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??

We have three lamps, and an overhead light. The overhead light hardly ever gets turned on.

It's not gloomy. It's well-lit, if you have all three lamps on, but it's not harsh.

All well-styled rooms use lamps and lighting to good effect.

I LOVE the big light!!!! I must be weird but I love turning all the lights on!
When I was in hospital having a baby, the midwife turned all the lights off except the lamps at the side and I asked her to turn the big light back on!!
My parents have always had the house really dark and it gets on my wick.

It's good to spend some time in lower light before bed - helps kick start your sleeping.

We have the big light on for dinner, then after that a side lamp.

Another big light-er here, I can't stand sitting in the gloom with just lamps on. How do you stay awake with such low lighting? I always start dozing off when I'm visiting people who sit in the bloody dark.

It's not necessarily gloomy.

It's not necessarily low lighting. Our living room is very warmly-lit.

Maybe some people just aren't doing it right...

3 lamps in the living room here too. My mum even has 2 lamps in the kitchen because she hates big lights so much. I have a lamp on the landing too, soft lighting just looks better!

Surely the whole point of having a light on is to, well, light the room?

I can't stand sitting there with piddly table lamps on. Why not go the whole hog & just sit there with head torches on, or do things by the light of the TV?

I have a light tree and a floor lamp.

Up until a few months ago I used to just use my main ceiling light. Now I could never go back to using that in the evening. I love turning my lamps on, much more relaxing.

Um, because head torches don't let off very much light.... Unlike lamps...?

We have 4 wall lights in the living room but we always have them all on in the evening. I want to see clearly to read and the tv is rarely on. We dont even have a lamp in there, just in the bedroom.

Wow. I guess most of you would hate me and my house then.

Our tiny rented house has nothing but a harsh ceiling light. Can't change that. There's no room for lamps.

I had no idea this was something I could be judged over. Must be PMSing as this has upset me

Surely you could fit in a floor lamp, frugal? The base could fit under the sofa or something. I'm sure I could fit a lamp in somewhere

I wouldn't worry about being judged though. Each to their own and all that. If you're happy with it, tis no business of anyone else's.

I hate having the big light on. I don't find it relaxing at all.

If I'm doing cross stitch we still have the lamp on, but I'll have another one behind me to throw light onto my work.

The main light is only used if we've come home when it's dark and as we are turning the wall light / lamp off at night.

I'm not sure that watching TV / relaxing needs a massively bright light to show me what I'm doing. I'm doing very little and it doesn't need illuminating! :-)

We only use table lamps. When the bulb broke in the main light we didn't bother to replace it as don't use it

The big light leaves me feeling terribly exposed. I have it on while DC do homework, play after school etc but as soon as they go upstairs I switch it off.

Thanks, I might look into a floor lamp (not literally, that'd hurt my eyes ) - DH did recently suggest a little table with a lamp but we don't have room for a table! Our living room is so fecking small. :( I hate it.

Would probably still leave the main light on when DCs are playing though and if I'm playing piano. I imagine it'd strain our eyes otherwise but it's down to what you're used to I guess.

It's a sore point though TBH - our living room gets fuck all natural light due to the direction it faces.

I HATE ceiling lights!

Every evening I go into the sitting room and the DCs have put the 2 big overhead lights on because they can't be arsed to put the 3 lamps on which are dotted around to light the whole room with a warm glow.

After a year and a half DP has finally learned to put the lamps on for me while I'm putting the DCs to bed!

They also put the 2 hall lights on which have 12 bulbs each; when I come down in the morning I have to keep my eyes half shut until I can reach the switch and turn them all off!

Another house that never uses the big light. The wall lights make it look so much cosier. But my dh likes to go the completely opposite way and sit in the dark, which I hate. I can go out for the evening and come home to find the whole house in darkness which to me looks so unwelcoming and cold.

Oo kitchen lights too, they put the 3 overhead spotlights on, whereas I prefer the soft glow of the under-cupboard lights.

Might just take all the bulbs out of the ones I don't like.

Ah now I neeeeed full light in the kitchen. Luckily our kitchen gets lots of natural light anyway unlike the stupid living room :o but recently I was cooking in the evening and as two of the three spotlights had blown it was far too dark.

frugalfuzzpig, we have a cheapy one like this in our living room.

Agh! And they leave all the curtains shut too. Every bloody light in the house is on, with all the sitting room and bedroom curtains shut. Roll on summer so it's light when they wake up.

Oh yes I have the kitchen lights on nearly all day in the winter. It doesn't get much natural light and seems really cold if the light is off. I don't count those as big lights though, they cast an even light rather than a weird harsh downlight of the sitting room 'big light'

My mother has a low ceilinged smallish living/dining room painted white. There is a modern type chandelier with 6 60 watt bulbs, which she likes to have on as soon as the sun begins to go down.. This means in a small not dark room there is 360 watts of light. I think when my father was alive, they also opted to eat with the additional illumination of a very powerful reading light angled onto the dining table. They described this effect as 'cosy'.

I tend to visit only during hours of natural daylight because this ultra-bright light physically distresses me to the point where I want to hide in a corner burying my face in hands, and crying.

We only have the main light on. My eyesight is terrible in the dark (or even when it's just dim). I hate it when people only have lamps or candles, my eyes feel really strained (and that's with glasses).