Light up my life
December 5, 2019 10:31 AM Subscribe
I'd like to seriously up the indoor lighting game in my living room (maybe the bedroom too). What lamps do I need, and where should I put them? Bonus points if you tell me how I could incorporate smart bulbs into the mix for some extra fun.
The main floor of the house consists of the kitchen, and a combo living/dining room. We have living room stuff at one end and the dining table at the other. We have terrible ceiling fan mounted overhead light fixtures, that aren't going anywhere. I recently dragged a couple of ancient floor lamps (cheap shitty ones from my college days) up out of the basement, and it's a start, but I'd like something that doesn't suck.
Along the long wall is a couch, and at right angle to that are a couple of chairs (soon to be replaced by a loveseat). There's bookshelf in that corner of the room and a coffee table in the area in front of the couch. There's a divider wall opposite the couch with gaps for the entryway and to access stairs to the second floor and the TV is mounted on a cabinet in front of said divider wall. There is no second short side, it's open to the dining area. So there's really only one corner. We don't have any end tables, and the kids rampage around enough that tabletop lamps probably wouldn't be a good idea anyway.
I'd like options for ambient light in the evening without turning on the overhead lights, and reading (preferably more than one person should be able to read). And whatever other option I didn't think of because I'm so used to shitty light.
I'm not 100% committed to smart bulbs but I think they are fun; it might be fun to have some color optons in the living room. I have an ancient hue bulb in my bedside lamp and associated (first-gen) hub. We have an Echo and I wouldn't mind integrating with that ecosystem either. My husband dislikes having to interact with a device to switch lights on and off, though, and is likely to be recalcitrant about this plan unless it's easy for him to use. (He seems to be unbothered by the overhead lights and thinks the lamps are silly, but I've been much happier since putting them out. There's a TON of room for improvement, though.)
I suck at interior decorating, so specific lamp recommendations would be great. Would new Hue bulbs work with the ancient hub or would we need a complete replacement? What else should I know about evening lighting?
The main floor of the house consists of the kitchen, and a combo living/dining room. We have living room stuff at one end and the dining table at the other. We have terrible ceiling fan mounted overhead light fixtures, that aren't going anywhere. I recently dragged a couple of ancient floor lamps (cheap shitty ones from my college days) up out of the basement, and it's a start, but I'd like something that doesn't suck.
Along the long wall is a couch, and at right angle to that are a couple of chairs (soon to be replaced by a loveseat). There's bookshelf in that corner of the room and a coffee table in the area in front of the couch. There's a divider wall opposite the couch with gaps for the entryway and to access stairs to the second floor and the TV is mounted on a cabinet in front of said divider wall. There is no second short side, it's open to the dining area. So there's really only one corner. We don't have any end tables, and the kids rampage around enough that tabletop lamps probably wouldn't be a good idea anyway.
I'd like options for ambient light in the evening without turning on the overhead lights, and reading (preferably more than one person should be able to read). And whatever other option I didn't think of because I'm so used to shitty light.
I'm not 100% committed to smart bulbs but I think they are fun; it might be fun to have some color optons in the living room. I have an ancient hue bulb in my bedside lamp and associated (first-gen) hub. We have an Echo and I wouldn't mind integrating with that ecosystem either. My husband dislikes having to interact with a device to switch lights on and off, though, and is likely to be recalcitrant about this plan unless it's easy for him to use. (He seems to be unbothered by the overhead lights and thinks the lamps are silly, but I've been much happier since putting them out. There's a TON of room for improvement, though.)
I suck at interior decorating, so specific lamp recommendations would be great. Would new Hue bulbs work with the ancient hub or would we need a complete replacement? What else should I know about evening lighting?
I'm a big fan of non-overhead lighting to make living room cozy and give me light for reading. A few ideas for the couch area: you could put sconces on the wall behind the couch, perhaps one at each end; you could also scoot the couch out from the wall and put a narrow console table behind it; that can maybe hold a lamp, the remotes, etc.
If you don't want to do the console table, I suggest one floor lamp, perhaps an arc lamp, in front of the bookcase. You could then add another floor lamp (or end table and table lamp) to the non-corner end of the couch and maybe the other end of the future love seat. If you think you'll read mostly on the couch, the love seat lamp might not be necessary. Also, think about a floor lamp in the corner opposite the bookcase, if that's possible.
