Woven lamps of all types have been hot for a season or two, but we love the strapping heft of this rustic wire-and-wood Birds Nest Hanging Lamp from Serena & Lily. Partner it with sleeker furnishings, and it takes on an earthy modern air. Feather your own nest by hanging one by your favorite chair or maybe two over a console.
Cost: $220
serenaandlily.com
One of our favorite finds from the design-forward folks at IKEA, the Maskros light looks like an outsize (32 inches in diameter) version of those puffballs you liked to blow on when you were a kid. Now you can create a cool, grown-up version of that childhood memory. Just hang a Maskros, and enjoy its whimsical modern shape, then flick off the other lights and check out the cool shadow play it creates on your ceiling. Bonus. And you're not scattering dandelion seeds all over the lawn.
Cost: $89.99
ikea.com
From retro-modern superstar Thomas O'Brien comes the patinaed Hicks pendant. From the rectangular chain links to the carefully tarnished brass, this one gets the details done just right. We've had visions of it hanging in our foyer, but imagine a less expected venue: two or three hung in a line in a kitchen.
Cost: $336 to $630
circalighting.com
— Cindy Dampier, Tribune Newspapers
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Interior Design
Everything you need to know about Interior Design. Redecorating your home made easy.
Everything you need to know about Interior Design. Redecorating your home made easy.
10 Ways to Get Your Lighting Right
Melisa Bleasdale
Let’s put it on the table straight away: I do not like torchiere-style lamps. I may even be permanently traumatized by the 1980s salmon-colored pair I encountered in a client’s living room a couple years back. Some people like them, which is great; I honestly love that there are so many styles of lighting for people to choose from in this world. After all, a lamp is a functional accessory, unlike a glimmering hunk of amethyst that sits there looking amazing while the husband asks why we need such a thing. But I digress.
Lamp style is definitely important, but so is lamp quantity. The way you light a room will completely change the space, and having multiple lighting sources allows you to control ambience, mood and how you use the room. Putting those light sources on a dimmer makes it incredibly easy to change up the brightness as often as you want. I’m fairly certain dimmers are a gift from the decorating gods.
Here's how to get your own layers of lighting right.
Transitional Living Room by Jenn Hannotte / Hannotte Interiors
Jenn Hannotte / Hannotte Interiors
1. Use a mix of floor and table lighting. Depending on the size of a space, I nearly always recommend both floor and table lighting. I love the mix of lighting in this room. Each piece is interesting in its own right and adds to the overall design. Lamps are an opportunity to add something extra to a space — whether it's shine, color, art or abstraction.
Contemporary Living Room by Shaw Coates
Shaw Coates
2. Get the scale right. Overhead lighting adds a fantastic touch if it’s done right. Consider its size and purpose when going for an overhead fixture in a living space. This openwork geometric fixture looks gorgeous against the paper-white ceiling and walls. It adds a distinct focal point without being the sole lighting source. The floor lamp next to the sofa acts as a warm complement and keeps the lighting levels soft. It's more a catch-up-on-secrets space to me.
Beach Style Living Room by W Design Interiors
W Design Interiors
3. Use canned lights sparingly. I don’t really consider canned lights overhead fixtures. I see them as ambient lighting that should be employed sparingly and purposefully. When using canned lights, people have a tendency to go a bit nuts. From a design perspective, canned lighting should never be your sole source of light. I've been in one too many homes that look like a landing strip or gaming arcade because they've had the entire ceiling done in canned lights. It becomes a missed design opportunity.
Check out this gorgeous room. Why can't more rooms be like this? The designer did it exactly right by using just a sprinkling of canned lights to accent a beam while employing matching tripod-style floor lamps to illuminate the space in a very stylish way.
Transitional Bedroom by Rachel Reider Interiors
Rachel Reider Interiors
4. Don't be afraid to mix and match colors. There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to lamps and lighting. There are suggestions, but in the end, it all comes down to what works best for your lifestyle and your own personal tastes.
Rooms feel more layered and interesting with a few mismatched items. The tall floor lamp in a different color than the bright blue bedside lamps really works here. Not only is the floor lamp tied to the overall color scheme through the colors in the pillows, but it also has a distinct purpose in lighting the seating area, making it the perfect place for settling down to read a magazine without any other lights on. The bedside lamps light both sides of the bed.
With all the lights on, the room is likely brighter but not overwhelmingly bright, and lighted in a controlled way. I love mismatching that works this well.
