Floor lamps are used as task lights but are also a great way to transform any living space. And the best thing about them is that they come in a wide range of styles and designs giving you a world of options to choose from.
You can now choose your floor lamps based on bulb type – LED, Compact fluorescent, Halogen, Incandescent; or shade shape – coolie, conical, bowl/dome, bell, drum; or shade color, glass treatment and so forth. In short, if you already have an idea of how you want your rooms to look, it becomes very easy to pick the most fitting floor lamps. And if you feel you can’t afford to be wrong, then you simply have to contact us at The Lighting Gallery or visit our showroom in Grand Forks, ND and we will gladly take you through all the possibilities in contemporary lighting and assist in making the right decision.
We know how much you’d like to attain that perfect tone in your living spaces. So at The Lighting Gallery, we try to make your life easier by taking the technical part away from you. Here are five tips on decorating with contemporary floor lamps.
1. Go for Sleek Shades
A simpler but more powerful word for sleek is smooth. Smooth shades can be felt but they don’t have to shout to make their presence known. Achieving sleekness can be a huge challenge but one that you can thrive in if you know what you’re looking for – you’ll need to get the shade material spot on. Glass shades are the most popular and they can indeed be very effective but glass reflects a lot of light which can leave your room overly bright. Glass is also brittle so there is always a risk of breakage. This doesn’t mean that glass shades are bad but I think fabric shades are such an inspiration. You can always play around with the style and patterning.
2. Complement Your Décor
Lighting must always complement décor. Actually, in perfect set ups, interior décor plays a critical role in the kind of lighting within the room. I’ve seen some experts separate interior design from interior decoration but for this case, we’ll take interior decoration to mean any projects aimed at making a living space “livable” for the occupants. This definition therefore includes both paint and color for the walls and styles applied to furniture, pillows and so forth. For example, if you’re using modern grey for the living room walls, you’ll want a shade material that complements this choice.
3. Up to Task (the right lamp for the right area)
As I mentioned above, floor lamps come in a wide variety of styles so you must be very thoughtful of your choices. Where are you going to use the lamp? Do you want to use it for reading or are you using it for the bedroom? Do you go for gooseneck stands? Counter balance stands? Adjustable stands? Adjustable stands for example, are a great choice in places where you’d need to alter lighting heights so they can be used where is a lot of movement and goose necks are perfect for dining set ups.
4. Proper Placement
Once you know which rooms will have which floor lamps, you also need to determine the best positioning of the lamps within the specific rooms. Should it reside at the furthest corner? Do you place it on the right of the table? Lamps in general are used to brighten up places where there isn’t enough light. Floor lamps in particular are used to lighten up awkward areas. For example, if you’re using the floor lamp as a bed-side source of light, you’d want it close enough to the bed such that you only have to stretch your arm to turn it on/off. Then you’d choose either the left or right side of the bed based on personal preferences and comfort levels.
5. Coordinate the Components
You don’t only keep floor lamps in the room, do you? The introduction of floor lamps in any room shouldn’t be an excuse to mess up the place. For a complete interior, never use floor lamps alone especially in the living room. Ultimately you want to mix task, style, and ambient light so instead of using just one type of lighting, try mixing floor lamps with table lamps and even overhead lamps.
Remember that you can always add a dimmer switch to every lamp just in case you need to soften or brighten the light within your rooms. Shop with us and we will help you pick out that perfect contemporary floor lamp!