Home > Nobody Likes to Wear a Uniform Part 1 - Reading Nobody Likes to Wear a Uniform Part 1 - Reading Why we should shed uniform lighting and individualize our lighting space Have you ever been in a room flooded with the same lighting brightness throughout the room and felt a sort of weariness in your eyes? Did you find it hard to concentrate because your sensory perceptions were overloaded with brightness? If so, the cause may be your sensitivity to uniform lighting. Often when we do not pay attention to our lighting surroundings, we tend to satisfy our lighting needs with uniform lighting. We may use a single flush mount in the middle of the room as the primary lighting source for all our tasks. We think that as long as we can see what we need to see, the lighting is doing its job. However, uniform lighting is usually too much light. Unless we’re cleaning a room or having a house party, we don’t really need to have every corner of the room lit the same way. And when we have a lot of wasted light, not only are we wasting electricity, but we’re putting a strain on our eyes and brains as well. In this article series, we will talk about ways to create the perfect lighting environment for any activity. Part 1: Reading Floor Lamps When we’re reading, uniform lighting can really cause a bad strain on the eyes. To avoid eye strain and save on energy, use task lighting to focus light on your book. Floor lamps with a bendable light source to direct it towards the book are a great tool to have. Place one next to your favorite chair and sit back and relax. By having one main light on in a room while surrounded by low light or darkness, less total illumination affects the eyes and allows you to avoid eye strain while enjoying a more overall relaxed lighting atmosphere. Track Lights More ways to attain focused lighting is with track lighting. Track lighting allows the ultimate lighting flexibility. Most track lighting systems have several lighting fixtures installed and each one can be adjusted to a desired position and can also be turned on individually. More advanced track lighting systems have dimmer systems that allow you to dim any number of bulbs in the track system. With such a track light system, you can adjust the bulb nearest to you to the desired brightness while dimming the other lights to a low setting. Wall Swing Arm Lamps Install a wall swing arm lamp next to your chair instead of a floor lamp. Many people prefer this method as it can be more fitting for a study room. Usually adorned with a classic lampshade, the swing floor lamp has a more traditional feel that can help make your study look like the kind of place where you can read the classics while smoking from a mahogany pipe. Many elegant variations are available, including some fresher contemporary models. Style-wise, a wall swing arm lamp may offer the most flexibility.