r/HomeLibraries • u/healing_peaces • 21d ago
Lighting, help?!
Just got my very own library space after a move and I want to add some aesthetic ambient lighting. There is a ceiling light but it really acts as a spotlight. My husband is suggesting LED Light strips along the ceiling, I'm thinking fairy lights.. What would you do??
(curtains and a better side table are on their way)
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u/-SirBaphomet- 21d ago
LED lights hurt my eyes after awhile. Especially when I’m reading. I prefer the old school yellow looking lights or if I do have LED, it changes colors. Fairy lighting is cool, if you have enough they could light the whole room and be cute, especially if you read fantasy stuff!
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u/CalligrapherStreet92 21d ago
Lighting a space can be misled through the term lighting a space. You want to light things, and with foresight of how you function in that space. Reading is a task, and benefits from “task lighting”. Otherwise you’ll find yourself continually shifting to avoid your own shadow or to avoid raked lighting on your reading. The ceiling is a great reflector, but as soon as you have spots or recessed or flat lights, you not taking advantage of its capacity to create soft ambient light. Hard shadows can cause areas in shelves to be imperceptibly uninviting - you won’t realise you avoid those areas, until after it’s become habit. By using torches and tape and portable magnetic lights, you can prototype and test the positions of lights. I recommend watching Brandon Schubert for some inspiration, especially in considering different vertical positions of lighting.