasons. When it comes to natural light, it provides a whole suite of additional benefits, especially to your overall well being.

One of the biggest, and perhaps most surprising, draws to natural office lighting is in its ability to positively impact you, physically and mentally. Where natural light is concerned, it can have a real effect on your sleep, mood and productivity.

Most people tend to spend up to 90 percent of their time indoors, meaning their exposure to sunlight is lessened. By having more natural light pouring into the office, you can expose yourself to more vitamin D while you go about your work day.

Good lighting can also help keep your circadian rhythm in check. The circadian rhythm is the body’s way of regulating sleep and wake cycles. Improper exposure to lighting can throw this natural process off balance, leaving you feeling groggy and tired.

 

Advice on How to Position Lighting in an Office Area 

In order to create shadow free lighting, you need to know how and where to position your lights. This means ensuring plenty of ambient lighting for the foundation. With ample ambient light, you can avoid shadows almost entirely. Play it safe by supplementing with task lighting to ensure the work area itself is especially well-lit.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, you will also need to avoid glare. Position your lights in an indirect way in order to prevent the illumination from glaring against computer screens. Directional track lighting is a good choice here. Using them, you can position the lights to shine just behind the desk, or in a similarly indirect manner.

Wall mounted sconces can be placed around the room in even intervals to ensure consistent, balanced lighting. Any darker areas where the other light sources do not overlap as easily can benefit from the addition of wall lights.

 

How Much Light Does a Home Office Need?

A home office needs to have enough light that you can comfortably work without eye strain. The amount of appropriate light levels may look different for different offices, depending on size and other factors.

Generally, it is recommended that you have lights that provide between 300 and 500 lux–which translates to lumens per square meter. For task lighting, 750 lux or higher is ideal.

You can calculate exactly how many lumens you need by measuring the size of the room’s length by its width. This will give you the total square footage. Multiply that number by the recommended lux counts to determine how many lumens are necessary. Then, shop fixtures accordingly.

 

How to Choose the Right Colour Temperature for Home Office Lighting 

Colour temperature is a way to measure the coolness or warmth of a given light. It exists on a scale of kelvin units ranging from 1,000 to 10,000. At the top of the spectrum, you’ll find lights that are cooler, while lower kelvin ratings indicate warmer lights.

Generally speaking, warm white lights are the best for domestic applications. This is especially true in offices where eye comfort is a priority. Warm white light between 3000K and 3300K is usually the perfect range. This provides plenty of light to easily see by, without being overly bright.

That said, cool white light is ideal for those who want to get closer to natural lighting colour temperatures. Lights around 4000K provide a sunlight colour of illumination that can leave you feeling awake and alert.

What is The Best Lighting to Use For Computer Work? 

The best lighting for a home office is always going to be the light that makes it easier to work by. Besides choosing the best colour temperature for your needs and preferences, you should also prioritise the kind of light itself.

As mentioned, it’s important to have good task lighting at your desk. By supplementing with task lighting, you can offset some of the eye strain you might otherwise receive by relying solely on the blue light of your computer.

Furthermore, if your work revolves around graphic design, photography or video editing, light with a high CRI is preferred. CRI, or colour rendering index, indicates how well a light reflects the true colour of whatever it shines on. Lights with a good CRI of 80 or higher are recommended in home offices.

 

Why LED Lighting Is the Best Choice for a Home Office Environment 

LED lighting has a plethora of benefits that make it ideal for installation in home offices and beyond. These include:

 

• ENERGY EFFICIENCY. LED efficiency is perhaps the most famous benefit of this type of bulb. LED lights use 80 percent less energy than halogen or incandescent bulbs, which makes them eco-friendly. This is because LED lights do not need to first create heat to generate illumination the way traditional bulbs do.

 

• LONG LIFE. Since LED bulbs use less energy, they are going to last longer. Where traditional bulbs typically only make it 1,000 hours or so, LED bulbs last into the tens of thousands.

 

• COST-EFFECTIVE. With your lights consuming less energy, you may notice a positive impact on your energy bills; you’ll spend less on the cost of your lighting, which can translate to big savings over time. Beyond that, te long life promises fewer replacements. This will also help you save money by reducing your purchases of new bulbs.

