Last weekend I made a little "pleasure purchase" that we didn't really need, but it is nice to have. Over the last couple years I have bought a couple of Philips Hue bulbs and a strip and have been happy with the mood they create. The strip is in the bedroom and there is a lamp with a bulb in the living room, but now with the upstairs complete, I wanted to add a little light to the stairwell, as there ja no dimmer on the ceiling spots, but it is nice to have a little light late at night when I finally head to bed at the end of the day.
I went with the Play light, which is meant to go behind a TV for gaming, but i think it makes a nice, clean little lamp and it can go very dim too. It isn't the brightest in the world, but this isn't for reading by, it is just for ambience and gives plenty enough light for everything else.
We have struggled a bit with the lighting in the house as the ceilings are quite low, so we are reduced to mostly spots, which aren't very romantic. However, we don't actually use them much as for most of the time, we have only the lamps on and being able to adjust the colours, makes quite a difference to the feel of the room. Adding a little warmth to the white makes it much cozier and while we don't use the greens and blues, I do use pinks and reds to change the mood.
The paint on the wall is a warm greyish colour, but it seems to flex with all light conditions well. We have been happy with it and it gives a homely feel trapped between the sharp white of the roof and the off-white of the floor.
I am looking forward to getting the groundfloor done, so we can find a few old lamps from the 60s and bring them into modern times with some smart lighting. There are plenty on the second-hand sites, but I haven't found the perfect ones yet. I am also hoping to find a ceiling light for over the dining table also and fit that with a hue light too.
While the Philips range is expensive and we are kind of "stuck" with Hue now, the cost is outweighed by the feeling they bring as accents and I have been surprised at just how effective they are to affecting my mood.
I am sitting in the living room now with the lamp on low and the Play light glowing off on the other side of the house in the same warm tone, and after sitting in front of the screen the last few hours, it is a pleasant way to wind down for bed. A glass of wine would be perfect.
I have found lately that I will need to take some time for myself soon, as the last month or two at work has been intense enough that I need a breather, with the last two weeks being very difficult. I don't complain about periods like this though, as I know that many have it far worse and I also know that these periods will end. Some work like this constantly and it can't be conducive to good health outcomes.
But, I still seem to live my philosophy of, put my head on the pillow each night, knowing I gave the day my all, - for better or worse. Even though I am often tired, I feel like I get enough done during the days that when I do go to bed, my mind doesn't start racing through the day that was or is to come, I just sleep. It hasn't always been the case.
Well on that note, I think this day is done and there will be another tomorrow that had been building up for two weeks to be a disaster. I am trying my best to salvage it, but I am not sure I have the skills or the tools available to pull it off, so I might have to resign myself to failure. But, it will be failure in the attempt, not failure by not trying.
Each day there are opportunities that arise for us to be better than we were, to improve and grow - I feel that too often we miss them, while we are stuck in the routines of comfort. People want freedom, but they bind themselves to their own habits.
In a moment, I will free my mind into the darkness of sleep and the imaginary lights of the dreamworld and see where it floats me into the morning.
Goodnight.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]