“Space and light and order. Those are the things that men need just as much as they need bread or a place to sleep.”
~Le Corbusier
I used to snicker when my family trooped off to the Cheshire Inn (it was fancy then) for a special dinner, and my grandmother started complaining about the dim light. She’d squint at her menu and frown at the waiter, and I’d squeeze my palms together under the table and pray she wouldn’t demand they install fluorescent lighting that very minute.
“It’s atmosphere!” I’d mutter.
And now I am turning 50, and my house suddenly has far too much atmosphere.
The golden Arts & Crafts light in my office has me squinting, granny-like, at my computer. The rustic little lanterns in the kitchen had me convinced me cardamom was mustard powder. My eyes grow dim…which sounds poetic except that it’s a royal pain.
Samatha Salem at Metro Lighting walks me around their largest showroom and points out solutions. First off, I want a floor lamp, the reading kind I can tilt so the light shines right on my computer screen. “No, you don’t,” she says, reminding me of the problem of glare. “You want the whole room to be well lit.”
Knowing my husband’s not about to replace the ceiling fixture, I glance around for other options. A sleek halogen floor lamp has a tiny bulb with the same wattage as a bulky incandescent, yet it’s brighter and sharper. “Halogens actually emit more lumens,” Salem explains. “They get hot, though; that’s why you see those levers to tilt them.” I always thought of halogens as cold white light—maybe it’s the word itself, which sounds sort of science-fiction. “They’ve gotten softer now that they’re used residentially,” Salem says. “Even fluorescents have warmed up.”
We walk through a display of crystal lights so dazzling, I blink. “The brighter halogen light bounces off the crystals,” she explains. But she’s taking me to a display far less sexy: an industrial clamp-on in yellow and black. Natural, full-spectrum lighting by Verilux. “It looks bluer, but it mimics daylight,” she says, “and the low glare is good for sensitive eyes.” I test it by reading my notes and see quite clearly just how messy they are.
But Salem’s saved the best for last: an LED desk lamp called “Flip,” by Bulbrite. It costs a sobering $245, but its little light-emitting diode will last 20 to 40 years with normal home use, and it uses only 10 watts of energy. Love the “touch” control that zaps it on without depressing a button I go hunting for a cheaper option and find a $19.99 LED desk lamp at Target—but it’s slumped over, its cord unable to support its tiny head.
I try the Internet and find several award-winning LED desk lamps: the $160.95 Koncept High Power Z-Bar, a bent rod that has power but no bulk, and IMG Lighting’s swirly Beacon 600, for $129.95. Salem assures me prices will plummet as demand rises.
I can see--finally--what she means.
