Can We All Stop Hating On Overhead/Ceiling Lights? Here’s Why We Actually Kind Of Love Them

2 months ago 54

Today’s station is not similar my accustomed ones. If you’re a regular scholar who recognizes my byline, you cognize I thin hard connected the acquisition and the “make it work” content. But the different week, I had immoderate friends implicit and 1 of them asked if they could dim the overhead lights successful my surviving country portion we watched a movie. I didn’t caput astatine each and really had meant to bash conscionable that earlier we started, but it did get maine thinking: Why does everyone abruptly person a vendetta against overhead lighting?

I’m not truly connected TikTok (and by “not really,” I mean, I conscionable downloaded the app this past twelvemonth and lone unfastened it erstwhile friends substance maine links). But adjacent arsenic idiosyncratic disconnected the platform, I cognize however overmuch hatred #ceilinglights and #thebiglight are getting. A 10-second hunt of the hashtags I’ve seen circling Instagram leads maine to the pursuing captions:

DEATH TO THE OVER HEAD LIGHT!!

Why the Big Light Should Be Banned successful Interior Design

Petition to Ban All Overhead Lighting

And portion nary 1 has ever accused TikTok of being hyperbolic (hahaha, yea right), I conscionable privation to say, let’s each calm down. There are decidedly merits to #thebiglight and I’m going to get into it contiguous due to the fact that I’m #teambiglight…mostly.

Growing up, my champion person Claudia did NOT similar agleam lights connected successful her bedroom, and I retrieve reasoning however unusual and emo that was. She’d huff and cringe erstwhile I’d travel successful and crook connected the overheads, and she’d leap retired of furniture to crook them disconnected and alternatively crook connected her “mood lighting.” This consisted of enactment lights on her metallic conduit bunk beds, a lamp connected her table and maybe, possibly, a lava lamp (though my representation could beryllium making that up since I had a lava lamp and it’s hard to separate what’s what 20 years later). To this day, I inactive don’t deliberation she turns connected her overhead lights. That is her prerogative, of course. As it is yours if you’re a #smalllight, lamps-only benignant of dweller.

Now, don’t get maine wrong. I emotion a decorative lamp, and task lighting works wonders for, well, completing tasks. My thorough valuation of the famed Nancy Meyers aesthetic (read that here, it was a banger) uncovered a wildly generous usage of the array lamp, giving those rooms an undeniable cozy quality. But it’s simply not capable for me.

Allow maine to marque my lawsuit for overhead lighting.

Point #1: How On Earth Do You See Anything Without It?

As idiosyncratic astir to crook 40 successful the coming months, I afloat admit that my imaginativeness is showing its age. I callback rolling my teenage eyes astatine my middle-aged parents who had to usage a flashlight to work a paper and clasp it retired an arm’s magnitude from their look to marque retired the words, and arsenic beingness would person it, karma has travel to instrumentality its fee. I americium present my parents successful this scenario, and adjacent with a existent contacts prescription, I conflict with debased lighting.

I request a country to beryllium afloat awash successful light. An adjacent coating of lumens is my preferred style. That’s not to accidental it needs to beryllium blinding achromatic oregon blue-toned light. That would beryllium ludicrous, but each the overhead lighting haters of the satellite curse that conscionable due to the fact that a airy root is coming from higher than array height, it’s going to melt your soma disconnected of something. The location we unrecorded successful presently is connected a thoroughfare with 100-year-old camphor trees and a fewer elephantine pines, which are unspeakably beauteous to acquisition erstwhile you’re extracurricular but erstwhile you’re inside…it leaves overmuch to beryllium desired. It’s dim successful here, and if I had to unrecorded each time with soft, cozy night-time due lamps connected and thing else, I’d suffer my caput (and yes, changeless dim lighting genuinely affects my intelligence health).

I’ve seen immoderate TikTok videos and Instagram Reels connected the taxable of radical showing kitchens, surviving rooms, and beyond with their “big” lights on, past with them disconnected and each their lamps connected and I’m atrocious but…it’s conscionable excessively acheronian unless you cognize however to decently airy a country (which involves layers and lighting types similar ambient vs. task).

Point #2: I Have Too Much to Plug In to Add 10 Lamps Per Room Into the Mix (Don’t You??)

I cognize this 1 is reasonably circumstantial to maine and my lifestyle, but I person to know: wherever you are getting each these outlets to plug successful each of these lamps? In my past place, which was built successful the 1930s, determination were SO fewer outlets successful each room. My chamber had 2 outlets successful total; our eating country had one, and our surviving country had a whopping three! We didn’t person overmuch overhead lighting successful that spot and we spent our lives plugging and unplugging everything each time each time to accommodate lamps and everything other you request to tally a modern life.

Where I unrecorded present has a aboveground country problem. I don’t person overmuch abstraction successful my surviving country for broadside tables to clasp lamps. Plus, nary of my airy switches downstairs really run an outlet, truthful I’d person to crook everything connected (and off) manually. No. Sorry. Not doing it. Not erstwhile my canned lighting and pendants are *right there.* We thankfully person galore much outlets successful each country here, but adjacent still, I person truthful galore things to plug in: vacuum charger, bedewed vac, router, modem, TV, Firestick, Tonies euphony box, computer, machine monitor, telephone chargers…etc.

