House lighting -- bright, dim, something else?

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I generally prefer it to be very bright for reading, quite bright for cooking (mainly to better slice ingredients and to check the food while cooking, and fairly dim the rest of the time.

That got me to wondering what it would be like to change your house lighting to use lights that are overall about like candles and then have something for brighter lights only where and when you need them.

If the bedroom was like they were candlelit, it might be quite comfortable for sleeping. I have read that sleeping with bright lights on is less restful because your body stays more aware of those lights and the room. I wonder how dim lights would compare.

I can imagine having a house in which the usual household lighting stay on at least all the time it is dark and maybe even 24 hours a day.

How does everyone else feel about household lighting?

I can't stand bright, overhead lights. I must have side lights e.g. standard lamps or uplighters and not have them glaringly bright.

I'm not sure if this is because I've always lived in England where it's generally pretty dark and dim, even the weather though. We are brought up being told 'don't put the big light on' because it costs more money

I don't even like too bright sunlight tbh. I'm not accustomed to it.

I remember when I was little, we moved from the cold north east (Newcastle- yes my first words were in the Geordie dialect) to the warm south coast. Me and my mum had to wear sunglasses for a while because the sun was so bright!

Yes I'm not a fan of lying on beaches and going on holiday to hot countries with constant sun. I like temperate climates.

Plus my skin is paper white and I have freckles, so I only burn in the sun, so why bother! Quite odd: my hair is nearly black but my skin is nearly white!

I also generally want bright lines to eat. However, that is because I almost always read while I eat. I wouldn't know what to do without a book, magazine, or a laptop to read.

In another forum, someone once posted about when they were a kid and they went to stay at a friend's house for a sleepover. The writer said that everything was normal until it because time to eat. Everyone in that family sat down, pulled out a book to read, and ate. There was no conversation at all at the dining table. The writer said that every one of the kids went on to become highly accomplished professionals such as doctors and lawyers and professors.

There is a restaurant in a nearby town that has some of the best food around, but I absolutely detest the place. They turn down the lights so much that you would need to bring a headlight to read. That is obviously something that would make them upset because it doesn't fit in with their ambience.

There was a Japanese restaurant about half a mile down the street from that one that kept it really dark. Unlike the first one, which had no windows at all, the Japanese restaurant had windows on the north and south sides and shutters on the windows that could be opened. So when I would go in, I'd walk over to the booths along the south side and open the shutters so that I had enough light to read. Naturally, I didn't go there for supper.

I usually just have a table lamp on in the room where I am sitting, so it's fairly dim. I leave a lamp on in the next room as well, because I feel less isolated that way. But if I have a task I need to do I like to have good lighting so I can see, especially since my eyesight has gotten worse.

I don't mind the bright sun and even like it. It's very hot much of the time where I live, and very sunny, and it lifts my mood to go out biking in the bright sunlight. The sun only bothers me if I have been up most of the night, then it can really feel uncomfortable to go out into the bright sun.

I can understand not wanting to subject yourself to that if you have very light skin and would risk a sunburn. But pale skin and dark hair sounds like a pretty combination!