Lighting Guide
Home office
Lighting Guide | Home Office
As working from home becomes the norm, a home office carved out in a separate room, a section of the kitchen counter, or a cozy corner in the living room all serve as workspaces. These areas demand careful attention to lighting to stave off visual strain, headaches, or fatigue during extended use.
Striking the right balance is essential, ensuring both comfortable illumination for the work area and seamless integration into the home's decorative style. Incorporating dimming controls and/or alternative lighting fixtures could offer effective solutions.
Enhance visual comfort, stay attentive, and boost productivity through well-designed functional lighting, all while maintaining the comforting "at-home" ambiance.
Functional lighting
Ensure a satisfactory level of illumination on the work surface, along with even lighting (without shadows). The standard is around 500 lux, although 300 lux might suffice for some individuals.
- Complement this with surrounding lighting: it shouldn't be as intense as the task lighting but should avoid creating high contrasts with very dark walls (which can lead to eye strain).
- Incorporate dimming capability, as lower intensity is usually required during evenings.
- Choose a comfortable and dynamic color temperature. In residential settings, a warm white at 3000K blends better than a cooler neutral white at 4000K, often seen in office environments. Some fixtures offer color temperature variations (ranging from 6000K to 2700K), ideal for accommodating individual preferences.
- Invest in a luminaire specifically designed for workspaces, featuring controlled glare to prevent screen reflections (UGR index <19) or effective indirect lighting (where the light source isn't visible).
- Utilize a satisfactory color rendering index (CRI), starting from 80. For professions involving graphics, crafts, etc., it's better to have a CRI >90.
- Position your workspace according to natural light sources to avoid screen reflections, casting shadows on your work surface, and sun glare.
Residential solutions
DESKTOP TABLE LAMP: Embrace a world of choices and decorative potentials, all while staying attuned to the considerations highlighted earlier. The focused illumination on your workspace should harmonize seamlessly with the ambient lighting around it.
"FREE-STANDING" LIGHT FIXTURE: Elevate your workspace with a tall floor-standing luminaire. It offers consistent, comfortable, and intense illumination for one or two desk surfaces, complete with dimming capabilities. Simultaneously, this fixture creates a pleasing ambient glow through indirect diffusion towards the ceiling. Its mobile, plug-and-play design ensures convenience without requiring any structural alterations to your space.
LINEAR PENDANT LIGHTS FOR DESK: These fixtures ensure even, beautiful illumination over the work surface while adding a decorative and airy touch to the room. Some can be paired with indirect lighting or small spotlights to enhance the overall lighting ambiance.
DIFFUSED INDIRECT ILLUMINATION: If your desk is against a wall, consider incorporating indirect lighting from a ceiling cove, upper cabinet, or a linear up/down wall sconce. This approach not only frees up workspace but also adds a subtle, inviting glow to the environment.
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Copyright LampTwist | Guide to residential lighting - Written and illustrated by Aurore Renard - www.aurore.studio