Point #3: Recessed Lights Are Not Evil (Sorry Interior Designers)

I’m going to accidental it: I’m bothered by interior designers who consciousness the request to marque *everything* decorative. Some things tin conscionable beryllium functional and integrated ceiling lights and overhead lights successful wide (like flush mounts, tin lights, recessed lights and chandeliers) are highly functional. I hold that they don’t acceptable each benignant of home. The aforesaid tin lights I person successful my townhome would person been ridiculous successful my 1930s Mediterranean. FINE! But I would person inactive loved to person recovered a mode to instal much overhead lighting had I stayed successful my erstwhile location longer. There is simply a mode to marque this enactment successful the home’s aesthetic, but again, saying a hard “no” to ceiling lights conscionable due to the fact that you don’t deliberation they’re “pretty” is not thing I tin get connected committee with. Overhead lighting is not evil, it shouldn’t “be banned” (stop that, TikTok), and tin beryllium a important portion of a home’s lighting plan.

Point #4: But You Need a Dimmer Switch

Even I, president of #teamceilinglight, hold with the information that a dimmer power is perfectly integral to a palmy “big light.” I was rocking my girl the different nighttime successful her glider, which is straight nether 1 of the tin lights successful her bedroom. I had turned them connected to afloat powerfulness and erstwhile I sat down, it did consciousness similar a spotlight was connected maine and my two-year-old was interrogating me. It was a lot. For a moment, I thought “Oh no…maybe I get what each the fuss is about?” But past I conscionable remembered I could crook down the dimmer a bit, and determination connected with my beingness with nary request to station connected the Internet astir however overmuch I hatred ceiling lights (yet present I americium connected the Internet doing the nonstop opposite…irony).

And frankly, I judge that arsenic galore lamps and lights arsenic imaginable should beryllium connected a dimmer due to the fact that this is 2024 and we merit to beryllium capable to customize and power our lighting immoderate mode we want. Cooking a repast and request to actually spot the nutrient you’re chopping? Crank those babies up. Having a meal enactment and don’t privation your guests to consciousness similar they’re performing country astatine the table? Turn it down and acceptable the mood. It doesn’t person to beryllium each oregon nothing, for goodness sakes.

Just arsenic a speedy aside, I started penning this nonfiction sitting adjacent to my architecture-school-trained husband. I turned to him and asked: “What are your thoughts connected overhead lights?” conscionable to get a consciousness of his feelings, and aft telling him that I was penning a portion connected however immoderate radical retired determination abhor them, I got a guttural “What?!? No!” from him. Then, my sister who is visiting walked into the country I was moving from, and I asked her the aforesaid question. She scrunched up her look and said “That’s virtually each I usage astatine home…but I person my dimmers.” I felt a spot vindicated.

Point #5: It’s Not “Surgical” If You Have the Right Lightbulbs

As I was taking a interruption from writing, I picked up my telephone to bash a small scrolling and instantly was met by a station from an Internet friend connected this nonstop subject, but she fell connected the other broadside of the speech arsenic me. The audio of her Reel made maine laugh, but aft speechmaking the comments, I saw however galore radical besides lone usage softly diffused task lighting alternatively than flip the power to the overhead lights. Someone commented “Why bash radical request to spot truthful bad? We’re not doing country here.” HA.

Look, I perceive you…sort of. There are instances erstwhile overhead lighting is horrific. Like each those fluorescent conduit lights that utilized to beryllium successful truthful galore kitchens. I tin inactive perceive the flickering, clicking, and zapping. Or if the lightbulbs person the lumen powerfulness to airy an airstrip. God, please, no. But lukewarm achromatic airy is good successful my publication with a lumen standing due to the abstraction and its function. Here’s what I recovered astatine The Home Depot (which was echoed successful immoderate different places, arsenic well):

Workspace oregon garage: 8,000 to 10,000 lumens
Kitchen enactment areas: 7,000 to 8,000 lumens
Bathroom: 7,000 to 8,000 lumens
Home office: 6,000 to 8,000 lumens
Dining room: 3,000 to 4,000 lumens
Kitchen: 3,000 to 4,000 lumens
Dining room: 3,000 to 4,000 lumens
Living room: 1,000 to 2,000 lumens
Bedroom: 1,000 to 2,000 lumens
Hallway: 500 to 1,000 lumens

As for however to get the close “warmth,” you’ll privation to spell with either a 2,700 Kelvin standing if you similar truly lukewarm airy (what was often successful incandescent bulbs) and 3,000 Kelvin if you similar a brushed lukewarm achromatic (my preference). Some lightbulbs adjacent fto you afloat customize the somesthesia with an app truthful it’s *just* right.

Also, spot constituent #4.

Point #6: Some Spaces Need Overhead Lighting

My past and last sticking constituent present is the following: What are each these overhead airy haters doing successful hallways? Stairwells? Kitchens? Bathrooms?!?!? Let maine accidental it for the radical astatine the back: SOME SPACES NEED CEILING LIGHTS! Are you placing small broadside tables connected your stairs to clasp a tiny lamp that you can’t adjacent plug successful due to the fact that there’s nary outlet? Are you lighting candles successful your bath to enactment connected your makeup? Using lantern airy successful your room to cheque if your chickenhearted is afloat cooked?

—

If there’s a airy switch, cognize that I’m utilizing it. I thrive successful well-lit spaces astatine each times of the day, and possibly I’m successful the number here, but I had to accidental my piece. If you’re squad tiny light, delight don’t instrumentality offense. You bash you. Your location is your haven, but my location is my bright, overhead-lit haven, too.

Speaking of overhead lights, present are immoderate beauteous ones I dug astir for. Some I cognize person been utilized successful erstwhile EHD projects, others that person large reviews, and others that are a large deal. Most if not each of these should beryllium dimmable, and travel successful a fistful of different colors, and adjacent Kelvin somesthesia ratings.

Bottom line: Don’t fto the Internet bully you into reasoning you’re uncouth if you’re opting for #TheBigLight. Take attraction friends!