6 home office lighting ideas to make your working day brighter

Looking for home office lighting ideas to finish off your new work space? With working from home a more permanent set up for many of us, creating the perfect work-friendly space is becoming a priority. And alongside a comfy chair and a decent desk, proper lighting is hugely important for an ergonomically-sound space – and a stylish one at that.

Read on for our round up of the best WFH-appropriate lighting ideas below, then check out more home office ideas in our gallery.

1. Go back to basics with a jaunty desk lamp

If you buy nothing else, make a desk lamp an immediate purchase for your desk. Not only is it a practical form of task lighting (especially if you get one that can be adjusted), it's a great way to add a splash of colour – like the jaunty yellow number above – or texture to a WFH setup. 

• The best desk lamps for your home office

2. Save surface space with wall lights

Desk on the small side, or need all the space you can get? Wall lights are the choice for you. They'll provide the same super-practical task lighting as a desk lamp and have the bonus of requiring zero surface space – all you need is a piece of wall above. If you don't want to wire new lighting in, opt for a plug-in version that can be attached to a wall. 

For more small home office ideas just head over to our gallery. 

3. Stuck for wall space? Try a clip-on light

If you're short on wall and desk space, don't despair: there's hope for you yet. Fix a clip-on lamp to a shelf or the edge of your desk and you're sorted for focused lighting – and it looks pretty cool, too. The cord will likely be on display, so make the most of it by opting for a colourful design, like the splash of red this Hector clip light from Original BTC.

You can copy this idea of a home office in an alcove by heading to our guide on how to create an alcove office. 

4. Mix and match for the perfect lighting combo

For serious work and serious style, mix up your lighting with a variety of styles and heights. Here, Pooky's balanced-arm Mo desk light is paired with a stylish pendant light overhead for two sources of focused lighting. If your new home office is in a larger room, like a kitchen or bedroom, a separate pendant light can also help zone the space and make it feel more self-contained.

5. Add drama with pendant lights

You know those coworking spaces with huge pendant lights over banks of desks? That's what we're going for here, only more private and a lot more stylish. If you have the luxury of a bigger room for your home office, why not position your desk in the middle of the space and hang lighting overhead? If you've been working at your kitchen island, you might well be used to this setup already. We love the Ranarp pendant lights from Ikea

6. Go traditional with a fancy floor lamp

Feeling fancy? Add flair to a traditional setup with a statement floor lamp next to your desk. Not only is it the perfect match for a mid-century scheme like this from Cult Furniture, it provides the same services as a desk lamp – and that slightly more muted glow will do wonders on video calls, too…

Love this home office? Check out our traditional home office ideas feature. 

Read more:

• Home office design: create your dream home office
• Home office storage ideas for an organised space
• Small space? See our small home office ideas for inspiration