Two factors influence the choice of colour temperature. 

Firstly lighting level, in general the greater the intensity of the light, then the higher is the optimum colour temperature. A room lit to say 2000 lux with cool white lamps tends to look "bright, efficient and businesslike" and to be preferred by most. A low light level of say 20 lux tends to look more attractive with warm white lamps.

Secondly personal preferences vary a lot.

But in general high light levels = cool white lamps

Low light levels=warm white lamps.

5W, 370lm, 6500k GU10 lamps are readily available. 6500k is what used to be called "colour matching" and is very close to natural daylight, too harsh for some people, but it's my preference and what I use for my office and kitchen. For comparison "cool white" would be 4000k and "warm white" 3700k.

regards, burn

In bathrooms where there is a mirror with LED lights I have started using slightly more expensive LED down lights that allows me to switch between fours hues of light or LED bulkheads that allow me to switch two hues of light, so that I can try and match the LED ceiling lights to the LED mirror lights that tend to be cool white.

If there’s not a mirror light I tend to use the slightly cheaper warm white LED down lights, because warm white is easier on the eye and doesn’t display naked bodies so harshly.

Cool white makes sparkly things sparkle as did the old MR16 lamps, so are best for displaying jewellery and the like in shops.

A lot of meat looks really uninviting under the modern shop lighting and no where near as good as it did under Butchers Flourescent Lights https://www.nationallampsandcomponents.co.uk/fluorescent-tubes-and-starters/gourmet-butchers-fluorescent-tubes

In this age of online shopping, home delivery, click and collect store owners have lost the skills and ability to create shop displays, many shop windows are just blanked out to create more floor space inside the stop, you don’t generally see people stopping in the High Streets to look at shop window displays, because there’s nothing much to look at apart from charity shops.

When I did the City and Guilds Construction Technicians Certificate forty five years ago I had to do various projects, some such as drainage design were compulsory, others we could choose and I actually chose to do a shop and shop window design project which included lighting from a design point of view rather than from an electricians and installation point of view. Back then everything was about enticing potential customers to walk in to the drop off the street, now the assumption is that people will choose their purchases online, it’s a whole different ballgame, but there’s still a lot of merit in a day out shopping with coffee and lunch.

And getting your hair cut or beard trimmed which can't be done online!

Z.

That would explain the proliferation of hairdressers, far more than there used to be

Around ten years ago there was a gents hairdresser I used that had lock-ins.During the they handed out cups of coffee, then around six o’clock when there were enough customers waiting to see them through to seven o’clock when they closed, they would lock the door and get a crate of lager out, it used to be quite a social event with guys staying to seven o’clock after having their haircut, there was usually at least one plumber and another electrician present.

I don’t remember the lighting being an issue.

I do remember starting a discussion on the old forum about a farrier saying he had difficulty working by the orange light from sodium lights, another thing of the past.