Lighting plays a pivotal role in defining every room of the house.
One of the things you notice about some techno-addicts who are hooked onto their laptops, iPads and smartphones is the way they deliberately avoid any hint of natural sunlight. If you did not know better, you would be tempted to believe that these folks are long-lost cousins of Count Dracula! But in reality, natural light is not such a bad thing if you know how to use it in the right fashion. Yes, glossy surfaces can be a problem at times, but try and usher in natural light in a controlled fashion and ensure that in blends in beautifully with artificial illumination.
A poorly lit home office can be demoralizing and can affect your mood and hurt your vision in the long run. But these inherently simple and smart ‘must dos’ help in revamping your home office and seeing it in a whole new light
If you are not blessed with ample natural light, then artificial lights become twice as important, as you will be using them even during the day.
Lighting is all about playing with white, and a large part of how you use natural light depends on what task your home office serves. If you are an architect or a designer who works more on sheets and paper instead of tech gadgets, then a flood of natural light is a welcome addition. A smart decision here is to align your workstation in the north or south directions so that natural light does not create a shadow during any time of the day!
If you are not blessed with ample natural light, then artificial lights become twice as important, as you will be using them even during the day. Overhead lighting forms the most basic part of ambient lighting, and most often, you already have lights in the house that take care of the job. But here is where many homeowners make the mistake of sticking with what they have. The existing ambient lighting was not designed to serve a home office. So, think about additional sources of illumination to add to the ambient light.
Task lights are undoubtedly the most essential part of the home office, and no matter what your job is, task lighting ensures that you get it done under the best possible illumination.
With a variety of trendy modern lamp designs around, you can pick from an amazing array of table lamps that offer focused illumination and do so with a dimmer option as well. Not all tasks require the same intensity of light, so this feature helps in more ways than one. But do not think of task lights as a flood of concentrated illumination to make the space brighter.
An interesting fact that many homeowners miss is that task lights help in giving a ‘better contrast’ to your reading experience. Since most of us have to put up with plenty of reading in the home office, a simple table lamp can reduce the strain on your eyes and make the experience a lot more convenient. This is precisely why you need a task light no matter how good the ambient lighting is!
