I recently had a request for thoughts on floor lamps and I understand why! Floor lamps can serve two main purposes: ambient and task lighting. Ambient lights cast that beautiful glow and add to the general proper lighting level of the room, it’s purely aesthetic. Task lighting is light that is directed for a specific task..
Ideally, you have both types of lighting in your living spaces!
Once you’ve decided what type of light you need in your space, you can decide what type of floor lamp you need. Most often with lamps, we’re looking for ambient light, so I lean towards floor lamps with a linen shade. Consider what you’re lighting, is it a tricky corner of a sectional? or a space between a pair of chairs? Lamps that gradually vary in height help your eye to travel around the room easily. So, if you have a table lamp nearby and the top of that lamp is 48″, consider a floor lamp that is a bit taller, but not too much, maybe 55”. Arc lamps are common, but I have to warn you, are often misused. When you put a larger arc lamp at one end of a sofa, you end up lighting the middle of the furniture, which is not generally pleasing to the eye and likely in the way of where people want to sit.
If you’re looking for task lighting for your favorite reading chair, look for lights that are adjustable in height and can swing to meet you where you need it. Sometimes task lights are handy for not disturbing others in the room so it’s nice to direct that lighting right where you need it. I love a reading lamp that can be adjusted quite low, 36” or so, to just illumine your book!
Do you struggle with selecting a floor lamp? Here a few of my favorites you can shop!