Contemporary Living Room by Domicile Interior Design
Domicile Interior Design
5. Know the right way to choose a table lamp. I don't hold to many established design rules, but I do believe that you should not be able to see the neck of the light bulb, or the lightbulb socket, from a standing or seated position. If you do, the lamp is probably too tall. The glare of a bare bulb isn't pleasant for anyone.
I think tall table lamps give a room a bit of elegance. The beautiful cream-colored table lamp shown here is larger than you might expect for a delicate side table, but it works so well because of its classic shape and neutral color and the general eclectic chic of the room. If you see a large lamp base that you absolutely love, then I say buy it! Get a shade that will allow for the bulb to be covered, and you're good to go.
Tropical Living Room by Philpotts Interiors
Philpotts Interiors
6. Let your lamps make a statement. The table lamp in this space is much smaller than the one in the previous photo, but it has just as much presence as a larger lamp, because of its unexpected black shade and shiny copper base. It's a sexy little piece that makes a big statement.
Transitional Living Room by Jennifer Brouwer (Jennifer Brouwer Design Inc)
Jennifer Brouwer (Jennifer Brouwer Design Inc)
7. Mix bases, match shades. This room is a great example of mismatching lamps: The crisp white drum shades connect the floor and table lamps, though both are very different.
The almost Roman styling of the floor lamp and the crystal-ball base of the table lamp both work wonderfully against the dove-gray walls, and both serve different purposes. A floor lamp generally lights a larger area than a table lamp, but neither light a whole room.
Together they make for a warmer lighting scheme that is bright enough but not overbearing.
Mediterranean Living Room by Tucker & Marks
Tucker & Marks
8. Try mixing lighting styles, too. In this stunning home, the mismatched table lamp, floor lamp and overhead lighting work together seamlessly. Many people are convinced they have to follow a formulaic approach to design to achieve the sort of luxury this room exudes. Clearly, that's not true. When you look at the room as a whole, everything clicks. Everything is in its right place, but nothing is matchy-matchy.
Looking at the lighting individually, you may be surprised that a Spanish castle-style overhead was paired with a very traditional floor lamp. When choosing any element for your space, look at the room as a whole. It's way too easy to get stuck on whether or not a throw pillow goes with a bookcase accent. Never is a whole-room aproach more important than with lighting choices.
Take into account the ways in which you want to light your space, not whether or not the lamps match, then purchase accordingly.
Modern by usona
usona
9. Consider what kind of light you want. I am a dedicated fan of arcing floor lamps. They are dramatic and beautiful, they offer surprisingly warm and diffused light, and they add an immediate touch of modern. They are best positioned in a corner, so that no one exiting or entering the seating arrangement bumps his or her head. The way this arcing lamp is paired with a smaller floor lamp is interesting. I can imagine the smaller one is used for reading or more intimate lighting, and the arc lamp may light the whole sectional.
As I sit here typing, I have three of my living room lamps on: my pharmacy-style reading lamp over my left shoulder, my antique industrial lamp with a modern burlap shade to my right and my midcentury chrome reading lamp in the corner. It makes the room brightest when I'm working. Generally I have only the antique light on when I'm watching television and the pharmacy lamp on for reading.
Contemporary Living Room by Jobe Corral Architects
Jobe Corral Architects
10. Learn all about lamps.
Consider scale. A giant floor lamp over a small occasional chair wouldn't work well. However, a larger midcentury ceramic lamp base with a modern drum shade would be awesome next to a big love seat or a sectional. The same goes for tiny table lamps. If your seating is large, look for medium to large lamp bases.
Realize that lampshade fabrics are crucial. I often replace the shades lamps come with in favor of ones that look more custom. If you like a more diffused-looking light, go for linen or burlap; if you want brighter light, stick with crisp white. For more ambience, any fabric-covered shade will do, but keep in mind the cleaning needs of fabrics such as pleated silk and cotton. They are difficult to dust.
Pay attention to shade styles. If you have a modern or transitional home, I would go for drum shades. Romantic or traditional homes would be best fitted with tulip or fluted-style lampshades. An eclectic home can employ a variety of styles as long as they fit the design story of the space. If the room is fun and edgy, for example, a large fluted shade may look too formal and out of place.
Place the lamp properly. Details matter! If your only electrical outlet is across the room from where the chair is, don't string the lamp cord across the rug and in plain view. Not only is it dangerous to have long strands of cord lying around, but it looks unfinished, not to mention unsightly. Either invest in having another outlet put where the seating will be or swag a lamp from the ceiling out into the room to give better illumination.