A stable, cheap table like the Ikea Lack with a tripod-style floor lamp could work at the non-corner end of the couch, maybe.
As for specific recommendations: this Wirecutter guide has some good suggestions.
You might find you want to turn off one or two of these lights when you watch tv because of the glare. Also, I wish I had tips about a partner un-enthusiastic about non-overhead lighting. I do not, but I hear your struggle. I did have a friend who had all his lights connected to his Alexa, so maybe that would work?
posted by bluedaisy at 11:18 AM on December 5, 2019
If you don't want to do the console table, I suggest one floor lamp, perhaps an arc lamp, in front of the bookcase. You could then add another floor lamp (or end table and table lamp) to the non-corner end of the couch and maybe the other end of the future love seat. If you think you'll read mostly on the couch, the love seat lamp might not be necessary. Also, think about a floor lamp in the corner opposite the bookcase, if that's possible.
A stable, cheap table like the Ikea Lack with a tripod-style floor lamp could work at the non-corner end of the couch, maybe.
As for specific recommendations: this Wirecutter guide has some good suggestions.
You might find you want to turn off one or two of these lights when you watch tv because of the glare. Also, I wish I had tips about a partner un-enthusiastic about non-overhead lighting. I do not, but I hear your struggle. I did have a friend who had all his lights connected to his Alexa, so maybe that would work?
posted by bluedaisy at 11:18 AM on December 5, 2019
Also! Maybe you know this, but if you get a table lamp, make sure it's the bigger kind, not a smaller desk lamp.
posted by bluedaisy at 11:22 AM on December 5, 2019
posted by bluedaisy at 11:22 AM on December 5, 2019
We have a goodly number of Hue smart bulbs in our main living areas. They're like potato chips. You get 1 or 2, then they're everywhere. One nice thing about them is that you're not enslaved to the app to turn a light on or off, which means guests can work the lamps. The colored Hues are great fun. We have them in our bedroom - they make great gradual-wake-up-to-light alarm clocks (using a schedule). I also like reading to a more yellowish-red light at night.
I have a Hue strip in my office that diffuses light to the ceiling (it sits atops some bookshelves) and it cuts over to a reddish color at sundown to warm the office.
We had them tied to an Alexa for awhile, but outside of the scheduled stuff, I use the Hue app, Siri shortcuts on my phone or voice command on the Apple TV remote to do stuff. Telling Siri to "set movie mode" turns off all the lights in the living room except for one off to the side, and it dims that to like 15%.
My advice would be to start with one of the starter kits - we used the Bridge + 2 White bulb version to sort of play around and then they took over. Keep a look out for deals, too. The colored bulbs are pricey, but sometimes there are good sales on Amazon.
posted by jquinby at 11:39 AM on December 5, 2019 [2 favorites]
I have a Hue strip in my office that diffuses light to the ceiling (it sits atops some bookshelves) and it cuts over to a reddish color at sundown to warm the office.
We had them tied to an Alexa for awhile, but outside of the scheduled stuff, I use the Hue app, Siri shortcuts on my phone or voice command on the Apple TV remote to do stuff. Telling Siri to "set movie mode" turns off all the lights in the living room except for one off to the side, and it dims that to like 15%.
My advice would be to start with one of the starter kits - we used the Bridge + 2 White bulb version to sort of play around and then they took over. Keep a look out for deals, too. The colored bulbs are pricey, but sometimes there are good sales on Amazon.
posted by jquinby at 11:39 AM on December 5, 2019 [2 favorites]
Would new Hue bulbs work with the ancient hub or would we need a complete replacement?
While new bulbs will work with your v1 hub, Phillips stopped adding new features for the v1 hub last year, and will terminate all security updates and cloud services next April, so you'd be stuck with using your phone or another local device. If you're going with Hue bulbs, I'd suggest buying a starter kit with a new v2 hub. The process to transfer to the new bridge is pretty seamless, and you can still use all your old bulbs.
posted by yuwtze at 11:50 AM on December 5, 2019
While new bulbs will work with your v1 hub, Phillips stopped adding new features for the v1 hub last year, and will terminate all security updates and cloud services next April, so you'd be stuck with using your phone or another local device. If you're going with Hue bulbs, I'd suggest buying a starter kit with a new v2 hub. The process to transfer to the new bridge is pretty seamless, and you can still use all your old bulbs.
posted by yuwtze at 11:50 AM on December 5, 2019
> Bonus points if you tell me how I could incorporate smart bulbs into the mix for some extra fun.
