When choosing the perfect shade for your new table or floor lamp base it is all about choosing the correct scale, style, and supporting your lamp base.
In this blog post we are going to give you advice on, how you can choose the correct shade to compliment your base and create beautiful lighting in your room.
Considering which lighting to use in your room is a very important part of interior design. Different types of lighting can dramatically change the colours you are using in your room.
Incandescent Lights will make reds, oranges and yellows appear more vivid, whilst toning down both blues and greens. Fluorescent lights work to enrich both blues & greens. Halogen lights resemble natural light and bring to life all colours. So, as you can see choosing the correct bulb for your room is also an important part of your new lamp. There are so many amazing bulbs on the market today, different shapes, colours and styles. Some being fantastic statement pieces by themselves if you are looking for a modern, industrial style lamp.
Let’s get back to the styling of your new lamp.
First of all you want get out the measuring tape and to measure your lamp base, the shade you want to choose or have commissioned needs to be roughly two thirds the height of your base, getting this correct will ensure your lamp is correctly balanced and proportioned – nobody wants an out of balance lamp.
Now measure the width of your base, you want your shade to be double the width. When you are considering how wide you want the shade to be remember location, if it is a bedside table lamp you want to ensure it fits the table well and will not be knocked off during the night. If you’re debating between two sizes for style if space is not an issue, it’s usually better to go for the larger although having said that, very thin and tall lamps can often suit smaller shades.
So now you have your measurements it is time to choose the fabric, this is the most exciting part because you can really put your stamp on the lamp, creating a piece perfect for your room.
There are many things to consider when choosing the fabric, firstly let’s talk print, style and colour. Do you want your lamp to blend in with your room or to stand out and be a statement piece? Either way you want to ensure the lamp and the style already in the room will complement each other.
Think carefully about the style of your lamp base and your existing interior design. Accent lamps with solid bases look great with a bold print. If your room is already very busy and you’d like something to tie it all together, a solid, plainer fabric for the shade would be ideal.
Now you know what style of fabric you would like and what would suit your room, the next consideration is how much light do you need to come through your shade? Is this lamp going to be used for mood lighting or to light the pages of the good book that you cannot put down!
Fabrics with a lighter weight and colour will allow your lamp to throw more light around your room, allowing a glow of warm outward light, perfect to set the tone for a room and create beautiful mood lighting. A darker or heavy fabric will only allow light to come through the top & bottom of the shade making this type great for reading and writing.
Next to consider is what shape lampshade is best – there are lots to choose from but here are the main ones.
Empire and straight empire are the classic round ‘frustum’ shapes, put simply a cone with the top taken off. The Square is very similar to the empire but with a square or rectangle bottom. The Drum a cylinder shape, giving a contemporary look and finally the Oval.
Rounded lampshades are generally more popular in homes, but if you are limited on space, with a narrow table or a mantle piece the square is fantastic as it can be placed right up against the wall, which is extremely useful.
Why not Pop into The Loft with your lamp base and have a chat with Sarah who can advise more and help you choose the correct shade, there is an abundance of fabrics here to choose from. If you haven’t purchased your base yet, there is also a selection of beautiful lamp bases to choose from in The Loft.
This Spring we have a stunning range of Shropshire made lampshades coming in stock, created from beautiful Indian Saris'