 

• VERSATILITY. LED home office lighting comes in a huge range of colour temperatures, CRI indexes and lumen counts. This allows you to stay in control of the customisation of your office lights.

Home Office Design Tips 

Home office lighting design doesn’t have to be as tricky as it seems. Have some tips on how to easily incorporate home office light fixtures into your space below.

 

• CONSIDER THE OFFICE LIGHTING LAYOUT. Before starting to plan your designs, take a moment to figure out what areas of the office you want to light alongside the ambient lighting. Focus on task-based areas such as desks and filing cabinets before all else. Then, consider what accent lights you want to add, and where.

 

• HAVE ENOUGH SPACE. Make sure your home office offers plenty of room to work comfortably. Have a spacious desk with a lot of lighting to give you ample room to do your job.

 

• LIGHT UP STORAGE. By adding accent and task lights to your shelves and cabinets, you can more easily find files and other items of import while working.

 

• IMPROVE AESTHETICS. For most people, work isn’t the most exciting time of the day. Even so, you can improve your experience in the office with just a few design tweaks. Transform it into a place you love to be by including decorative lights that bring personality to the room. Consider adding in unique focal points in the office to enhance the overall visual experience.

 

How Does Good Lighting Help to Reduce Eye Strain And Tiredness? 

Quality home office light fixtures can make or break the comfort of your office. Plenty of light, especially natural lighting, can reduce eye strain by limiting shadows that might otherwise cause you to squint. Since you will be able to see more easily, you are less likely to experience eye strain.

Good office lighting can also help prevent eye fatigue. Staring at your computer screen all day long can cause negative effects due to the blue light. Supplement the light of your computer with warm white lights from desk lamps and ceiling lights to counteract them and promote better visibility.

 

Conclusion 

You spend a lot of time in your home office, and you deserve for it to be a comfortable and productive space. Above, we’ve offered information on the importance of home office lighting, as well as how to bring it to your personal office.

 

Home Office Lighting Ideas

 

1. LSP227 9 Watt Slim Style LED Track Light

Take control over the direction of your home office lighting with the LSP227 9 Watt Slim Style LED Track Light. This track light generates 720 lumens of your choice of cool or warm white light. This range of colour temperatures makes the fixture and ideal choice for task lighting across the various sections of the office. It is fashioned out of durable aluminium that has been given your choice of a black or white finish. This slimline fixture measures 146 millimeters by 105 millimeters in size, making it easy to install anywhere.

 

2. LDC725 10 Watt Dimmable Recessed Anti Glare LED Downlight

Shine ample ambient lighting in your office with the LDC725 10 Watt Dimmable Recessed Anti Glare LED Downlight. A sleek, modern ambient light, this fixture features five bulbs that produce a combined output of 1000 lumens of illumination. This ultra bright light has a 3000K warm white colour temperature, which is gentle on the eyes while being clear enough to see. It is built to last from durable aluminium finished in white with a black internal reflector ring. Overall, the fixture measures 148 millimeters in length.

 

3. LWA387 5 Watt Hexagonal Interior LED Wall Light

Perfect for accent lighting, the LWA387 5 Watt Hexagonal Interior LED Wall Light is a stylish sconce option for any modern office. It generates 430 lumens of 3000k warm white light, casting a pleasant glow across the office. Thanks to its unique wall washing effect, it casts illumination back onto the wall behind it, giving it a decorative touch. Built to last out of premium aluminium, it will outlast years of use. Choose from a black or white finish to suit your preferences.

 

4. Leon 12 Watt 450mm Wide Brushed Silver LED Wall Light

Ideal as both task lighting and ambient lighting, Leon 12 Watt 450mm Wide Brushed Silver LED Wall Light. This wall light is extra bright, outputting 1200 lumens of 3000k warm white light. It measures 450 millimeters in width, providing a larger wash of illumination across the immediate area. This fixture is built to last from premium materials, complete with a brushed aluminium finish and opal acrylic covers on both the top and bottom.