How to Pick the Right Size Lamp (Every Time!)
/Choose the Perfect Size Lamp for Every Space
A lamp is a lamp is a lamp, right? WRONG. Although a lamp may easily serve its main purpose of lighting up a room, choosing the wrong size can really skew your design. But how do you pick the right size lamp?
You wouldn’t think picking out a lamp would be difficult, would you? I certainly didn’t… until I tried to pick one out for my desk.
As I was perusing my options, I quickly realized I have no clue how to choose the right size lamp! Standing in Target, I found myself with lamp paralysis, second-guessing every lamp I laid eyes on. (Don’t worry, I don’t think it’s contagious.)
You see, all these years, I’ve just been winging it. Sometimes I’ve bought the right size, but other times I’ve been way off base. But since I just ran into this issue, I figured other folks have likely had this conundrum before too - and that’s okay! There’s more to it than you’d think.
That’s why in this post, we’re going to talk all about how to choose the correct size table lamp, so you can select the perfect size lamp on the first try (and not try out a bunch like I did).
I’ve been researching this topic a ton, and I’ve learned that there are two main questions to consider: “what size lampshade do you need?” and “how tall should your lamp be?”. Simply picking out a lamp that’s pretty won’t cut it.
To buy the right lamp for your space, answering these two questions can make or break your room design. And the answer to both of these questions is more mathematical than I expected.
How to Choose the Right Size Lamp
Lamp base and shade requirements can vary depending on the room and what types of tasks are performed there. Height, width, and style all play an important role in choosing the best lamp for your space. And to demonstrate how these elements come into play, I’m going to regale you all with my astonishing photo manipulation skillz once again. You’re welcome.
Height
Height is one of the most involved factors in choosing the right lamp. Let me explain what I mean.
First of all, when considering the height of your lamp, you want to make sure that whatever surface your lamp is on, it isn’t so tall that it shines into your eyes. To prevent this, make sure the bottom of the lampshade is no higher than eye level. This should hide the glare from the light bulb and actually allow you to see. You’re trying to light the space - not blind yourself.
For example, in the image below, if you were to sit on the couch, the bottom of the lampshade should hit at or below eye level.
But you should also consider the ratio of the height of the shade to the lamp base. The shade should be approximately ⅓ the height of the entire lamp (including the bulb and/or harp). This means, if your lamp is 24 inches tall from base to bulb/harp, your shade should be around 8 inches tall.
I’m going to throw it out there up front - rarely will any base/shade combination have the perfect ratios, but as long as you’re within a couple of inches it’ll look fine. Take the below image for example. Although the shade is a little larger than 1/3 the size of the base, it’s close enough that it still looks okay.
Lastly, it’s a good idea to consider the scale of the table your lamp is sitting on in relation to the lamp base. If you had a small end table and a giant lamp, it would certainly look (and probably be) top-heavy, and vice versa!
As a rule of thumb, consider that your lamp should be a maximum of 1.5 times the height of your table.
Width
To make things more complicated, it’s also advised that the measurement across the bottom of the shade should be twice as wide as the diameter of the base of your lamp.
For example, if the base of your lamp is 6 inches wide, the bottom of your lampshade should be 12 inches wide (give or take an inch or two). For a square or rectangular lamp base or shade, measure diagonally.
But don’t give up yet! In the example below, you can see how that measurement isn’t exact. Remember - within an inch or two is close enough! No one is going to take a tape measure to your lamp - and if they do, do you really want that person in your house anyway?
One other, more straight-forward aspect to lamp width: you should also consider the width of the table your lamp is sitting on and make sure your lampshade is no wider than the table. This not only looks better but also helps prevent it from being accidentally knocked over.
Style
The last element of picking the right lamp is definitely the most intuitive, least math-involved (yay!), and dare I say most important? Simply enough, you want your lamp to “go” with the style of the table it’s sitting on (say whaaat?).
For instance, if you have a big, chunky table, you can probably get away with a big, chunky lamp. But a super skinny lamp (even if it was tall) would look odd.
I would also think about the style of not only the table but the entire room. Your lamp is essentially a functional design element - have fun with it - but make sure it fits the space.
Summary
I know I just threw a lot of information at you, so here are the main points:
The bottom of the lampshade should be no higher than eye level.
The lampshade should be approximately ⅓ the height of the entire lamp (including the bulb and/or harp).
Your lamp should be a maximum of 1.5 times the height of the table.
The shade should be twice as wide as the diameter of the base of the lamp.
The lampshade should be no wider than the table it sits on.
Your lamp should “go” with the style of the room.
Choosing a Lamp for my Office
So, following these rules, was I FINALLY able to find a lamp for my office? Well, allow me to tell you the story of my little lamp adventure.
Of course a few weeks after I posted about the DIY Sharpie wall in my office, I learn that I have the completely wrong-sized lamp in there!
Granted, I want to save some face by saying that a) I’ve always felt like something was “off” with this lamp but never quite knew what and b) I stole this lamp from our bedroom because I needed one in my office in a hurry. It was never meant to be permanent. Excuses aside, I figured it was a prime example of what not to do when choosing a lamp. And here’s why:
Mistake #1: The biggest no-no here, and the reason I now realize why this lamp has always felt “off”, is the giant lampshade. It’s half the height of the lamp! And it’s probably 3 times as wide as the base.
Mistake #2: I know the desk looks pretty in the picture above, but in real life, I have my giant desktop up there and it feels CROWDED. This lamp is way too big to be functional in this space.
Mistake #3: I know I mentioned above that this lamp was a temporary fix, but to really drive the point home I think it’s important to point out the mismatching styles going on. First of all, the wall is so busy that the lines on the lampshade almost make you dizzy. And second, the style of the base is a little more traditional than this room can handle.
So while I was in Target on my lamp replacement adventure, I picked up this cutie, fully unsure of my purchase because I hadn’t yet written this post and learned all this valuable information! I came home and plopped it on my desk and had a couple realizations…
Remember earlier when I mentioned scale as an important element to consider? This is why.
While the style was okay (there are a lot of gold/blonde wood tones going on though), this lamp was way too dainty for this space. I could immediately tell I needed something bulkier.
And just to see if another size lamp that I already had would work better, I borrowed a lamp from one of my daughter’s rooms.
Right away it was glaringly obvious it wasn’t tall enough. At this point I started to feel a little like Goldilocks and started researching the correct lamp size… and a blog post was born. (Isn’t she beautiful!?)
Now, you may be wondering that since I’m putting the lamp on a desk why I didn’t just buy a desk lamp. And the answer is simply: I didn’t want to. A desk lamp would be fine, but I was more drawn to the table lamps so that’s what I went searching for.
So taking the information I learned about lamps, I took another stab at it and found this beauty!
She’s the whole dang package.
The new lamp is weighty enough to ground the space, but not so big I bump into it all the time. It’s also a perfect height, and lastly, the style suits this room. The colors go well with the surrounding decor and the curved but sharp edges of the silhouette are a great contrast to all the straight lines on the wall and the angled line in the doors of the desk.
And remember how I mentioned above that style may be the most important factor? This is a perfect scenario because although the lampshade is pretty tall for this base, it “goes” with the style and makes sense. I think the fact that it’s a skinnier shade helps.
And here’s how the new lamp looks with my desktop. Because the lampshade isn’t so big, I have a few more inches of wiggle room so hopefully I don’t bump into this one all the time.
Who knew anyone could write so much about a friggin’ table lamp? But here I am! And I hope you were able to take away some valuable info to help round out your spaces.
Now, I’m going to go sit down by the warm glow of my beautiful new lamp and birth a new post. Ew… forget I said that…
