Big light on in the living room?

[ViviPru]

I've just had one of those peculiar moments whereby something that you thought you knew to be a universal truth is turned on its head.

I was commenting to some friends about how irksome and peculiar I find it that another friend only has one light source in their living room, the main ceiling light, which they have on all evening. It's really bright, not on a dimmer and I find it really hard to relax there. My two friends were baffled saying that's what they do too (never been to their houses in the evening so I wouldn't know) and made out like I was the peculiar one as we rarely use our main overhead ceiling light.

Now all these years I've never questioned it, as far as I was concerned, in the evenings one would have a couple of table lamps on, enough light to read by, that's how it was at home growing up, that's what my parents do and what DH's parents do. Obviously I know some people have the overhead light on as you can see through windows at dusk but I slways just assumed these folk were the peculiar minority.", or they'd just stuck it on to clean/find something/perform a task.

Another friend has impaired eyesight so she likes a lot of light at all times, which is completely understandable. But those whose eyesight is fine, I can't understand why anyone would want to sit in glaring bright light all evening... But according to my friends I'm the minority...

I don't care what anyone does in the comfort if their own home, I'm not saying no one should use the main light but that I genuinely thought that barely anyone did... According to my friends this is completely at odds with reality.... What say you??

I couldn't live with someone who insisted on the big light.
We moved into a new house and got ceiling fittings and shades for all the rooms but we only ever use standard or table lamps and the under cupboard lighting, so all those fittings are just to look at really.

The lamps are fitted with 5 amp plugs to sockets like on this link
www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B003T1TSF0/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_1/279-4184954-4806908?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe&pf_rd_r=1YES67MT1QJVMESMCK1S&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_p=103612307&pf_rd_i=B008644ZEO
so you turn them all on and off from one wall switch per room. Brilliant.

I tell a lie, the bathrooms and kitchen have those lights inset into the ceiling, but we only use the bathroom ones. The kitchen ones go on in extremis if something's smashed on the floor, been lost, or we need to do some deep digging in the freezer. To be brutally honest if you put all the kitchen lights on you could tie someone up and interrogate them and I reckon they'd confess to anything just to make the big light stop. So harsh!

my big light has been out of action for ages, since we had non dimmable bulbs in it and when it was on I could hear the bulb squirling....however dh found some dimmable ones which do not mke noise so he keeps turning it on

and i keep turning it off right down.

we have two small lamps and a standard behind the sofa, it's plenty light enough in here.

I'm now twitching furiously at Rum... WhyWhenWhere I too routinely place a pillow over the LED on the extension cable and unplug my toothbrush recharger every night to obliterate every trace of light in the bedroom.

Agree with Keatsie, the lighting level has to be just so I'm not keen on it too dark either, unless we're watching a really good film. the tipping point is scrabble playing, where the usual configuration is a teensy bit too low, but the next step up would be big light so NO NO NO.

I suppose it's down to what you're getting up to. I'm generally talking about the standard evening living room TV watching/ MNtting important online researching/reading etc. If I'm sewing or whatnot, I'd have a main light on.

Fair dues that it's a cost issue for some, but it certainly isn't for my original friends who sparked this whole debate, when they went to buy her last Mulberry handbag, they clearly didn't pause in JL's lighting department....

I am amazed how many people sit in the dark. I've been married 30 years and have never even owned a lamp in that time. We've lived in 5 different houses and have only ever had ceiling lights. My mum has lamps but as well as the big light.

What ambience do you need?

Lamps x 3 in the living room because its quite a big room.

Two lamps in the hall, one at the top of the stairs, one at the top.

Lamps in dc's rooms too.

I do lamp patrol at around 5.00 pm and they all go on and the main lights go off. My dc often put their main light back on but I try not to notice.

Its just something my Mum always did so I do too. Its much nicer though, I hate the main light being on at night.

Slight digression, but I like a bath with candles and recently have run out so have been having a bath with no lighting. Fine in the autumn, with the dusk light from the window but I do realise it's rather a strange thing to still be doing now that it's pitch black in the early evenings.

Much more preferable to putting the big bathroom light on. And makes it more fun when feeling around for shampoo/conditioner/body wash.

I couldn't live in a house without lamps. I have them in every room, usually more than one.

Big light on only when cooking otherwise having it on is just wrong!

We had our ceiling light removed and special plugs put in where you can flick the light switch which would normally turn on the centre light and the table lamps come on instead.

so I could see to deal with ds2's boil on his tummy

Yes this thread deems Big Light asseptible for sporn emergencies. As you were.

lamp patrol

Ooh GlassTrees that sounds great. DH insists on big light and so we don't have any lamps in the living room at present. Personally, I prefer table and wall lamps but we're doing it DH's way for now.

orange stripe DH does that too. He was inexplicably rummaging round in the camping kit the other night. Turns out he was digging out the paraffin storm lanterns for mood bathtime lighting.

Glasstrees & Enrique, very progressive. I salute you.

The only thing worse than a living room with the big light on is a bedroom without lamps - too uncomfortable to read and you have to get out of bed to switch the lights off.

We have a row of spots in the front room (they were here when we bought the house) but unless we are doing something that needs good light then its just the standard lamp.
In the bedroom I hate having the big light on at bed time, bedside lamps only. But on these dark mornings I don't like the bedside lamps in the morning.

I love my ethnic-ey chandelier-ey thing - hate having it switched on though. My PILs always have the big light on - euch.

The big light makes the place look so damn messy. I have lamps in the kitchen too,

Ugg, hate lamp light.
Luckily DH and I both feel the same and like plenty of 'proper' light at home. We only have overhead fluorescent (square ones, not tubes) light in our living room and it gives off a really good light with no shadows. No dimmer switches in this house!
How do you read properly by lamp light?

No no no to big lights on!

I am prone to get irrationally irritated by folks who have theirs on.

It's just not conducive to a warm, relaxing environment, is it?

Plus I have a lamp fetish.

I don't understand how people can do without bedside lamps.

orangestripe I also cannot stand baths- only ever had one (well lit!) bath as an adult when the shower was broken- you may have just described my version of hell!

My kids get screeched at if they accidentally touch it and then scrabble desperately to turn it off as I screech.

Me too. "Turn the headache light OFF."

I am feeling stressed at the though of Mumsnetters with their headcahe lights on

I hate the big light too. I usually have just one lamp on, in the corner, and it bathes the room in a soft glow that's quite sufficient for me.

I once nannied for a family who didn't have a main ceiling light in the living room at all, but had had all the lamps in the room wired up to a single wall light switch. That's what I want when I grow up!

How do you read properly by lamp light?

I have a kindle with a lit cover.

I don't like the bedside lamps in the morning.

Me neither! I prefer to stumble around until someone's turned the bathroom light on opposite the bedroom door and navigate by that.

For that matter - it drives me potty when DH gets up to the loo in the middle of the night and turns the bathroom light on. I'm versed in the art of feeling my way, it's not like there's a krypton factor style agility course to negotiate in the 4 metres between the bed and the lav....

Gin hotel rooms drive me potty too with their unfathomable not/and/or GCSE physics switch hell.

We call the big light 'the Christmas light' because its only ever turned on on Christmas morning when we go down to see what santa brought ! Its just tradition now and the kids insist its turned on for a few minutes while they look at their haul then we knock it off and turn the lamps and fairy lights on as usual!