Earlier this month, I was asked to take part in a discussion on Lighting The 5th Room as part of the KBIS 2021 Virtual Conference. It was a fun discussion and I wanted to elaborate a little bit on one of the points I made in the presentation.

In the last few years, a lot of research has come out around the science of habit formation. Charles Duhigg’s The Power of Habit is probably the main text people are familiar with on this subject. He explained the very simple concept of how a habit works. demonstrated here.

Essentially a cue triggers a pattern of behavior that leads to a reward.

Change of location is a cue. I go to the gym and it triggers working out. I go to my desk and it triggers opening my email app. I go to my local coffee shop and it triggers reading a book. The environment is crucial to creating a context for habits.

But for many of us in the age of COVID-19 our homes have become everything. They are the gym, the office, the art studio, the reading nook, the coffee bar, and myriad other things. We’ve lost the power of locational context to trigger our more desired behaviors. Home is for relaxing, right? If you’re used to going to the gym, the office, school, the coffee shop and library, you’ve lost many powerful contexts. So what is to be done?

Using Light to Create Good Habit Triggers

One of the easiest ways to create visual triggers in the home is with lighting. While there are awesome convertible pieces of furniture and movable units that realign a space, a simple touch of a button and lighting can transform a space instantly. This is particularly powerful if we’re lighting a multi-use room.

The very basic sketch I have above is modeled after the spare bedroom in my own house, which became the home office/craft area/ occasional home gym. Using this simple space as an example I’m going to walk through how different lighting scenes can trigger different habit sets (or habit stacks if you prefer) and some of the physiological and psychological advantages of the lighting scene. Before we get into the scenes and habit triggers themselves, I want to quickly describe each lighting layer for you. It’s by combining these layers in different intensities that we create different scenes, which triggers the habit(s).

Recessed downlight and accent light

These small recessed fixtures give the room its ambient downlight the adjustable accents hit artwork imagines on one wall.

Wall Sconces

I’ve imagined simple rectilinear forms, but sconces are a wonderful way of adding vertical illumination to your space. We imagine two pairs that fill the room with soft balanced light.

Work Light Zone

I’ve combined two different types of light fixtures into a single zone of control here. These are the shelf lighting in the converted open closet on the right of the sketch and the desk lamp in the center.

Natural light through the window

We cannot forget the natural light filling the room through the large window along the back wall. Natural light is so very important especially for spaces we plan on spending many of our daytime hours.

These four simple lighting zones are all imagined as static white (versus tunable) and are simply on dimmers. Now let’s talk about how we trigger habits with light.

Work Mode

An open bright space - all work surfaces and overall area lit adding to contribution from natural light.

Physiological/Psychological Benefits: We are at our most alert when we’re in high volumes of light and that light filters toward our eyes (versus straight down) especially with contribution from the sun, this will boost energy and alertness. A full, bright space will engage your mind as much as your body.

How to make it a habit: Trigger this seen with automation via your smart home system. If you know you want to work every day in the home office starting at 9 am, then let the lights coming on at 9am will act as a visual cue daily to get to work.

Focus Mode

This is different from what I called “work mode” because as the name implies, it draws focus downward. The scene minimizes distraction by pulling light down to the desk and the supply closet. Only the essentials to work on a project.

Physiological/Psychological Benefits: When we need to focus, it can be helpful to limit our field of vision. Visual noise pulls focus away from the task at hand.

How to make it a habit: When you decide you need to work on something, put your phone in another room, out of sight, then say, “Alexa/Siri/Google, it’s time to focus.” This mini habit stack sets the table for a good session.

Zoom Mode

OK, maybe this one is a little bit less about health and a little more about feeling glamorous in the age of everyday sweatpants. Even in our work-from-home world, it feels good to look our best for the world. This mode combines natural light from the window with ambient warm light from the scones and reduces the downlighting. This gives you complimentary shadowing highlights, no ring lights required.

Physiological/Psychological Benefits: There’s nothing worse than feeling anxious about how you look on camera. Good lighting can help.

How to make it a habit: Make it part of your pre-zoom routine. Lights, camera, action!

Relax Mode

By bringing in the light from the sides of the room it encourages soft vertical light perfect for lounging in a big chair and making a page glow.

Physiological/Psychological Benefits: Just as we wanted to stimulate alertness with high volumes of light in work mode, by decreasing light levels we’re triggering a more mellow state.

How to make it a habit: Make it a reward. You just finished a work day, the kids are fed, washed and tucked in bed. Make a cup a tea and say, “Hey Siri, it’s time to relax.” Let the lights shift, grab a book and settle in. As as added bonus, you’ll sleep much better if the last thing you’re looking at are the illuminated pages of a glowing book versus the glow of an LED backlit screen.

Additional Enhancements

This is just the basics. Today’s LED fixtures can bring color and warmth and vibrance. There are no limits to what lighting can do to transform your interiors.

Watch the Panel Discussion

Below is the panel discussion I was a part of as part of KBIS virtual. Here we talk not just about lighting, but how the acoustical environment and how to deal with the “5th space.”

Product Ideas

Need some help with where to start? Check out the gallery below. From sconces to shelf lighting to recessed downlights, here are some ideas for lighting your “5th space.”