4 Steps to Home Office Lighting That Works

With the surge in the past year of people working from home, it’s become essential to ensure that you have a comfortable and well-organized home office space to make your work hours as comfy and productive as possible.

One often overlooked aspect of this is proper office lighting. Bad or insufficient lighting isn’t just unpleasant to look at: it can actually strain your eyes, make staying on task difficult, and even interfere with your sleep patterns.

In order to help you make your work hours as effective as they can be, we have prepared a 4-step guide on how to optimize the lighting in your home office.

Here’s how to do it:

Step #1: Take advantage of natural light

Artificial lighting simply isn’t easy on the eyes, nor does it match the simple beauty of natural light. For this reason, many of the best commercial offices are built with atriums, skylights, and large windows that bathe the interior space in soft daylight.

When positioning your desk, try your best to put it near a window with a relaxing view. Just be mindful of where the sun will be coming from: the last thing you want is for sunlight to blind you or fall directly on your computer screen creating awful glare and obstructing functionality.

Step #2: Task lighting is a must

You’ll almost certainly need some sort of directed light in your home office. Adding an adjustable lamp or two is by far the easiest way to go about this. If your setup allows it, you can also include recessed and under-cabinet lighting.

If you want to go for an especially modern approach, consider adding LED strips to certain parts of your work desks (such as on the underside of floating shelves) to illuminate the surfaces below them.

Step #3: Mixing things up is never a bad idea

Our bodies are naturally accustomed to light changes. When you spend long hours in an artificially illuminated room with static light, it can sometimes mess with your body’s natural clock.

A great way to avoid this problem and make things feel a little more varied is to add adaptable lamps or light that changes based on the specific time of day. Since looking at bright blue light (such as from a phone screen) can make it difficult to fall asleep, it’s highly advised that you limit your exposure to this type of light during the evening hours and take advantage of filters and blue light blocking glasses that can aid in avoiding it.

Step #4: Comfort is key

Since you’re typically going to be spending 8 hours (or more) per day, 5 days a week, in your home office, it really pays to make that office as pleasant as possible. In addition to a well-sized desk and a comfy chair that helps you maintain a good posture, you may also want to consider adding some great lighting.

Wall sconces, accent lights, pendants, and lamps can all be used to boost a room’s comfort and mood level. For example, illuminating a bookshelf with some library sconces is a fantastic way to increase your comfort level and make your home office feel more professional.

Where can I find the top home remodeling experts in San Diego?

Are you looking to expand your living space by building a modern and brightly painted home office on your property? Or perhaps you want to breathe new life into your ceilings or beautify your bathroom with wood elements?

Whatever your home renovation project may be, you can’t go wrong by giving Lars Remodeling & Design a call. With more than 28 years of industry presence, we’re superbly equipped to meet your every home remodeling need. Reach out to us today!