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 do read by lamp light in bed I suppose PrimalLass, but not the paper in the living room.

squoosh it's simple up to bed, big light on, read/tv etc, fall asleep, DH turns it off when he comes back from the bathroom. I do actually have a bedside light which I installed in the early days of breastfeeding when I still needed to see what I was doing, only gets used now as a makeshift torch when retrieving things from under the bed!

We only have overhead fluorescent (square ones, not tubes) light in our living room I'm having some kind of episode at the thought of this....

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

Plus I have a lamp fetish. Same. So much so I ditched a load of clothes once so I could bring one home with me from Amsterdam on a Ryanscare flight.

No way could I relax with big light on. I also look much better with soft lighting eg wrinkles are less visible. Also my living room looks tidier with lamps on and the decor looks fresher to.

I always have the 'big light' on, but our big light is actually very tasteful and pleasant.

I can't be doing with sitting around in dimmed light emitting from random corners of the room though. Makes me feel all twitchy and like I need to squint at things, and miserable and gloomy. Probably tied to raging SAD, especially at this time of year. The more light the better, I need that to breathe. I'm forever switching lights on.

I had no idea this lamp thingy was so serious. EX used to like lamps, not buying them, dusting them or keeping them out of reach or animals and children though. Only lamp in my living room has a foreign plug and maybe doesn't even have a bulb. Feeling embarrassed that I've entertained and had people stay/house sit and offered no alternative to the big light.

I hate not being able to see clearly, it gives me nightmares, like driving in the dark which I find incredibly hard. I think I have bad eyes for dark.

OTOH I scream if anyone dares turn on the big light without lowering the living room blinds as we are right on the street. Guess I need a lamp to prevent friends and family doing this persistently.

Fluorescent ceiling lights! Like in McDonalds or a police interrogation room?

(not that I've ever been in either establishment)

It's the same at work - I couldn't work if my colleague insisted on poor lighting. Again, we just have overhead fluorescent (sorry Vivi !)

squoosh the horror!

Evening officially starts when the main light goes off and just the lamp's on.

Two lamps in the lounge for us. I also prefer to have the lamp in the kitchen on wih the light above the cooker rather than the big kitchen light.
Only big light that goes on is the landing light on the way up to bed!

It's actually quite a natural light squoosh - not unlike daylight.

I prefer lamps. We have two independent main lights, so often have one of those and the standard lamp on. Both main lights is too bright for the evening but good for a dull day.

Changing the lights was the first job we did in this house. The previous owner had a fetish for spot lights and laminate. The lounge had a cheap shiny laminate, which reflected the recessed spotlights in pools of intense glare and zones of dark shaddow. It was headache inducing. Thank goodness it was summer so we didn't have to use them too much before we got round to changing them. Many spotlights hit the dust in our first couple of months here. I like soft, even light, not intense pools.

Work's different, Green. We have bright spotlights on all day even with a south facing big window - although I'm forever adjusting the blind and now the sun awning I insisted was installed for when the sun was really low and shining right in my eyes.....

Yam I love the thought of you flicking off Big Light with a contented sigh.

All you lamp users need THESE remote control plugs. I bought something similar a year or so ago. You can control all your lamps from one remote. It's much better than scrabbling around behind the sofas.

Big light only goes on for close up tasks etc, we have two table lamps at the moment but might buy a new floor lamp this week to brighten up a dark corner.

Ooh that'd be super for the Christmas tree, Tootles. Someone send one to Michael Mackintyre.

OMG that reminds me... I was going to start an AIBU on this over Christmas. The godforsaken 8-way fairy light adapter. For the love of baby Jesus WHO wants/neeeds 'slo-glo'????? I wonder how many minutes of my life I'll never get back from all the times I've had to cycle through the variations to #8 constant-on ever time I switch them on??

Yanbu. I love sitting with the cosy fire light and lamp on in the evening. I rarely use the big light. When the Inlaws come to stay, all the lights are on full pelt and it's so bright it gives me a headache. Not relaxing at all! It's even worse at their house. They have one of those old fashioned suspended ceilings in the living room with strip lights behind it. It's like being in an office!

"They have one of those old fashioned suspended ceilings in the living room with strip lights behind it."

poppycock that's a threadwinner right there

You are so so reasonable.

I hate the big light being on. My mum would always put it on to iron my dad's shirts on a Sunday night, so it generates a depressing, end-of-the-weekend kind of feeling in me.

Lamps all the way in this house!

I have dimmer switches in every room apart from bathroom. And I'd love one us the bathroom. It's a small place and not much room for too many lamps, but dimmers work well. I can coordinate the ambiance through the whole flat.

YANBU. Re the big bright lights.

The point of dimming lighting in the evening is to start turning your body clock to off setting ready for bedtime. That's part of the reason I reckon so many people have trouble sleeping, because they light the place up and it confuses our brains.

Birds work on light, when it gets to a certain amount of light per day they moult, and when it gets to another point they mate. You can control what they do by controlling the light. We're the same.

It has to do with melatonin and science-y stuff, but since I am tired and ready for bed just about I can't manage to quite explain it right.

So I agree, hate big lights on unless it's because I am concentrating to do something, and supermarket lights make me feel sick and dizzy.

I have a dimmer on my bathroom light. I turn it right down and snooze along with candles (and ...)

I hate the big light on, don't think.it's even had a bulb in it for over a year. Just a lamp and the fire on, prefer it dim and cosy, plus DS has to take melatonin to sleep, if he has bright lights/tv on before bed he's guaranteed to be up all night.

My mum only has the big light, so hard to relax and I swear that's why she has trouble sleeping.