3 Smart Lighting Design Ideas for Home Offices

Telecommuting is nothing new, as the computer and high-speed internet made it a relatively painless proposition over the past two decades. In the past ten years or so, the maturing of cloud application and communication platforms made it even easier to work from home, and many employers encouraged and supported it on a part-time basis.

Of course, we don't have to mention here how the COVID-19 crisis has pushed working from home into hyper-speed overdrive. After all, before this pandemic, when did you ever see Saturday Night Live skits about Zoom meetings? While working from home is not without its many challenges, many think that companies large and small will be seriously rethinking their workforces, with telecommuting becoming far more prevalent for many information workers.

So, what do you need to work from home effectively? Besides the things you might think about – a distraction-free space, comfortable and ergonomic furniture, and a good equipment setup – have you thought about the lighting? Good lighting makes for a pleasant space to work, while poor lighting can lead to fatigue and a lack of productivity, and you may not even know why. Here are three tips that residential lighting design experts recommend to ensure your Alpharetta, GA home office is a happy and productive workplace.

SEE ALSO: Four Deadly Sins of Residential Lighting and How to Atone for Them

Let There Be Natural Light

A big challenge in commercial office spaces is drawing in enough natural light. The best use large windows, skylights, and other design features to bring the daylight inside. As much as possible, configure your home office to maximize light from windows. One trick is to face the window, rather than position the desk facing the entrance to the room or space. If glare is an issue, consider adding motorized shades or window treatments. You can have your shade position itself automatically to maximize the light at different times of the day.

For more natural illuminating, consider tunable lighting fixtures. Tunable LED lighting can mimic the color temperature and intensity of natural sunlight, creating an energizing environment in the height of the day and a more relaxing one as the workday winds down. And you can program all of this into your smart home or lighting control system so you can focus on your work.

Light the Task at Hand

Aside from ambient light, you need direct and indirect light over work areas for your daily work. If you have bookshelves, LED lighting strips under shelves and cabinets add elegant and useful light. A proper desk lamp will provide appropriate illumination for reading. Also, consider a different chair or small sofa in your office for a change of seating venue - you don't need to be chained to your desk. Ensure that the lighting away from your desk, like a table or floor lamp, can also easily brighten or dim to enable reading and working with your laptop or tablet.

Add Comfort

Can lighting add comfort? Of course. Warm light from sconces, pendants, or lamps can set the mood in your workspace, even if that space doubles as something else in your home after hours. There's no need for only cold, overly bright overhead lighting. Carefully layered lighting makes you comfortable over long periods and reduces the chance of fatigue and irritation throughout a long workday.

GHT Group recently added residential lighting design services because lighting is such an essential piece of home technology. Let us help you illuminate your life with the latest and best in lighting technology.  We invite you to visit our Marietta showroom, contact us here, or click the chatbox below to quickly connect with us. We look forward to working with you!