I have three over my kitchen bar, which is next to where we sit to watch TV. I like that I can have them on very dim, to help with the glare my glasses get from TV if I'm watching with no lights on at all. And because I got the colored ones my kids come up with different lighting palettes depending on what we're watching (e.g. the Avengers movies get white, red, blue; Baby Yoda gets light green, yellow, tan).
posted by The corpse in the library at 12:24 PM on December 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
I have three over my kitchen bar, which is next to where we sit to watch TV. I like that I can have them on very dim, to help with the glare my glasses get from TV if I'm watching with no lights on at all. And because I got the colored ones my kids come up with different lighting palettes depending on what we're watching (e.g. the Avengers movies get white, red, blue; Baby Yoda gets light green, yellow, tan).
posted by The corpse in the library at 12:24 PM on December 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
Hi, for gaming/watching with good ambient light you want what's called Bias Lighting. This isn't for reading or anything, it's for gaming/watching in low light. Essentially, it's lights that are behind your TV and reflect against the wall. This raises the overall light because your eyes measure how much to dilate by the overall light not by one specific point. This will let you see the darks/brights better and not hurt your eyes. It's very cheap but effective.
https://www.howtogeek.com/213464/how-to-decrease-eye-fatigue-while-watching-tv-and-gaming-with-bias-lighting/
I leave mine on during the day because during the day I just can't see it. Other people can help you with the smart lights, but you should absolutely spend the $15-20 on bias lighting in combination with whatever other lights you install. It's really, really helpful.
posted by OnTheLastCastle at 12:27 PM on December 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
https://www.howtogeek.com/213464/how-to-decrease-eye-fatigue-while-watching-tv-and-gaming-with-bias-lighting/
I leave mine on during the day because during the day I just can't see it. Other people can help you with the smart lights, but you should absolutely spend the $15-20 on bias lighting in combination with whatever other lights you install. It's really, really helpful.
posted by OnTheLastCastle at 12:27 PM on December 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
One thing that's nice to make a place feel well-lit is to have light sources at different heights. So some floor lamps, some wall lamps, some table lamps.
posted by number9dream at 12:32 PM on December 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by number9dream at 12:32 PM on December 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
As for reading lamps, you should put one to illuminate wherever anyone likes to sit to read. I do have a smart bulb that I control with my Echo, but it's in a hard-to-reach spot and its easier to speak to Alexa than to fiddle with the switch for it.
I mention this a lot on the green, but if your husband is recalcitrant about turning on/off lamps in favor of the overhead light, I might suggest old-school timers on your lamps. I have mine set to go on before I get home and turn off after I go to bed and vice-versa in the morning. I really dislike coming home to a dark house and this solves that problem for me. I don't have to touch them until the time change in the fall/spring.
posted by sarajane at 12:48 PM on December 5, 2019
I mention this a lot on the green, but if your husband is recalcitrant about turning on/off lamps in favor of the overhead light, I might suggest old-school timers on your lamps. I have mine set to go on before I get home and turn off after I go to bed and vice-versa in the morning. I really dislike coming home to a dark house and this solves that problem for me. I don't have to touch them until the time change in the fall/spring.
posted by sarajane at 12:48 PM on December 5, 2019
All I can say is that I'm a huge, huge fan of this hue dimmer switch. It is the only thing that has made my not-smart-lamp-inclined partner come to love my hue bulbs - he can still have the regular switch interface, but also it's a whole lot more capable than a regular wall switch (scenes, etc.) & it lets me use Hue in the ways I like to (timers, apps, voice control) without getting in the way of his more "traditional" preferences.
posted by mosst at 1:49 PM on December 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by mosst at 1:49 PM on December 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
I also like the dimmer switch because I can mount it anywhere I like! For example, we have one by our bed - which is so very nice to have.
posted by mosst at 1:52 PM on December 5, 2019
posted by mosst at 1:52 PM on December 5, 2019
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I find the diffuse bounce light to be really pleasant, and since the strips I use support warm and cool white, I can have bright daylight for a bit longer In these short days, and then fade over to warm light as I’m trying to go to sleep. High CRI is probably worth paying for in this application — I am seriously considering replacing my cheap strips with legit Yuji.
posted by Alterscape at 10:55 AM on December 5, 2019 [2 favorites]