A bedroom is the one room in the house with a single job: peace, comfort and rest. Lighting it like a kitchen is the fastest way to stop it doing that job.
Put the light where you use it
Bedside lighting should be reachable from the pillow, adjustable, and aimed at the page rather than the room. Wall-mounted readers on a swing arm free up the nightstand and stop the light spilling across the bed.
Keep the ceiling quiet
If you have recessed lighting overhead, put it on a dimmer and treat it as something you turn up to find a sock, not something you live under. A bedroom lit only from above never feels restful, no matter how good the fixtures are.
Low light, low down
A small lamp on a dresser or a plug-in light near the floor gives you a setting between fully lit and fully dark. It is the level most people actually want for the last hour of the evening, and almost nobody has it.
Control beats fixtures
Dimmers, a switch by the door and a switch by the bed will improve a bedroom more than replacing every fitting in it. Being able to turn the room down without getting up is the difference between a bedroom you unwind in and one you simply sleep in.
