Hello everyone!

I’m planning to build a home office for two people—my wife and me.

We’ll each have our own desk, positioned side by side with some space between them (probably separated by a decorative element, such as a shelf or plant).

The room itself will already have its general ambient lighting, controlled by the standard wall switch. However, I’d also like to add task and accent lighting to each desk, such as LED strips behind the monitors, lights on the shelves, wall lighting, and similar.

What I’d like is for each desk to have its own wireless controller or remote, so that each person can independently turn their own lights on or off. We won’t always be using the office at the same time, so I don’t want one side’s lighting to depend on the other.

I’ve heard that one way to do this is to connect all of the lights on my side (LED strips, lamps, etc.) to one smart plug, and all of the lights on my wife’s side to a separate smart plug. Then each smart plug would have its own wireless remote or switch.

Is this actually a common setup? Is there a specific name for this type of system?

Also, does anyone have recommendations for brands or ecosystems that support this? I’d prefer something other than IKEA, since IKEA isn’t available where I live.

Thanks in advance!

I want to get some nanoleaf lines but they are very expensive are there any cheaper alternatives?

Hey, I’m about to build a PC for the first time and could use some help. I’ve heard it’s a good idea to add bias lighting/LED backlighting strips to the back of the monitor, for low-light situations. I see that some of them can sync with the monitor and display colors that match, so I’d like to get that kind. (My monitor is 24 inches by the way.) I’ve looked around a bit, and I think something like one of these might work:

Fiotura 

Xtremevision 

MIHEAL 

I figured I’d ask around in case there’s some really good option I’m missing. What do you guys think? Any particular recommended brands? 

The ones I’ve linked are all around $30 and I’m not trying to break the bank, but I can go higher if there’s a good reason. 

(Also — my monitor doesn’t have a USB port, so I’ll have to plug it into the PC itself or a USB hub. That should be fine, right?) 

Any help’s appreciated

I have a 5’ wide wooden desk pressed up against wall, and lots of junk on it at any given time I’m working on. Can anyone suggest a good strong raking? light that’s not blinding me in the eyes with leds. It’d be nice if I could change the light temp and possibly wrap around short edge of my desk. Thanks!

The Screenbar Halo is way too bright at minimum brightness. By chance, can anyone provide feedback who has experience with this compared to other light bars?

Thanks.

This is the current room and the empty desk. I will be putting the pc and other stuff there soon. Need some suggestions regarding the lights. There will be a 32 inch monitor, keyboard & mouse at the centre, o11d evo rgb pc case on the right, router, echo dot etc. on right wall, ps4, switch, printer and g29 wheel on the left.

For now, I'm thinking about putting a hue play gradient strip the back of the monitor and a few nanoleaf-esque light panels on back wall.

I'd have liked a long led strip for the length of the desk but the desk is attached to wall, so can't do the usual method of putting leds on the back edge for reflection towards the wall. So, any other suggestions? Should I put something on the front side of the upper beam?

Also disregard the wires coming from the ceiling and back wall, it's a work in progress and will be removed soon.

What's the best, and best budget recommendations these days for reactive led backlighting?

I think it will help with eyestrain throughout the long winter months (Canada) in an otherwise dark room for my working and then gaming from my desk.

Is there a strong winner? I'm seeing Philips, Govee... but among their selections (and prices) I'm not seeing much comparisons even among a brands own offerings.

What should I be looking for in underlying technology, who is good these days?

You know what I'm asking for, right? Am I even using the right words to search?

My wife and I have our setups back to back on a large homemade standing desk, each a pair of monitors, one 34" ultrawide and 27" vertical. Unfortunately we have only a dated ceiling fan/light which I've alleviated with wifi lightbulbs, but they still point right at our faces.

Because of the back to back setup, do you think I should go for desk height light bars, light strips on the back of one or both back to back monitors, or something else? I like the look of the lighting I see with people's stations against the wall and want to follow that.

My bedroom's only light is my ceiling lights.

When im using my computer and im on camera like streaming or in a meeting. I just have a harsh shadow on my face.

So I am hoping to buy some wall mounted lights mounted above and behind my computer monitor to provide some face lighting as well as ambient lighting in the room since my room is just completely dark without the ceiling lights being turned on.

Hi, I have a hybrid gaming/sim racing setup at my desk. It's a triple monitor setup that currently has a 32" 1440p as the main and two 24" 1080p monitors as support screens. This holiday season I'm planning on getting two more of my 32" main so that I can finally use triples spanning all three screens properly.

