Top 8+ Common Lighting Mistakes That Are Affecting Your Mood
- Relying Only on Harsh Overhead Lighting
- Using the Wrong Color Temperature Throughout
- Skipping Dimmer Switches and Brightness Control
- Creating Single Layer Flat Lighting
- Blocking or Ignoring Natural Light
- Installing Incompatible Bulbs with Your Dimmers
- Choosing Fixtures Based Only on Style
- Forgetting Task Lighting in Work Areas
Relying Only on Harsh Overhead Lighting

Harsh overhead lighting can make any room feel unwelcoming and flat. Many rely solely on ceiling lights for brightness, but this often casts strong shadows and highlights imperfections.
Instead of making your home feel cozy and elegant, harsh lighting can make spaces feel sterile and outdated. Think of it like having a spotlight trained on you during a casual conversation—it's uncomfortable and creates an atmosphere that feels more like an interrogation room than a living space.
Overhead lights can cause glare on TV screens and computer screens and can cause you to slightly squint all day without realizing it. You might also feel more at peace when the light is not so bright, which can help reduce the tension that can lead to headaches and other health concerns.
Try incorporating softer options like floor lamps, table lamps, or wall sconces to create a layered and more flattering look.
Using the Wrong Color Temperature Throughout

Many homeowners may have never considered the coloring of their light bulbs. The shades are typically listed on the packaging, described in ways like "natural daylight" or "warm white." "The temperature of a light is measured by Kelvin degrees.
For residential homes, I would recommend bulbs between 3,000-4,000K," Do explains. "Any lower and it can get too warm.
Any higher, it can be too cold and make your home feel sterile, like a science lab." Imagine trying to relax in your bedroom with fluorescent office lighting, or attempting to cook dinner under the amber glow of a candlelit restaurant—the mismatch creates psychological discomfort. Warm lighting, which ranges between 2700 and 3500 Kelvin on the color temperature of light scale, has more yellow-y and orange undertones.
It's typically associated with feelings of comfort and intimacy and is best if your goal is to create a cozy and relaxing environment. Cool lighting ranges from 4000 to 5500 Kelvin on the scale of color temperature of light.
In contrast to warm lighting which promotes comfort and relaxation, cool lights promote energy, productivity, and focus. This type of lighting is best for people more concerned with creating an environment that's fit for working and staying alert.
Skipping Dimmer Switches and Brightness Control

Dimmer switches add flexibility to your lighting and dramatically change a room's ambiance. Without dimmers, your lighting options are often limited to just "on" or "off," making spaces feel too bright or too dark.
By installing dimmer switches, you can adjust the brightness to create the right mood, making your home feel more sophisticated and less like a relic of the past. It's like having only two volumes on your stereo—deafeningly loud or off completely.
Brighter lights may intensify their respective effects on emotions, while low lights may keep an atmosphere steadier. Implementing a light dimming switch can offer the flexibility to adapt your lighting to your needs throughout the day.
"Warmer light and lower light levels have been shown to slow heart rate and create a relaxing state," Hadley explained. "As a result, customers might be inspired to enjoy appetizers and cocktails rather than rushing through to the main course." Conversely, some restaurants might put brighter light in an area where they want to turn tables quickly.
This psychological principle applies just as powerfully in your home—you need the ability to dial your environment up or down depending on whether you're hosting a dinner party or winding down for sleep.
Creating Single Layer Flat Lighting

Relying on a single source of light is one of the most common mistakes homeowners make. Without layers of lighting, rooms can look one-dimensional and uninviting.
Ideally, you want three types of lighting: ambient (general lighting), task (focused lighting), and accent (decorative or highlighting features). Incorporating all three layers helps make your space look thoughtfully designed and up-to-date.
Many people make the mistake of placing all their lights at the same height, which flattens the look of a room and makes it feel dull. Instead, mix different heights by combining ceiling lights, wall-mounted fixtures, and floor or table lamps.
Think of lighting like a symphony—you need different instruments playing at various volumes to create depth and emotional resonance. A single overhead fixture is like playing only one note on repeat.
Blocking or Ignoring Natural Light

