A sunset projection lamp does one thing: it throws a wide disc of warm, low-angle light onto a surface. Whether it looks like a summer evening or a traffic light depends almost entirely on where you put it.
Aim it at a wall, not into the room
The effect works by reflection. Point the head at a plain wall or ceiling from one to two metres away and let the light bounce back at you. Pointed into open space it just looks like a bright bulb.
Give it a plain, pale surface
White and off-white walls carry the colour best. A busy wall — art, shelves, a gallery of frames — breaks the circle up. If your walls are dark, aim for the ceiling instead.
Lower is better
Set it on the floor or a low shelf and tilt the head up. A low light source is what makes a room feel like late afternoon; a high one feels like an office.
Turn everything else off
The glow only reads as warm when it is the brightest thing in the room. Kill the overheads, keep a small lamp on if you need to see, and let the disc do the work.
Colours worth keeping
Deep orange and amber are the ones people come back to. The rainbow and single-colour blues photograph well for a few minutes and then feel like a lot. The remote remembers your last setting, so find the orange you like and leave it there.
A good pairing
If you like the idea of projected light but want something slower and more ambient for the bedroom, the astronaut galaxy projector drifts a star field across the ceiling instead — same principle, calmer result.