The Govee smart lamp transformed my space and my mood.

I realized things were off when I had to drape a towel over a broken Ikea lamp just to dull its harsh glare. How did I end up here? I’m someone who covers high-tech gear for a living, yet it took me two years to finally part ways with a couple of old, dysfunctional Ikea lamps in my bedroom. Then I discovered Govee floor lamps, and everything changed.

Those Ikea lamps had been with me since I moved from Orange County to Los Angeles. Shortly after relocating, my mom’s Parkinson’s disease — a relentless neurodegenerative condition — worsened rapidly, impacting my mental health and pushing my own priorities aside as I focused on her care. The bulky, unattractive lamps just lingered, blending into the chaos of my life.

I didn’t even have them connected to a smart plug, which was another upgrade I kept meaning to make, despite having smart plugs scattered throughout my apartment. This meant I had to get up every time I wanted to turn one on. One lamp blasted a harsh, glaring light through a cracked shade, while the other emitted a warmer glow — but not warm enough. One exhausted night, I threw a towel over it as a makeshift solution. Yes, it was a fire hazard, and yes, I intended it to be a temporary fix. But in the whirlwind of caregiving, those temporary fixes can easily become permanent. Eventually, it stopped feeling like a stopgap and morphed into my new normal, even if it clearly wasn’t.

Then my brother gifted my mom and me two Govee Uplighter Floor Lamps for Christmas, and my Ikea lamp woes were finally over. I never expected to form an emotional bond with a lamp, but here we are — it’s now one of my favorite gadgets.

The Govee lamp was a breeze to assemble and took up far less space than the old ones. As I cleared out the old lamps and set up the new ones, I felt a wave of relief and a sense of control that had been missing since my move. Within a week, the old lamp was gone, and that small change sparked a momentum shift. I began decluttering other neglected corners of my space, tackling items I had been stepping over for months without really noticing.

My bedroom transformed from a chaotic project I was merely enduring into a calmer, steadier space where I could finally breathe. My days often revolve around my mom’s needs and the next task at hand, leaving little room for my own space. But having a room that felt even slightly serene made it easier to unwind at night, breaking the cycle of feeling “on” all the time. It helped me reconnect with myself, even if just a little.

I could finally relax without the nagging feeling that I should be doing something else. I could dim the lamp from my phone instead of getting up, and I could switch from cool to warm light without risking a fire hazard. The gentle ripple effect of the light on the wall, for reasons I can’t fully articulate, genuinely helps me drift off to sleep. Cycling through soft colors in the app while syncing it with ambient music is incredibly soothing. Sometimes, the shifting hues feel almost magical, reminding me of the playful joy of childhood. The warm, changing light seems to have a similar calming effect on my mom, providing comfort as she navigates the challenges of her condition.

What I love most is that it does all this without demanding much from me. Setup took about 15 to 20 minutes and didn’t require any complicated tools. You control it through the Govee app on your phone, and since it supports Matter, you can pair it with platforms like Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant for voice control. It offers a wide array of colors, 80 preset scenes, and seven music modes. At $179.99, it’s a bit of an investment, but it’s versatile, functioning as three lights in one: a top section that casts a soft glow onto the ceiling, a colorful middle light, and a standard white light at the bottom.

It’s an incredible gift, and I’m truly grateful for it. However, mine has one quirk: it sometimes forgets it’s a lamp. It doesn’t lose Wi-Fi or show as offline in the app; it just randomly turns off. The first time it happened, I was rewatching Stranger Things to prep for the final season. The lights flickered on screen, and suddenly my room was pitch black. The vibe shifted from relaxing to eerie in an instant, and I briefly wondered if reality and TV had merged (I might have had a bit too much wine). Once I collected myself, I opened the Govee app and turned it back on without issue. I assumed it was a power or Wi-Fi glitch, and Govee sent me a replacement that worked flawlessly.

When it’s functioning — which is most of the time — it quietly enhances my life. And somehow, that’s been enough to make it one of my new favorite gadgets. It didn’t solve everything, but it helped me start taking care of my space — and myself — again.