If your productivity has been flagging, you’ve been droopy-eyed at your desk and feeling a little headachey, it’s time to do something about it. Darkness should not (and will not!) dictate the quality of your work. You can solve the issue pretty promptly, we promise, as the solution is simple.

You heard it here first; the answer’s in your lighting scheme. How’s it looking right now? Perhaps you’ve only a measly ceiling light in the centre of your room, powered by a dreary bulb, paired with a novelty lamp on the windowsill. These features provide you with a baseline of light, allowing you to just about make out your keyboard and your coffee, but they don’t accommodate the specific tasks at hand, nor alleviate some of the strain that comes with staring at a screen all day. So, to revert back to your productive self who thrived through the sunlit summer, you need to surround your workspace with adequate lighting that prioritizes the maintenance of your energy, concentration and motivation. You may not know how to execute this yet, though, and that’s why we’re here to help. Follow our best home office lighting ideas below to get back on track.

Optimise The Natural Lighting

After the sun’s eventual rising and before its early descent, there’s a window of time during the day (and a literal window) you can exploit. Not only is natural lighting best for our eyes, it’s also entirely free! If you have the luxury of a window in your home office, make sure to position your desk as close to it as possible, allowing the light to fall where you need it most.

Employ Task Lighting

To illuminate all the happenings at your desk, such as back-to-back Zoom calls and important paperwork, we suggest you use task lighting. Task lighting requires a light source such as a desk lamp or floor lamp to direct focused light towards a specific area, enabling maximum visibility. If you have more than one workstation in your home office, make sure to equip each of these areas with office lamps, too. 

Desk lighting is a practical purchase, but it’s also a great way to establish an aesthetic at your desk. Colourful lamps add a pop of personality, and minimalist designs can serve to heighten your sense of professionalism. Choose a design that will make your desk your own — it’s another little boost that’ll make the working day feel brighter.

Keep Office Light Indirect

It’s likely that your office already has some overhead lighting, maybe a pendant or flush-mount fixture that casts an even spread of light over the room, an effect which is often termed ‘ambient lighting’. When this overhead light is teamed up with several sources of task lighting, you’re guaranteed some bright results. However, although we encourage you to keep this collab going, we’re slightly particular about the way overhead lights should be used. There’s nothing worse than the dazzling reflection of a light bulb on your laptop screen, a situation that’s likely to occur if your ceiling light hangs directly above your desk, without any form of filter. Luckily, this can be avoided. The trick is to find ways in which you can diffuse its output of light, easing the intensity of glare. One potential option is to envelop the bulb with a lampshade, which will soften harsh light and scatter it across the room. Alternatively, you can use a floor lamp to work from bottom to top, bouncing light off the walls and the ceiling.

Consider Decorative Lighting

As we’ve established, the most efficient home offices are illuminated by a soft flow of ambient lighting from above that’s diffused throughout the space below, alongside strong-headed task lighting with a focus on specific areas. For greater illumination (and some pizazz!), you may want to extend your lighting scheme to include accent lighting and decorative lighting. The former is embodied by wall lights, floor lamps and table lamps, and is used to highlight the favourite spots of a room, such as artworks and furnishings. The latter, decorative lighting, is normally provided by wall sconces, adding visual appeal to a room. Wall sconces are often defined by such elaborate designs that they’re worthy of accent lighting themselves. If you want to upgrade your home office, make it fresh and fancy, wall sconces will have you sorted at the flick of a switch.

Now you know what you need to lighten your workload, but you may not know where to get it. The houseof website would be a good start. We’ve all the light sources suggested above, available in a range of colour and styles to suit your aesthetic. Take a browse through now to kickstart the new working you.