Natural light is one of the best assets any home can have, yet it's often overlooked. Heavy curtains or blocked windows can make a space darker and more dated.
Instead, embrace natural light using lighter window treatments or none. Not only does this make your home feel more open, but it also helps keep the space feeling bright and contemporary.
It has a powerful, nearly primordial effect on our well-being. Glare-free natural light boosts our mood, creativity, and also our cognitive performance, for example.
More positive moods are good things because, besides their obvious implications for how we go about our life, when we're in a better mood, our ability to solve problems and get along with others, for example, improves, and all of that's great for not only us but the world in which we live. Natural light acts like nature's antidepressant—it regulates your circadian rhythms and keeps your internal clock aligned.
Beyond energy savings, exposure to natural light improves mood and can help make falling asleep easier. Spending your day in areas that are enhanced by natural light can improve the function of your circadian rhythm, which can increase your happiness and energy levels.
Installing Incompatible Bulbs with Your Dimmers

This is probably the most common mistake that people make when switching to LED, whereby they forget to divide the dimmer's maximum wattage by 10 when considering its tolerances for LED. For a bulb to properly register and respond to the varying amounts of power a dimmer allows through, it requires special circuitry.
Without it, trying to dim a standard, non-dimmable bulb would, at best, just not work properly. At worst?
It could actually be overly sensitive to the fluctuating amounts of power and overheat, damaging the bulb and/or creating a fire hazard in your home. Not all LED bulbs are dimmable, so it's important to check the packaging.
Even among dimmable LEDs, not all are compatible with all types of dimmers. Using an incompatible combination can lead to flickering, buzzing, or premature failure of the bulbs or dimmer.
This flickering effect isn't just annoying—it can trigger headaches, eye strain, and even anxiety in sensitive individuals.
Choosing Fixtures Based Only on Style

In addition to the brightness of a bulb, the style of a light fixture can also play an important role in staging a home for sale. Do advises sellers to be cognizant of their home décor – and the look they're trying to achieve – when selecting elements to incorporate.
We wouldn't want to put a heavily industrial light fixture into an organic modern home. Organic modern is about bringing lightness and natural textures into the space, and an industrial fixture with heavy metal detail could look out of place and detract attention from the other parts of the room we're trying to highlight.
It's like wearing a tuxedo to a beach party—technically it's clothing, but it creates psychological discord. The wrong fixture can make you feel subconsciously uncomfortable in your own space, even if you can't articulate why.
With the ability to largely affect the mood of a room, lighting is the most important element to consider when designing a space. In addition to altering the mood of the occupants in a room, lighting can transform the room in shape and size.
Forgetting Task Lighting in Work Areas

Task lighting is essential in areas where specific activities happen, like cooking in the kitchen or working at a desk. This specific use is still a priority for plenty of homebuyers – and therefore, if your home has a workspace, it's imperative to think about the impact of lighting.
"With the high number of people now working from home, buyers are considering how the lighting changes in their house during the workday," Do says. "Ask yourself, 'Is the lighting in the office too dim for a video conference call?'" Working under inadequate lighting is like trying to write with a broken pencil—you're constantly struggling against the tools instead of focusing on the task.
Poor task lighting forces your eyes to work harder, leading to fatigue, decreased productivity, and mounting frustration throughout the day. Bedside lamps, desk lamps and under-cabinet lighting can all add to your overall light profile while also highlighting attractive details, like your backsplash or countertops.
Vanity lighting in the bathrooms should be bright and consistent, with no drastic shadows and glare. Your home's lighting affects you more than you might realize—every single day, every moment you spend in your space.
Researchers believe that lighting levels make us perceive heat and make us feel warmer, causing our emotions to become more intense. The "hot emotional system" triggered by increasingly bright light can make us feel more strongly about our opinions and feelings.
The good news? Most lighting mistakes are surprisingly easy and affordable to fix once you know what to look for.
Start with one room, notice how you feel when you make changes, and let that guide your decisions throughout the rest of your home. Have you ever walked into a room and immediately felt your mood shift, only to realize later it was all about the lighting?