How To Light A Room For Reading

This is sure to cause discussion at home.

Elizabeth Bettendorf has written an article entitled Bookworms, illuminate yourselves on right light.

Mike complains that there are few places in our home to read. He says it is too dark, too filled with ambience. His favorite place is the den with the TV off, but then that excludes me if I want to watch some Tivo'ed program. If he moves to the bed in the bedroom, he falls asleep. So now we have Ms Bettendorf to the rescue.

There's nothing better than a good book, and nothing worse than not enough light by which to read comfortably.

She quotes Michael Berman, a lighting designer for the California-based Lamps Plus. He says a good reading lamp should do three things:

1. Reduce peripheral shadow around the reading area to reduce eye fatigue. "You don't want shadows around the reading area because as the eye wanders off the page as you read, the eye has to adjust," he says.

2. Provide good illumination, but not too much. Never consider any bulb less than 100 watts for reading, he advises, with 150 watts being ideal.

3. Eliminate squinting. "When reading, you want a light that helps you focus on the task at hand

There are so many sizes, materials and styles of lamps. In our home we are still searching for the perfect lamps that will meet both our objectives.

Bev & Mike
Landfair Furniture + Design Gallery