Nanny2a - If I'm understanding what you wrote the bottom of my lamp shade should be like 20" in diameter? That sounds and looks huge? Did I do that right? I measured from the bottom to the bottom of the socket base and got 22". Hmmm.. Threed - Oh no I wouldn't light them. They don't fit anyhow. I'll have to head to a lamp store with the lamp in hand. Chloe - I don't know that the tea lights would look right. I don't think I even have any to try right now though. Trailrunner - Thank you for those sites! The candle covers sound way better than the folded paper idea. ha I like the look of the candle cover things. What do you put on the top part? Or nothing because it's covered? Here's the ebay lamp I was talking about. I emailed the seller asking about the height of the shade. The bottom of it is 17" the top is 13". Lamp height is 35" I bought this shade just to get an idea. This is made so that you don't have to use a harp so I think it sits too low and it's not wide/big enough. This shade is 14" at the bottom, 10" top and height is 9.25". So I'm thinking I need one similar to the size of the ebay one? I'm going to try and find some lamp stores this week. Hopefully someone can help me and what I need is all right there.

I feel your pain! I recently bought a gorgeous lamp on eBay, and the shade that came with it was just SO WRONG... My first stop was to shop online to get a feel for the types of shades that were available and what I should expect to pay. Online, there were a lot of options in the $40-60 range -- some lower, some higher. But like you, I didn't want to buy sight unseen. Someone compared it to buying a hat without trying it on. So off with my base to my local lamp store -- Lamp Shade Heaven! But it was still a big chore to find just the right shade. We must have tried 30 different shades before finding a lovely silk shade that looked really, really good on my base. The prices weren't marked on the shades, and I was expecting something a bit over $60-ish, but would willingly have gone a bit higher given the service and consultation time (maybe $90?) -- but $150.00 ?! Yikes! I expressed my surprise and asked if he had anything a little less pricey. He said that the shade we selected was actually one of his more 'moderately-priced' shades, and that I appear not to have gone shade-shopping recently. (True, but...) So home I went with my $150 (gulp) lamp shade, and the knowledge gained from trying on shade after shade after shade. But I couldn't help but feel like I have been taken. So I went back online and hit the bricks: Home Goods, Ross, BB&B, Great Indoors, Lowes, Target, JC Penney, Macy's, Dillards, Michaels, MJ Designs -- and finally, Restoration Hardware. Restoration Hardware had the perfect shade -- in stock for $60. So back to the Shade Shoppe to return my $150 'moderately priced' wonder-shade... I'd like to support local businesses with personal service -- but there's a point at which the price difference just goes too far. If I had a do-over, I'd have talked price up-front with the Shade Shoppe guy. The lady in the shop at the same time as me was a professional designer, and she got a trade discount that I didn't get. It wouldn't be unusual to get 50% off, and at 40-50% off, I'd have been happy with the 'moderately priced' wonder-shade -- I bet if I had gone into the shop with a few printed pages from some web sites showing the type of shade and their pricing, that I'd have been able to negotiate a price I could live with and support local businesses at the same time.

Wanted to report back about the room since I've lived with it for some time. I really like it this way. I think it looks better IRL than these photos. Which is really true I don't know but what I'm seeing everyday is the better so that makes me happy. The chair facing the furniture works well too. I sat there plenty of times for chit chatting while company was over. I'm finally at the point where I'm ok with getting a rug. The carpet is starting to look more worn in some areas, IMO, even though nobody seems to be able to see this. It will help ground the space more. When it's time to replace maybe we'll go with hardwood. I'm still on the fence since I like vacuuming carpet. :) I also want to get a leather ottoman. Family and friends who've seen my house through all the stages like this arrangement. Any other ideas before I call the main bones of the room good? Stay tuned for a rug thread at some point. I'll do some mock ups but of course will want feedback on size and color.

amieekim, I would love an overhead light. However, it would be very costly and a lot of work to put in since they would have to drill through joists to run wiring (not to mention all the holes in then ceiling!). I already checked for the living room (wanted a ceiling fan/light). That's why I was thinking of the upward light that worked off the remote. I could either keep the remote on the nightstand or mount it on the wall by the light switch and not have to walk over to turn it on/off. I might be putting a chair by it and get one that also had a reading light attached.