Bright Ideas for Better Office Lighting

Can lighting truly transform your workspace and boost productivity? We dive deep into the world of interior lighting to uncover its hidden impact on our well-being and efficiency. From the bane of fluorescent fixtures causing migraines to the bright promise of LED upgrades, we discuss why it's vital to rethink your lighting choices. But it doesn’t end there. Discover the magic of layered lighting—general task lighting, accent lighting, and decorative touches like pendants and wall sconces—that can elevate not only the functionality but also the aesthetics of any space.

Picture walking into an office that immediately feels welcoming and motivating—good lighting often plays the unsung hero in this scenario. Through real-world examples and engaging case studies, we spotlight how thoughtfully designed lighting can revolutionize a workspace. Whether you’re redesigning an office or curious about the transformative power of good lighting, this episode offers invaluable insights. Join us and learn how to create an inspiring environment that leaves a lasting impression.

We welcome your questions! If you would like to learn more about us or connect for a conversation, please visit www.pasleycommercialinteriors.com.

Episode Transcript

Randi Lynn (00:00):
All right.
So we've talked about lightinglike bulbs, Kelvin, C Kelvin,
all of the things.
Yeah, but there's another pieceof lighting and that is
fixtures right, and how thingsare positioned against the wall
and they emit light and all ofthat stuff that can really
affect a space.

Robin (00:19):
Yes, yes, yes, our normal offices, you know, in a town
like ours here in ColoradoSprings, just for the most part
have a drop ceiling in them, andinside of that drop ceiling
there are either two by four ortwo by two light fixtures that
we call truffers.
Ok, and that's kind of standardfare.

(00:39):
There's a couple of things tokeep in mind if you have
fluorescent fixtures in there,which, if you've been updated
anytime soon, you had to move toLED for code anyways.
But the fluorescents have gasesin them and so they can give
people migraines because theyhave a cycle that your eye picks
up.
So your brain is picking it up,but your eyes may not see it.

(01:00):
So fluorescent lights should be.
I would suggest this replacethose with LED tubes if you're
ballast and the fixture will letyou.
That is one way, just to updatethat piece of it, but there are
.
There's another way to thinkabout lighting in general, for
comfort and even just the usageof the space, and that's to

(01:26):
think of it in a layeredapproach, and so the three
layers that I think of inlighting and I'm not a lighting
designer so this is going to bea very shallow depth on this one
is general task lighting, accent, um accent lighting that has to
do more with maybe featuredspaces and um fixtures that are

(01:49):
not just in that drop ceiling.
You know whether it's a pendantor something else, like that
wall sconce or something um andso those.
If you can approach lightingfrom a layered point of view,
then I think you can bring moreinterest to a space and make the
comfort be elevated, even makethe feeling of the space a

(02:12):
little more elevated.
To me, when it comes tolighting, it is 80% of a design.
In other words, if you weregoing to say what could I spend
my money on thatwould impact my space, the most.
One of the first things I wantto talk about is lighting.
Okay, because if we're justdoing this normal drop ceiling

(02:32):
with a troffer in it, that is asbasic as you can get for just
function.
But we could accentuate, let'ssay, the focal point behind your
reception desk with a specialtyset of pendants, or maybe we
want to feature.
You have some history of yourcompany and we want to put some
focus lights on that.

(02:53):
This is what I'm talking aboutwith layers is being able to put
more than one way of havinglight emitted into that space.
That would help us either focuson something or have a little
flavor, and that's where thosependant fixtures or wall sconces
would be that kind of designflavor.
Yeah, have you ever walked intoa place and just your first

(03:16):
impression of being in thatspace was oh my gosh, this feels
amazing.
I would put all of my money onthe fact that that was just
really well lit and used alayered approach to the lighting
.
Okay, but if you've walked intoyour own office and haven't said
, oh my gosh, this feels amazing, then probably the first thing
you need to address is lighting.
I've worked with a couple ofbusinesses, actually, that their

(03:40):
workforce was mostly coding, sothey were working at a computer
all day watching you know justcode come down a page, and they
one of the companies I workedwith the first day that we
walked through to see the site,they had all the lights off and
I thought everyone was workingfrom home that day because this
was kind of in like 21, 22.
So, I was like, oh, they're allworking from home.

(04:00):
Oh, she was like, oh no,they're here.
And I was like what ishappening?
She goes.
They can't stand the lightingand this was one of the first
things that we addressed withthem was okay for your function.
You're already aware that thistroffer lighting and this drop
zone is not serving yourworkforce, which is something to
think about.
How do we keep our bestemployees happy?

(04:21):
Think about lighting and askthem how does that lighting make
you feel?
How do you feel when you'reworking in your office?
There's even a way that a smalloffice, if it only has one or
two troffers which is all that'srequired for that electrical
engineer to get that room tocode it makes it have a shadow
around the whole room, whichmakes it feel like a cave.
So now, if you've put any toneof color you know in that space,

(04:46):
if your value from our paintingtalk, if the value of color you
put in there had a little more,a higher number to it, then
it's going to even feel morecavey.
So now you have to have a whitewalls and two troffers and talk
about basic, like we're notbringing any design to that
space at all, but all it wouldneed to change is just Adjust

(05:06):
the lighting in there and itwould feel totally different.
Okay, great.