Harsh overhead lights in my home (and everywhere) have become the bane of my existence now that daylight saving time is in full swing. Anyone else? That extra hour of darkness in the late afternoon/early evening makes us all even more reliant on artificial light. And if it’s not a moody lamp, I don’t want it!
Apparently, I’m
not alone: Last week, The Guardian
published a piece on the topic. The first line is: “Everyone hates overhead lights.”
Here’s a little cheat sheet of resources to immediately address way harsh lighting in the home, should you need it. The alternate title for this list is: “The only things keeping me sane right now are…”
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Dimmers: Dimmer switches allow you to crank down existing light fixtures from a SHOUT to a
whisper. Big credit to my husband for asking our friends at
Common Ground Electrical to install a bunch of these in our home years before I realized my aversion to bright overhead lights. I have on relatively good authority that you can DIY this if you're a little handy: I'm gearing up to install a dimmer switch in my offensively-lit office and will report back.
Smart LED bulbs: You can turn literally any lamp or sconce into a dimmable light that you control on your phone by swapping in a smart bulb, allowing you to adjust the intensity and hue (I love a sunset-colored cast). You can even put them on a schedule to automatically turn on and off when you need them most. Basically, smart bulbs turn any lamp into a
Loftie, for a fraction of the price.
Layered lighting: At least
three different sources of light per room seems to be the magic number, which can include floor and table lamps (perhaps a task light for your office) or a plug-in sconce. This doesn’t have to be an expensive endeavor, either: I just scooped this
$30 orb light from IKEA as part of my office lighting overhaul. Schoolhouse has a
great guide on this topic for further reading.
