If you ever stepped foot inside my flat during the evening, you might think things look a little dark. All the lightbulbs are functional, and I can (just about) afford the electricity to use them, but you won’t find any of the light switches flicked into the ‘on’ position. Fairy lights? Yes. Candles? Love them. But the big light? Never.

I am not alone in my preference for a softly lit room. When I asked the Stylist digital team how they felt about the big light (aka the overhead light), I was met with audible sounds of derision. And on TikTok, a sound by the user @GeeOfDee, in which she reveals her opposition to the big light, has been used over 1,000 times by people – mostly women – sharing their disdain for a fully-lit home.

Fairy lights, lamps and candles, but never the ‘big light’ – the psychology behind our low-light obsession