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Home Office Lighting

In today’s mobile work environment, home offices are becoming increasingly common. Like traditional offices, the home office must be versatile and easily adaptable to the changing needs of its occupants. The home office stands in stark contrast to traditional office environments, however, in that it is part of your home and thus must meet different expectations for style and beauty.

Unfortunately, home office lighting is often overlooked or at least given low priority as work starts to pile up. As backs ache, more attention is typically given to the right desk and chair but eye strain-induced headaches may go on for years before something is done. Before you settle in to a daily work routine, give your office lighting some thought. Lighting directly affects comfort and performance and properly managing light levels in the room will reduce fatigue and stress on your eyes.

Typical Home Office Lighting
Most home offices are illuminated by 1) whatever overhead light was in the room previously and 2) a single desk lamp. This is not ideal. It’s not even comfortable. So why do most home offices end up this way? The answer is simply “Because that’s the way my old office was illuminated so it must be ideal.” Really? Do you think your old office environment was ideally configured for optimum lighting? More likely, it was illuminated in the least expensive way possible; fluorescent overhead fixtures and a cheap incandescent desk lamp.

Office work is eye-intensive. It requires quality light. Proper lighting is perhaps the most critical element in home office design but it remains one of the most overlooked while being one of the least expensive to fix.

How to Light your Office
Lighting is broadly classified in one of three functional categories:general lighting, task lighting, and accent lighting. General lighting provides an equal distribution of light across an area (think overhead fixtures). Task lighting helps perform specific functions or task. Accent lighting is used to highlight, showcase or soften contrast in specific areas. Although most spaces benefit from a balance of the three types of lighting, the home office will be largely focused on task lighting. If, however, your home office is used for meeting with clients, you will need more general and accent lighting to create a comfortable space (see below.)

Anyone that reads at their desk should have a desk lamp that uses a quality bulb. Choosing a desk lamp is a topic in itself, but, at a minimum, look for a lamp with a counterweighted support system and a halogen bulb light source.