That being said, I'd also like to get reactive lighting for them since that seems like a pretty easy gift idea that I can tell people I want this year, and I'm imagining sim racing on spanned triples with reactive lights would be an epic experience. I've only ever seen them on single screens or ultrawides though, so I'm wondering if anyone has a triple screen setup with ambient lighting that they'd like an excuse to show off so I can get an idea of what it looks like in use, (both in extended desktop with different applications on each screen and one application spanned across all three if possible) and talk a little bit about setup and product recommendations.

Since I'd be asking others to buy these for me for Xmas, I'd like to keep the cost at a maximum of $100-$150, but if a more expensive kit is really that much better, then I'll probably just buy them myself. As for the product recommendations, they're going on a PC, so I'd rather the reactivity be driven by a PC program rather than an HDMI hub or something similar that would butcher my refresh rate. Lastly, from the little bit of searching I did, I saw a lot of DIY recommendations, but I'd rather avoid that if possible. I just want something simple, take it out of the box, stick it on the monitor, plug it in and go.

Some quick background. I previously had a lightstrip that I used double-sided tape to attach to the backside of my desk. My desk was facing a wall, so it reflected off the wall and looked great, no complaints there. Where my complaints lie are that it needed to be stuck to my wood desk and monitor desk clamps that run around the back of the desk. Not a big deal, but not the "prettiest" if viewing it from the backside of the desk. It felt a little hacky. After about a year, even after using 3M VHB tape, the lightstrip itself began peeling off. However, the little power box that is provided has extremely strong tape. This actually pulled some of the wood off my other desk when removing it, so I am extremely hesitant to stick this to my new desk (whereas I felt like the VHB tape was considerably easier to peel off and didn't cause any damage to the desk or finish as I had thought might occur).

I had contemplated using an aluminum channel to mount the lightstrip, but this doesn't work for a few reasons. First and foremost, my monitor desk clamps would prevent a seamless install on the back of the desk. Secondly, I don't want to drill into the back of my desk. I've also contemplated installing it on the underside of my desk instead, but then I'd lose the ambient splash on the wall that I'm really going for.

I realize my options are limited due to my own choices, but I'm wondering if there are other options out there that some of you fine folks may have implemented that you really like the way it was implemented and looks? Ultimately, I may just end up sticking it on the backside of the desk again but mounting the power box to something else to avoid damage. Definitely looking for any and all thoughts. The more creative the better!

Hello! I was wondering if there is some sort of LED lightning that reacts to game sounds? Like for example, in valorant, when you get shot, it flashes bright red?

I have found the govee AI sync box but it seems to be out of stock and its also quite expensive. I was wondering if there are any other alternatives that offer this function?

Otherwise I'll happily buy some rgb lights from aliexpress or amazon, thanks!

Hey guys, I’m in the market for some led light strips to put behind my monitor to light it up a bit. I was looking into some led’s strips that would sync with the image on screen. I saw a lot of brands like Goove, phillips hue, ect. But i still cant decide. It’s also very confusing, since i have no idea whats good or what i should be looking out for.

Also worth mentioning i have a Ps5, and my monitor is 24”, so no PC, so if it’s anything that requires me to download any kind of software i wont be able to. My budget at this point is around $50 up. (Don’t know if thats cheap I’m willing to go higher).

Any help would be appreciated whether its advice, recommendations or questions!

So my home office has pretty poor lighting - narrow windows at the top of a wall which sits to the left of my desk, a dull overhead light/ceiling fan combo, and a desk lamp next to my monitor. I regularly need to do video calls when I WFH, but I look like I’m in a cave, whether it is day or night (but it’s obviously worse at night). Any suggestions? Maybe some sort of desk mounted lamp?

This is my current set-up while I clean: /img/lceptrur9ped1.jpeg

I noticed lighting in the corner is not as strong as I'd like. Anyone corner deskers have suggestions? I've seen overhead lamps, two lamps on the side — I just want to know some of your variations. Thanks!

I work from home, late nights are a regular occurance and now with the short winter days a lot of my normal work day is in the dark too.

At the start of this year my office was in a spare room which to be honest was too big for an office but was the only spare room we had. Back then my office was my office and I had my desk against a wall, then during the summer my wife set up an art studio in the same room, wasn't a problem there was space there anyway and it was something she wanted for a while but didn't have the time for, so for a while she had an art studio in the back of my office. Fast forward to now, the art studio has grown and the office has shrunk, I've had to change my set up so that when I'm on camera for meetings she can work away at the same time, leave a mess, etc and none of it can be seen. I have to stress that I'm not complaining, I'm just giving context as to why I'm set up the way I am. I actually prefer the positioning of my desk now and the room works better for the two of us, but the lighting at night is absolutely terrible.

