wi-sailorgirl - I feel your pain. I'm going through the same process. There are so many more choices online than in local stores. What I'm doing is using existing lamps to approximate what I see online. I have a variery of heights and a variety of shades - all shapes and many sizes. If you already have your end tables, this should work for you. I'm having to envision not only the lamps but what they'll look like on end tables that I don't have yet - but at least I know what size the tables will be! Too many things changing at one time! Good luck with your choices!

I think a general rule is when you're sitting in the chair (beside the table the lamp is on) it's to be high enough to give you good reading light.

I think besides height, the shape also plays a big role.

I'm stuggling with this too. I saw a neat lamp at Marshalls yesterday (black with a burlap shade trimmed in black) and thought about buying it for the LR but I think it might have been too short and I wasn't in the mood to deal with it.

There are some general rules of thumb re: how they are supposed to be big enough to cast light from under the bottom of the shade that will adequately light a book when you're seated.

The flip side is that they are not supposed to be tall enough or have a short enough shade that you can see the bare bulb when seated.

In general, 23 in is not that tall and I would almost always tend toward the larger one at 29". I would tend to go a little big rather than too small. 19 is wide for a shade unless it is a flared shade. But again if 19 fits on the wide of the end table you should be ok.

My lamps are late 60s early 70s Laurel bronze Paul Evans inspired lams that top out at 48" with shade. However they sit on a lowish table and I have 10' ceilings. But I did a large pair of Blenko glass lamps with big shades that are 36" or 39" in a smallish LR with 8' ceilings.

Unfortunately furniture seems to get bigger and bigger, while lamps at a reasonable price point have tended to get smaller. The problem isnt so much the base as it is the shade. A big shade is expensive and also pricey to ship. The 2 custom shades for the Blenko lamps ran something like $350 with shipping--and there was nothing off the shelf that was big enough. This is heart attack inducing when it comes time to change shades. Luckily sometimes IKEA has something

Yes, what Pal said. I'd always lean towards bigger, whenever you can.

I'd love to see those Blenko lamps! Wow! But I'll bet the final product was worth every penny of that!

I'm a bit of an old lamp junkie, and I'm still kicking myself for not getting a wonderful old floor lamp at an estate sale a few weeks ago. I didn't *need* it, and I was in a mood, so I passed it by. Rats!

I agree with pal's guidelines. Sometimes I find that I just have to see the lamp in the room to know if it works, even if I think the dimensions are going to work. Also, you don't want a lamp that's going to overwhelm your end table -- so don't use a lamp with a 19" shade on top of a 18" table. And don't use a lamp with a base that is so wide that you have no room to set a drink and a book (or whatever) on top of the table. I find that sometimes people focus on the height of a lamp and forget that the width is important, too.

I forgot one of my most important lamp rules! Get one with a three-way switch so you have flexibility to go from less-bright to more-bright.

I'd love to see photos, Pal!

Interesting that leaning toward bigger seems to be the way to go. For some reason I'm afraid of big lamps (could it be because in this case the bigger one is $50 more?)

I'm not sure why, but lamps befuddle me. I have the hardest time getting the right style and then worrying about proportion on top of that! And then I end up living with lamps I hate because I can't find the right thing.

When I have trouble, I take a picture of the room as it is and see what the space needs. I've done this for a lamp before. It will help you decide if your lamp needs to be beefy, skinny, see-through, tall, short, color or white shade...etc.

I've tried to look up rules, and find it easier to create my own vibe.

If you think you need more height, you could prop a lamp on some books to get the height, stand back, and look at the area conceptually.

Rig things up in creative ways to mimic shapes and sizes. Your ideas will come together, you can create a dream lamp in your head...then shop knowing the criteria. If you have to settle, you will at least know what aspects you can live with verus what you require.

Hold out on purchases until you find the right item.
Gayle

Here are the Laurel lamps in context. I think the shade is a bit too small but I did not want to spend for custom at the time and got the biggest foil lined black I could get from a shade shop. When I move, I will either get the appropriate shade or sell the lamps altogether, depending.

Here are the Blenkos (or fake Blenkos)

Here's an easy method, Wi-sailorgirl: find a regular steel tape-measure, extend it to the height of the lamp in question, stick it on your table, then take a picture of the whole area. Save the picture on your desktop as a jpg file.

Then open the MSPaint program that came free with your computer, open the photo, use the copy tool to copy a narrow strip of the tape the same length as the shade's diameter.

Then paste that strip into your picture, rotate it 90 degrees & paste it onto the vertical tape at the correct height for the widest point of the shade, depending on whether its a cylindrical drum shade or a tapered empire or coolie shade. Takes all of thirty seconds.

Now you've got a general idea of the overall size. If you want, you can draw the lamp in Paint to see how it would look. You can even see how it would look with a different shade--or a different color shade--before you order anything. Anyway, once you compare the too different lamps' sizes, you'll know immediately which one--or that neither of them--is the right choice. So easy.

This is the same way I figure out exactly where to hang artwork on the very first try. It's lots easier to move pixels on a screen than it is to patch & paint a bunch of nail holes in the wall because you just guessed at the correct location and ended up hanging something too high or too low.

Magnaverde Rule No. 6:
If there's more than one way to do something, try the easiest way first.

OK, Pal ... those lamps are both amazing. And it's very interesting to see them in the context of the room. I would have thought they'd be too tall but they look perfect.

Magna, excellent idea! I'll get my photoshopping skills going this weekend on that.

Funny that you mention that about hanging artwork though. I usually hammer first, look later! LOL

[Great room, Palimpsest! Why aren't you published? So much better than some of the gimmicky rooms I keep seeing.]

Thanks Magnaverde. I am not published because it doesn't comform to the editorial content of the magazines that are published right now. I think it may be close to what Met Home and Domino published but they no longer exist.

Photos of the apartment made it partway through the editorial process for three national design magazines.

#1 design editor said "If it was up to me...but the furnishings lean too strongly toward MCM to get the nod from the chief"

#2 said "spectacular renovation, but not in the direction of planned editorial content, ...have you considered [#3]"

#3 said approximately what #2 said. All of them seemed to think it should get published somewhere, just not by them.

#2 and #3 have published things that are similar in spirit, but mostly by people who are well known and published already...the unknowns' work tends to be a bit more polished or something. So basically, either I don't know someone, or they don't know me.

My favorite response was from the local design magazine:
" ". Once they saw the pictures they said nothing. They tend to publish neo tuscan suburban behemoths or 1990ish Beetlejuice cutesy. They once lavished praise on the homeowner/"collectors" whose "collection" was every piece of white pottery Jonathan Adler had made in the previous two years. It too no more effort than a single shopping trip, but it did require a large credit card bill which the local mag seems to approve of. But I'm not bitter or anything ;-) I am on the market now, and most lookers seem to really like it, but the feedback of one potential buyer was "I don't get it." I like that though, if everybody got it, I don't think that would be a good thing.