What Kind of Desk Lamps are Best for Your Home? 

Lighting is important for the ambiance of your home, as well as serving practical purposes. When you are choosing the right lighting for a room, there are two ways to categorise the types of lighting you need. 

Primary, secondary, tertiary lighting

The first category is primary, secondary, and possibly tertiary lighting. Primary lighting is functional — overhead lights that brighten up a room, desk lamps that help you see while you read or work, and other similar lighting essentials. Secondary lighting may provide some level of functional use, but it mainly acts as accent lighting or decoration. And tertiary light is purely decorative; fairy lights, for example, don’t provide any meaningful practical use, but they can look beautiful hung over your bed or along a shelf. 

Ambient, task, accent lighting

The other way to categorise lighting is as ambient, task, or accent. Similar to the above, ambient lighting brightens the overall space and is usually in the form of a built-in light fixture like an overhead light or chandelier. Task lighting is, as the name suggests, designed for a specific task. Desk lamps on your bedside table, pendant lights above your kitchen island, or a directional spotlight facing your wardrobe are all examples of task lighting. Accent lighting is focused on a specific part of the room, and may have a combination of decorative and functional purposes. 

Desk lamps are generally used as primary lighting and task lighting, providing essential, practical uses for home offices, bedrooms, and living rooms. Read on to learn how to choose the best desk lamps for your needs.

Desk lamps for the home office

For the most part, your home office is a utilitarian room or area. While you may want to style up your space with an elegant office desk or a stately office chair, it is mainly a place to get work done and perform other practical tasks. 

Therefore, the ideal lamps will adequately light your space and help prevent eye strain when you’re spending long hours at your desk. 

If your home office has a lot of natural light or plenty of overhead lighting, you may be able to choose a more decorative lamp, but for the most part a desk light with a strong LED bulb and a shade that doesn’t block too much brightness is ideal. 

You might also consider desk lamps with a flexible arm so that you can adjust the angle or direction of the light with ease. 

Desk lamps for the bedroom

In your bedroom, desk lamps may serve multiple purposes. If you enjoy reading in bed, then your table lamp will act as task lighting to provide the necessary brightness. Therefore, you will want to choose a lamp that is practical enough to suit your needs. 

Bedroom desk lamps also offer convenience. When you’re cosy in bed, there’s nothing worse than having to get up to turn off the overhead lighting, especially on a chilly winter’s night. So the light on your nightstand must be bright enough to do the job when it’s the only light on in the room. 

However, bedroom lighting also needs to create a soft and relaxing ambiance. Harsh, overly bright lighting can make it difficult to transition into sleep. And you want a lamp that looks great, too, to fit your bedroom decor. Therefore, a lamp with a fabric shade can be a great option, diffusing the light it emits and adding a decorative detail to the design.

Desk lamps for the living room

As in the bedroom, living room lighting should be both decorative and functional. Also as in the bedroom, there may be times when you need overhead lighting on as well as desk lamps, and other instances in which you will only have a small light on for a bit of brightness while you watch TV. 

In your living room, you may have floor lamps in addition to desk and table lights, and so you might want to choose lamps that will complement each other in style and brightness. You can also consider the amount of natural light your living room gets, as you will often be using it during the daytime with your curtains or blinds open.  

To get the perfect combination of ambiance and practicality, choose a lamp that will shed plenty of light, but consider a warm-toned light bulb for that cosy, welcoming feel. 

Shop lighting and accessories at Corcoran’s

Call in to Corcoran’s Furniture to shop the best desk lamps and lighting for every room in your home, along with a fabulous selection of accessories of all types and styles. With five stores in Kerry and Limerick and a team of furniture experts ready to help, you’ll find everything you need to achieve your interior design dreams. 

Looking for more lighting inspiration? Read these: 

• A guide to lighting a modern bedroom
• Set the tone with mood lighting