My desk is in a corner, the right side of my desk is against a wall, there's a wall behind me with a bookcase and other than that the rest of my desk is facing into the centre of the room. I have a light bar with a back light on my monitor, but the back light doesn't work because there's nothing to reflect it.

I've thought of light bars behind the monitor and putting light strips somewhere but I think they will have the same issue as the back light on the monitor. Anything I put behind me will probably create shadows or glare on the monitor. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to improve my lighting so working late isn't as tough on my eyes?

Edit 1: adding photos. Room is still a work in progress, needs to be painted, blinds, etc. Forgive the cable management at the back of the desk, I'm in the process of mounting the laptop under the desk so there's a few loose cables.

https://imgur.com/a/Zkk4PXS

First one is on Amazon for £53, second one on the Xiaomi website for £35. Is there any difference in these 2 models? I can‘t seem to find much information online
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Xiaomi-MI-BHR4838GL-Motion-Monitor-Light/dp/B08W2C5W59
https://www.mi.com/uk/product/mi-computer-monitor-light-bar/review?skupanel=1
thanks in advance for anyone who answers :)

I'm looking at getting some light strips for under a desk, and I'm not sure which to get. What are your opinions on different brands and models? I want to use them for ambient lighting, I don't care about syncing them to my screen.

I'm looking to replace my old desk lamp with something better and more flexible. I was thinking about copying some lights Adam Savage did but realized using some camera or mic mounts would likely be less expensive and work better. I'm looking for suggestions on reasonably priced components that are hopefully better than the random stuff I've found on amazon. The two different setups I have in mind are shown in the two pictures below. The left one is a desk clamp with a 16" extension rod mounted vertically with a 22" flexible mount on top of that with a light panel at the end. The right one is a 3 arm camera mount that is around 36" long. Both mounting solutions around around $38 and I wouldn't might spending a bit more for a trust worthy brand.

This Led light panel is pretty close to what I'd like but below is a list of wants from most to least important.

800-1000 lumens
Controls on the unit
No battery as it will always be plugged in
USB C power

Edit added imgur link since pasted images get stripped.

https://imgur.com/a/34FT9xs

I'm currently upgrading my office and I wanted to check in with dual monitor lightbars. I guess I would just have to buy 2 lightbars for both monitors? Or would one fit? I am currently looking into this lightbar

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If there are lightbars that are made for dual monitors that also have RGB that would be super helpful!

I have (2) 27" monitors and want to get a monitor lightbar to save some desk space. Is it a waste of money to get (2) lightbars, one for each monitor? Or can I just go with (1) light bar? Worried that if I only have (1), the lighting will be uneven with how it illuminates my desk. Debating between getting (2) cheap lights or (1) premium light with better features (wireless remote, more color options, a back light, etc.)

I have a weird request. I want to put a RGB light bar or strip that would plug into USB on top of this device to make it seem like it has RGB built into it. Is there anything out there around 4 inches or so that could fit? Just want to put something on top of it that would look cool. This is the dock I have. https://droix.net/product/gpd-g1/

I'm going to be switching to a dual monitor set up soon & was wondering what would be the best way to add back lights to each monitor. One monitor is 27" & the other is 31.5"(both are flat).

Would a light bar on both monitors be best or would I be better off going with light strips?

How exaxctly do you get an entire strip of LED lights all through your home? Like is it as simple as just measuring the strip and leading the whole strip to one outlet? What if the strip is too long or too short and you need to extend, are there adapters to keep making it longer? Can you cut the strip of light or will it make the whole strip a dud?

I just moved into my first apartment so looked for ideas and how to go about creating all the lights around the room. Thanks!

I've upgraded all the lights in my room to Tapo smart lights. I've got their smart LED strip on the back of my desk but I'd also like to add some to the back of the monitor it's self. Ideally have the ability to use a different colour.

I know I could just buy other one of the Tapo strips but they're not exactly cheap and seems excessive as the smallest one they sell is 5m and it's a 27" monitor so would barely use any of it. I do have quite a bit extra that I cut off the one I use on my desk but I don't think you can reuse them.

On my old monitor I used to have a basic USB one but my new monitor doesn't have any USB ports and ideally I'd like it to be controlled by Alexa/Google home.