Brighten Up Your Home Office Smartly With These Lighting Tips

Working from home has become a new reality for most of us out there. It may be out of choice due to a flexible work environment, or it may be mandatory too. Either way, a home office has become an extremely important part of a living space over recent years. Gone are the days when we could simply turn a corner of our home into a temporary workspace, and it is simply not advisable to do that now since you would be spending a lot of time working. Also, you definitely wouldn’t want to fall victim to potential health hazards like eye strain, fatigue, back pain and more. We’re not trying to terrify you of the new norm but only trying to convince you that a makeshift office is not a long-term solution. You need a separate office space in your home that is comfortable and boosts your productivity at the same time.

When you think about designing your home office, you’ll definitely have a big checklist to get through with. Anybody would start by investing heavily in a good-looking and functional desk, an ergonomic chair and a laptop. But we’re here to tell you that without proper illumination, you will pose a bigger threat to your health than the hazards we just told you about a little ago. Many of us still believe that office lighting is all about functionality and it only has to do with your focus and productivity, and that is absolutely not true. Your home office lighting set-up will require much more attention than any part of your living space because of the intricacies involved. You’ll need perfect task lighting around your workspace, and then you’ll also need good ambient lighting for all those countless conferences and also to lower the impact of reading or staring at the screens for long periods of time.

Your home office could use a well-designed layered lighting layout rather than sticking to a couple of lighting designs that you think fit the bill. However, we’ll delve a little deeper into it and tell you what your home office lighting should truly look like. The White Teak Company brings to you a mindfully created list of lighting tips that would change the way you look at your home office forever. It’s not all about the aesthetics, functionality or making a statement with lighting, it’s about making a space for yourself where you can be comfortable and, in turn, boost your productivity.

Here are the five things you need to think about when you design your home office.

#1 Desk Lamps Are Your Best Friends

Before going to other parts of your home office, we’ll consider your desk first. You will carry out most of the focus-intensive tasks at your desk, and it’ll also involve a lot of work on the laptop and paperwork too. The purpose of this space is pretty well-defined, and what you really need here is a versatile task lighting fixture. And what’s better than a desk lamp?

• A desk lamp is simply the best lighting fixture primarily because it doesn’t occupy much area and gives you enough space to place your gadgets, documents and more.

• A desk lamp is an extremely versatile lighting fixture, especially if it’s an adjustable or articulated one. You can adjust the lighting fixture are direct its light exactly where you want it. A desk lamp will help you carry out a variety of tasks.

• Consider going with a smart desk lamp to customise the lighting on your desk further. A smart desk lamp will help you switch colour temperatures in no time. You can use cool light to mimic daylight if there’s no natural light in your space. Or you can use a warmer temperature when you choose to work late hours as it is easier on your eyes.

Another tip that will go a long way is to place the desk lamp on the opposite side of your dominant hand. That will reduce shadows when you are reading, writing or typing on your desk.

#2 Eliminate Undue Glare With Indirect Lighting

Your desk might house more than one screen, and it will automatically create that annoying glare. What you need to counter that glare is more lighting designs around your desk. These lighting designs will not only add to the overall illumination of your office but also reduce contrast making it easy for your eyes. In the end, it’s all about having good general lighting in your office so that you don’t strain your eyes from both the glare from the screens and the lighting fixtures.

• The best way to reduce the contrast around your desk is to go with a hanging light. A pendant light would be perfect for your space, as a chandelier might get too bright for your office. The pendant light should ideally be hung 30-36 inches above the desk to illuminate your desk well. A pendant light is an excellent choice if attending video conferences is a frequent task for you.

• The next best thing for your space would be placing a floor lamp around your desk. A floor lamp diffuses enough light to eliminate any shadows that other task lighting designs create around your workspace. The floor lamp ensures that there’s enough illumination in the space to ease your eyes.

• And a desk lamp is a must to complete the lighting layout, as we already told you before. And a desk lamp effortlessly completes the layered lighting layout of your space.

One other thing that will definitely help you is placing or tilting all these lighting fixtures towards the wall so that soft light bounces back into the room. This is an effective way to add general lighting to your workspace. Another thing to ensure while designing the lighting layout of your workspace is that you don’t place any light source behind you. That will only create more shadows and glare in front of you.

#3 Utilize Natural Light

There’s nothing better than natural lighting coming into your home office from a window or any other place. Natural lighting has countless benefits, and it will beautifully illuminate your space too. The best way to determine how to utilise natural lighting in your workspace is to watch the sun’s movement across the space during the day. You may notice that the natural light is overwhelmingly bright at some times of the day, or there’s too much glare on certain surfaces and your screens.

Positioning your workstation next to the source of natural light in your room is the best way to utilise it. This way, you don’t just eliminate the glare and shadows but also don’t block the outside view on your side. You can complement natural lighting with artificial lighting in your space at any point in the day. You can also position your desk facing north or south so you don’t have any shadows in the space at any point in time. This setting can effortlessly and effectively boost your mood throughout the day.

#4 Harmonise Lighting With Your Office’s Decor

What happens when the lighting fixtures, the design styles, the tonality, the textures and the hues of your home office are in sync? It results in a gorgeous space that is not just functional but elegant at the same time. We have been talking about the functionality of the space way too much, and it’s now time to focus on the aesthetics too.

You can create a beautiful home office with bespoke decor and experience that sense of bliss whenever you enter the space. When the lighting fixtures in the space harmonise with the colour palette and the design style of the room, it can add an opulent touch to your office space and also be really pleasing to the eye at the same time. You don’t just create an office space that way but rather set a statement.

To create harmony in the space, you can have a repetition of colours, materials and textures and believe us when we say that it won’t look as bland as it sounds. The result will be office space that is sophisticated yet subtle.

#5 Use Bias Lighting Or Similar Ambient Lighting

Now that we have the entire lighting layout figured out, let’s take a step back and get back to the desk. If you’re not familiar with bias lighting, allow us to explain. It is basically placed behind your computer monitor or a similar screen to exude a soft, subtle light to reduce the contrast between the brightness of the screen and the illumination in the space around you.

LED strip lighting is the perfect way to achieve bias lighting, as you can directly attach it behind your screens to get the desired effect. There are a number of bias lighting designs you can use for your space. There are monocoloured bias lighting fixtures, then there are multicoloured fixtures that offer a couple more colours, and then there are smart bias lighting fixtures that automatically adjust and mimic the colours on your screen.

Bias lighting, no doubt, will look gorgeous in any kind of setting. But apart from the aesthetic advantages, bias lighting will do more for you than you can think of. Bias lighting lends uniformity to the surrounding light levels and creates a comfortable contrast eliminating all possibilities of rapid eye fatigue.

Head on to our homepage to feast your eyes on some of the finest luxury lighting designs you’ve ever laid your eyes on. Also, keep an eye out on this space for more such tips and tricks to transform your beautiful abodes.