Thousands of people across the country work from home on a daily basis, and if you’re one of them, then you know how important it is to have an organized, well-lit workspace. Even if you only work from home part of the time, you understand how beneficial it can be to have a comfortable place where you can focus on the task at hand. At Dulles Electric Supply in Sterling, we can help you find the latest home office lighting trends, from ceiling fans and overhead lights to desk and table lamps for appropriate task lighting.
Perhaps you’re setting up a home office for the very first time and you want to be sure you have lights in all the proper places. With the help of our showroom staff, you can select the right lights for every part of your office, creating a bright, functional space where you enjoy spending time each day.
Ambient Lighting Options
Many people, when setting up an office space, start with the overhead, or ambient, lighting. This fixture will provide the general illumination for the room, so it’s important to make sure it’s the right size and offers the right amount of lumens based on the square footage of the office. While you may think that you need bright fluorescent lights, as you would have in a commercial office space, there are many alternative options that can be just as bright as just as functional.
Your ambient lights should have bulbs with a color temperature between approximately 3500 Kelvin and 5500 Kelvin. Your overhead lights should offer bright, white light that’s conducive to productivity, and anything above or below the aforementioned color temperatures could end up being too cool or too warm, which can be detrimental to your daily workflow.
As for ambient lighting styles, you can go with a ceiling fan with a light kit, a pendant light, or even a small chandelier. You’ll want to make sure that the ambient light doesn’t create a shadow on your desk as you sit and work, and you can avoid this by having the light spread outward and upward throughout the room. You can also add recessed lighting around the perimeter of the room for additional ambient illumination, and these fixtures can help eliminate any unwanted shadows.
The Right Accent Lighting
Once you’ve selected your ambient lighting, you can look at accent lights for your new home office. These lights can include any table or floor lamps for the space, as well as any wall sconces you want to add. Accent lighting should illuminate the middle and lower layers of the room, helping it to feel more complete. These lights should also make the room more comfortable and inviting, and less like a traditional office space.
Your accent fixtures can also highlight any design features and decor inside the room. If you have a favorite paint color on one wall, your sconces can accentuate it and make it stand out. As for any paintings or photographs, you can illuminate them with track lighting or picture lights.
As for your table and floor lamps, they should be situated around the room to provide ample accent light whenever you need it. These fixtures can also act as task lights, which are very important in a home office setting.
Beneficial Task Lighting
Since most of the time you spend in your office is time spent working, you’ll need the right task lighting in order to get the most benefit out of the space. Your first priority should be to find the perfect desk lamp, since that’s the task light you’ll be using the most. You’ll want a lamp that’s the right size for your desk and that can be positioned where you want based on what you’re doing, whether it’s reading through documents or working on your laptop.
Your table and floor lamps are also task lights, and can be placed next to a chair or couch in the office. You don’t want to spend all of your time sitting at the desk, and it can be very beneficial to have a comfortable spot where you can relax for a short period of time while you read the news or scroll through social media.
You may not need a lot of task lighting in your home office, but having the right fixtures can make a noticeable difference. Our showroom staff will be more than happy to help you search for the perfect task lights.
Home Office Lighting Styles
As you’re setting up and creating your new home office, you might have certain design ideas in mind. You may have spent some time looking through examples online of modern home offices, and you want to emulate the lighting and decor styles that you viewed. If you have ideas on styles or trends that you’d like to incorporate into your home office, we can help you find the perfect options.
You might have a specific lighting style in mind, such as Art Deco or Industrial. You may want something ultra-modern, or you may want lights that fit a more traditional-looking office. If you’re creating an office with lots of shelves made of dark wood, with a large desk to match, we can provide plenty of lighting options that fit that style. If you’re striving for an office with more of a minimalist design, complete with clean lines and right angles, we can supply the ideal lights for that setting.
Home Office Lighting Controls
As with any room in your home, your office needs the proper lighting controls. It can make life much easier if you can control each light or set of lights through its own switch or dimmer, and we can offer guidance on which controls will be right for you. Your ambient lights should be on their own switch, with any recessed lighting on an independent control, such as a dimmer. Your wall sconces will be controlled via their own switch, as will any track lighting. Your lamps will obviously have their own independent controls, allowing you to turn them on or off whenever you need to.
When it comes to the placement of your light switches and dimmers, you can install them all on one panel near the office door, or place the switches closer to the fixtures they control. Having everything near the door can be more convenient, but if you want to turn the overhead lights on when you enter the room and then switch on the wall sconces through a control near your desk, that’s always an option. We can also show you what type of smart lighting controls can be integrated into your home office, such as voice commands and smartphone access.
Find Your New Home Office Lights Today
If you’re working on setting up a new home office, or you’ve been working from home for several years and are ready to upgrade your office lighting, come to Dulles Electric Supply today. We have years of experience and knowledge that we’ll put to use for you, helping you come up with the ideal home office lighting design and layout.
You can visit our showroom in Sterling Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.. You can also shop online 24 hours a day from the comfort of your own home by visiting our online catalog. If you have any questions about a certain light fixture or want to know more about a certain style, we’re always here to help. If you visit our showroom, be sure to ask about any current discounts or promotions.
At Dulles, our goal is to help every customer discover the perfect lighting for their home. If you want the very best in home office lighting trends, please contact or visit us today.
