Lamps: Floor Lamps, Table Lamps and Bedside Lamps
A lamp is a light you can move. That is the whole difference between this part of the range and anything fitted to a ceiling or a wall: it plugs into a socket, it goes where you decide, and it comes with you when you move house. Two shapes cover it — one stands on the floor, the other stands on furniture — and the choice between them is usually decided by what is already in the room.
| Type | Stands on | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Floor lamps | The floor, on a weighted base or three legs | A corner, beside an armchair, anywhere there is no table to put a lamp on |
| Table lamps | A bedside table, sideboard, console or desk | Bedsides, either end of a living room, a hall table |
Floor Lamps and Standard Lamps
A floor lamp — a standard lamp, in the older British name for the same thing — solves the corner of a room where there is no furniture to stand anything on. It is the tallest light that does not need an electrician, and one behind an armchair does more for a evening than any ceiling fitting.
Tripod designs stand on three splayed legs and read lighter than they measure, though they need clearance on all sides. Weighted single bases tuck closer to a wall. Browse floor lamps.
Table Lamps and Bedside Lamps
Table lamps are the larger group by far, because most rooms have more surfaces than empty corners. Bedside is the commonest use: the light has to clear the mattress so it falls on a book rather than the pillow, and the base has to leave room on the table for everything else that lives there.
In a living room they work in pairs at opposite ends of the room rather than singly in the middle, because crossed light throws the shadows behind the furniture instead of across it. Browse table lamps.
Rechargeable Lamps
Cordless designs run on an internal battery and are switched by touch rather than by a rocker on the flex. They put light on a dining table, a shelf or a windowsill where no socket reaches, which no other lamp here can do. They are a second light in a room rather than the main one, because they go back on charge. All of them are table lamps.
Choosing the Height
Height is the thing most often got wrong, and the rule is the same for both types: the bottom of the shade should sit near eye level for someone seated. Higher and you see the bulb; lower and the light lands on the table rather than in the room. A floor lamp is built to that height already, which is why one stood next to a bed usually overshoots the furniture, and a bedside lamp on a sideboard usually falls short.
Shades and Bulbs
Every lamp on the site arrives with its shade, matched by the maker, so there is nothing to work out about fittings or diameters. Shades are the cheapest part to change later, and there is a separate range for that.
Bulbs are what decide the colour of the light rather than the lamp itself. A warm bulb in a brass lamp and a cool one in the same lamp are two different objects at nine in the evening, and it is the single cheapest thing to get right.
Lamps FAQs
What is the difference between a floor lamp and a standard lamp?
Nothing. Standard lamp is the traditional British name and floor lamp is what most makers use now.
Which lamp is best beside a bed?
A table lamp, and a shorter one than you would choose for a sideboard. Floor lamps are built to living room height and tend to stand taller than the bed itself.
Do lamps come with a shade?
Every one here does, matched to the base by the maker.
How many lamps does a living room need?
Two is better than one, placed apart rather than together. A single lamp lights one corner and leaves the rest of the room darker by contrast.
Can a lamp be used without a socket nearby?
Only the rechargeable ones, which are all table lamps. Everything else runs on a flex, and the nearest socket decides more placements than the design does.