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Lighting
4 products
Lighting a desk is mostly about where the light is not. A lamp behind the screen throws glare across it; a lamp directly overhead casts your own hands' shadow onto the page. The workable position is off to one side, slightly in front, on the opposite side to your writing hand.
The lamps here are the gesso range — bamboo, large ribbed, large round and small rectangular — in a chalky plaster-like finish that diffuses rather than glares, standing 55cm to 88cm tall. Prices are £219 to £290.
Bamboo Gesso Table Lamp | Kaiku
From £219
Small Rectangular Gesso Table Lamp | Kaiku
From £219
Large Ribbed Gesso Table Lamp | Kaiku
From £238
Large Round Gesso Table Lamp | Kaiku
From £290
How to choose
Position before purchase. Put the lamp on the side opposite your writing hand, slightly forward of the screen. That is the one placement that lights the desk without either glaring off the monitor or being blocked by your own arm.
Get the height right for the task. For desk work the bottom of the shade wants to sit at roughly eye level when seated — around 40 to 55cm above the desk surface, which is what the 55cm to 88cm lamps here are designed around.
Choose 3000K to 4000K for a working lamp. Warmer than 3000K is lovely in a living room and makes a desk feel sleepy; cooler than 4000K reads clinical. Somewhere in between is right for reading and screen work in the same session.
Do not rely on one source. A single desk lamp in a dark room creates a bright pool against a black surround, and the constant pupil adjustment between screen and shadow is what tires eyes. Keep some ambient light in the room as well.
Common questions
- Where should a desk lamp go?
- On the side opposite your writing hand, slightly in front of the screen. Behind the monitor it glares off the glass; directly overhead it casts your own shadow onto what you are reading.
- What colour temperature is best for working?
- 3000K to 4000K. Warmer reads cosy and makes a desk feel sleepy, cooler reads clinical, and this range suits both paper and screen in one sitting.
- How tall should a desk lamp be?
- Enough that the bottom of the shade is around 40 to 55cm above the desk — near seated eye level. The lamps here stand 55cm to 88cm, which covers a standard 72 to 75cm desk.
- Is one desk lamp enough?
- Not on its own in a dark room. A bright pool against a black background makes your eyes work constantly to adjust — keep some general light in the room alongside the task lamp.