A sight for sore eyes: 10 sparky home office lighting ideas 

While there is always room for the classics – the famous Anglepoise lamp is a favourite of our staff writer Sarah Harley in her best desk lamp round up – there’s a delightful light bulb moment when we’re exposed to new ideas in lighting. And that goes double for your home office, where physical and mental illumination is needed most.  

May your imagination be well and truly sparked. 

As always, mother nature is at the head of the queue when it comes to catering for our well–being. Good old sunshine is our favourite home office lighting idea. Not only is it free of charge but you get a nice vitamin D boost to boot. 

Whether you are using your home office to crunch numbers or solve sudoku puzzles, you’ll find that if you position your desk and chair close to a window, your wellbeing will be boosted. You’ll suffer less eyestrain, and nothing beats sunshine for a positive effect on the mood. 

But there’s more. According to a recent study published in the Journal of Pineal Research, not getting enough exposure to natural light during the day could affect your quality of sleep at night. So, if you are wondering how to fall asleep faster, wherever possible choose a work or hobby space that’s flooded with natural light. 

The one thing no-one, anywhere, has ever said about a work or hobby space is, “Gosh, I wish it had fewer lights.” That’s because no matter how many light fixtures you add to a room, clever circuitry allows you to control which lights are on when – and this is good news for a multitasking space like a home office. 

If you never came across a lighting fixture you didn’t like – or simply can’t decide between picture lights, sconces, a floor lamp, pendant and a desk lamp – the only reasonable solution is to add them all.  

As this room styled by Ballard Designs shows, even a moderately sized home office won’t be overwhelmed by an influx of fixtures that are relatively pared back and consistent in style. To be on the safe side, the designers in this case chose to stick to all brass light fixtures, which adds to the lightness and harmony of the lighting scheme. 

Loving the cream and green colour combo of this home office and want some more colour inspiration? Check out our roundup of our favourite home office colour schemes. 

To paraphrase the old adage, “All work and no play makes your office a dull space.” Like home libraries, home offices can slip into staid if you don’t purposefully inject a sense of whimsy into them. 

One of our favourite home office lighting ideas is to add a truly bold ceiling fixture at the centre of the room. This becomes the decor nexus around which everything else in the room revolves, and firmly anchors the space if you position our desk in the centre of the room.

We like how the designers of this room uses a lateral ceiling light from Arteriors to showcase the width and highlight the character of their Parnell Desk. 

What if your home office is tucked away in a room – say a bedroom – but you want to zone your workspace with more aplomb than a simple predictable rug layout? 

Well, we say break the design rules and instead of positioning your ceiling pendant plumb in the middle of the room, draw it nearer to your desk. 

You’ll end up with a lovely wash of much needed light over your workspace and a more dynamic and playful lighting design. 

As Sarah Harley sensibly states in our guide to the best desk lamp, “not everyone needs a full-time employee when it comes to the role of desk lamp.”.

If you prefer a more footloose approach to your home office lighting, you will think lamps with no trailing wires are a bright idea. Take your stylish rechargeable lamp with ease from your desk and then, use it for decorating your kitchen island.  

Studio Living Design says: “Rechargeable lights are a fantastic and often overlooked addition to a home office that can greatly enhance productivity and comfort. These lights provide flexibility in illuminating your workspace without being tethered to an outlet, allowing you to position them wherever you need. Their portability ensures you can adjust lighting levels to reduce eye strain and create an ideal work environment.” 

When it comes to desk lamp styles, this look is my absolute personal favourite. A vintage (or vintage styled) mid-century adjustable desk lamp is unrepentantly sophisticated. It’s the sort of lighting fixture that balances delicately on the razor edge of form and function. In short, it’s every architect and interior designer’s home desk lighting dream. 

This particular beauty is the Devin Desk Lamp by Arteriors. Swing it hither and thither to direct light where needed. And if you just want to use it for showing off to office visitors? Well, go right ahead. In this shot it is used to light up Arteriors’ Ulani centrepiece, just so.  

There is another way to make a dramatic and directional statement in your home office. Try painting the walls a sultry shade of black, charcoal or navy and opt for a modern light fixture with an architectural form and a white shade. 

The effect? The sort of grandeur you get from traditional full evening dress.  

Lamp shadows against a dark wall are seductively sultry, so in a room doing double time, this look is particularly effective for slipping elegantly into after– hours when the laptop is tucked away. 

Love the slick ‘pharmacy’ style lamp with white linen shade and black marble base? It’s the ‘Vernon’ desk lamp by Arteriors. 

It’s well and good to talk about home office lighting ideas but what happens when your home office didn’t start life as a study space? For one thing, the lighting may not be quite where you need it most, and you might not be wildly excited about chasing into plaster to add wall and ceiling lights. 

One very good solution iIs to try is a plug-in wall light that doesn’t require any wiring.  

Historically, the style options for plug–ins weren’t up to much compared to wired–in wall light versions, but all that has changed. You certainly don’t lose any style appeal with Pooky’s Cooper Wall fitting with its snazzy ruby silk velvet shade. 

So, go ahead and enjoy radical control over where your wall light is positioned – and even change your mind and re-position the light later, at will. 

A swing arm option will ramp up the flexibility by letting you shed light wherever you need it most.