How to light a home office (and other office design FAQs)

You’ve finally got your very own home office. Congratulations! Now comes the most exciting and, sometimes most nerve-wracking, step. Lighting and decorating a space can be a huge undertaking – here are some tips and products you can rely on to help transform your home office into a productive and comfortable space. 

Home office lighting tips and tricks 

Create a productive workspace with the following tips for optimal home office lighting. 

Maximize natural lighting 

If you have a choice in which room functions as your home office, a smaller room with large windows makes for a perfect home office space. Natural light can be a great mood booster during working hours, helping to keep you alert and focused. 

However, even if this isn’t your setup, there are plenty of ways to maximize the natural lighting in your office. Mirrored, glass-covered, and lighter-colored surfaces reflect natural light more than darker, textured surfaces. An office painted a darker shade will appear to have less light than one with wooden furniture or brighter, minimalistic surfaces – even if the two spaces have identical lighting. Keep this in mind as you decorate, and opt for lighter shades of furniture and paint if your home office is lacking in natural light. 

Arrange furniture carefully 

If you’re lucky enough to have a home office with a sunlit window, make sure to position your desk appropriately. 

Choose a spot where your workspace will benefit from the window’s natural light, but that doesn’t place your desk immediately in front of the window. If you’re going to be video-conferencing (or have a glossy monitor screen), sitting directly in front and facing away from a bright window will lead to poor video quality. Your webcam camera will likely not be able to adjust the bloom from the window’s light and will over-darken your face over video. Plus, excess sunlight will likely cause glare on your screen – far from ideal. 

Instead, place your desk (or primary workstation) near to – but not directly in front of – your main light source. 

Add task lights for focused work 

Task lighting can improve the productivity potential of your space and help you work comfortably at all times of the day – no sunlight required! Whether you have space for a desk lamp or need a more compact solution, there are plenty of options available for you to choose from. 

A desk-seated task lamp can add a stylish statement to your working space. Versatile and reliable, getting yourself a quality desk lamp gives you a reliable companion for those long hours working through dim days and nights. Check out the Analog Task Light, designed by Chris Granneberg of Long Beach, California. With a unique and playful design manufactured entirely out of eco-friendly materials, this piece will be sure to impress anyone who manages to catch a glimpse of it over the conference call.

If you need to conserve your desk space, consider adding LED strips to the underside of shelves or investing in clamping lights, such as the Gallery Clamp Light designed by Andrew Ferrier. Simply secure firmly to any surface, such as a shelf ledge, to get adjustable and convenient lighting in a pinch. Wall lights can also be beneficial to those who need every inch of their desk space available. A great choice we recommend is the Fold Wall Light, designed by Teixeira Design Studio of Viana do Castelo, Portugal. Combining beautifully diffused and eye-catching mood lighting above, with focused task lighting underneath. 

Eliminate glare 

Glare can be seriously distracting throughout the day, especially during those crucial end-of-day crunches when the sun beams directly into your window. This is why it’s important not to have your computer monitors directly facing the sunlit window, as mentioned earlier.

Some ambient or accent lights can be too bright for the space they’re in, which makes your bulb choice just as important as the lights you fill your space with. Using high-quality bulbs and shades will make your home office a more pleasing, pleasant space to work within. Check out Gantri’s stunning selection of museum-quality LED lighting solutions to find your inspiration for your perfect home office. Offering ambient, accent, and task lighting solutions with a warm, soothing glow to perfect your space.

How to design a home office that sparks joy  

Designing your home office will be a personally creative process, so get ready to have some fun and experiment! Up next will be some fantastic tips to allow anybody to create a perfect space to be enjoyed for years to come.

Inspire productivity through creative design

You should love the space you work in, so why not invest in lighting and designs that you’re going to enjoy? Paint the walls with your favorite colors or hang up your best and brightest artwork. It’s certainly more pleasing to catch as your gaze occasionally drifts out from working (it happens to the best of us!) 

Check out some of the creative and unique lighting designs available at Gantri, and you can even make your lighting a work of art. Embrace sculptural beauty with the Baltra Lantern Floor Light, designed by Kickie Chudikova in Brooklyn. This designer piece is a bright and bold statement that can provide balanced and joyful ambient lighting for your entire office.

Prioritize an ergonomic desk setup

No slouching! Seriously, if you’re going to be spending up to seven hours of your day sitting in a chair you really shouldn’t skimp. Find a chair that will support your back and prevent spine pain in the future. You’ll thank yourself later. And don’t forget to give yourself space between your eyes and your monitor screen. Being too close to the monitor can impair your eyesight over time.

A smaller desk is more space-economical, it’s certainly true, but you should consider finding yourself a wider desk where you can fit multiple work areas. A desktop computer, a laptop, and enough room to write on paper will drastically change the amount of multi-tasking you’re able to do. It’s a tradeoff to consider with the needs of both your space’s available room and how much work you want to be able to comfortably do on a single surface. 

Create multiple work zones  

The human mind tends to run on both habit and routine. Did you know that if you tend to work in your bed, then you will likely be getting less sleep than somebody with a dedicated workspace? You might not realize it, but your brain is ready to work in the area where you most frequently get work done. That’s why having multiple work zones can improve our mood and productivity so we don’t feel so “stuck” in a single area.

So mix things up! You could set up a specific area with great lighting exclusively for video conferencing calls, a comfy chair for reading, or maybe a standing desk for lighter work to keep you more active throughout the day.

Match your home office design to your work style

One of the benefits of having and decorating your very own home office is escaping the uniformity of cubicle workspaces, so match your office design to your working style. Not everyone works best at a single desk or sitting for long periods, so take the initiative to design a space that works for you.

Standing desks are becoming increasingly popular for their health benefits, particularly for individuals with joint pain or chronic illness. Consider opting for an adjustable option for flexible working, or create multiple desk zones to switch between for different tasks. 

Stunning sustainable home office lighting 

When designing a home office, oftentimes our biggest limits can be our own imaginations. We hope we’ve sparked some new ideas for you to create a memorable and productive space you can enjoy no matter the season or weather. If you’d like to learn about eco-friendly designer light pieces check out Gantri’s extensive library of bespoke, design-forward lighting solutions.