Do you like the shape of the shade? Do you want something about the same size?

aktillery9 - I do like the shape of the shade. I don't know if I want something the same size... An arched floor lamp (if I go that way) would, obviously, be larger overall, if I go that way. Here's an example of one I like:

I really like the arched floor lamp but think the side lamp is better. I would go with a more cream/natural color for your shade. I assume you want to keep the lamp base itself?

I personally like having a lamp on each side of the bed for balance.

I usually go to Ross or Home Goods and sometimes Target or Lowes to find a lamp I like. I am always amazed at what I can find at Ross. Do you have one nearby your home?

aktillery - I like the existing lamp and plan to keep it, unless the overwhelming majority of others think it just doesn't work. And, yeah, switch the shade for a more neutral color.

I had to laugh at your shopping suggestions. Here's my recent lamp shopping stops:

-Lowes

-Home Depot (2x)

WalMart

-Ross (2 separate stores, multiple visits)

-Home Goods (2 separate stores, multiple visits) (that's where I bought my existing lamp)

-Marshall's

-Target (multiple visits.)

The two lamps I bought & returned were from Wayfair & Amazon, purchased Online.

Sounds like great minds think alike! Do you have a kirklands near you? They have some great lamps for great prices.

kirklands.com

Thanks, aktillery. I'll check that out. Mostly, right now, I've got plenty of places to shop. I'd love suggestions on type of lamp & style that might work well there.

I quite like this one from target

https://www.target.com/p/textured-trim-lamp-shade-threshold-153/-/A-53329315#lnk=sametab&preselect=17298469

Here is one from Lowes

https://www.lowes.com/pd/allen-roth-10-5-in-x-16-in-Tan-Fabric-Drum-Lamp-Shade/1000002618

Or if those are not the best size for you here is a shape more like yours but pleated.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/allen-roth-11-in-x-15-in-Cream-Fabric-Bell-Lamp-Shade/3064345

This lamp base would be different but would compliment your current lamp base.

https://www.target.com/p/mercury-glass-stacked-ball-lamp-base-large-threshold-153/-/A-15639507#lnk=sametab

Am I way off track here?

Thanks, aktillery!

I'll be fine picking out a shade, I think. Help picking out a lamp for the other side is my big challenge, right now. That lamp is on the right general track. Thanks!

This is one I really like but not sure it is for you.

https://www.target.com/p/mercury-glass-stacked-ball-lamp-base-large-threshold-153/-/A-15639507#lnk=sametab

(pretty - who is the vendor? Link is to lamp in previous post)

Oops sorry about that.

Here it is.

http://www.kirklands.com/product/Lamps-Lighting/Lamps/Table-Lamps/Dynia-Silver-Mercury-Glass-Table-Lamp/pc/2286/c/2678/sc/2309/170963.uts

I would try your lamp on the smaller table because it has a narrow base and I'd get more of a jar or pot shaped ceramic lamp for the larger table. Those shapes with the visual weight at the bottom ground it to the table better.

Mayflowers - here it is on the other side. It's a somewhat tall lamp (30") so I put it on the shorter table thinking that the other lamp might be shorter, on the taller table. Do you think the lamps should reach about the same height?

So, I went to a thrift shop and a fancier vintage shop in the neighborhood this morning just to look at lamps. The thrift lamps are $10-$30 each, and the vintage are $75-$165. I can afford a more expensive lamp, but... was initially thinking I'd pay $50-$100. If a lamp is PERFECT I'd pay more... Do any of these look like a really great fit? (numbered/lettered for reference)

Thrift:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Vintage:

a.

b.

c.

d.

Hi Carrie. What's the total height to the top of the lamp from the floor with the existing lamp on the dry sink? And what's the height of the nightstand on the other side?

Katinparadise - total height, 57" (27" ds, 30" lamp.) Other table: 30".

I've spent literally hours on Etsy today looking at lamps. One moment I want antique, the next moment I love something industrial/steampunk, then I fall in love with some MCM and then something contemporary. I might need a break from lamp shopping...

Most of those lamps look like living room lamps to me. A bedroom lamp is shorter because you're reclining instead of sitting. I would try to keep the height at about the top bar on the headboard so it looks like it's a bedroom lamp. What is the height from the table to the bar?

Sounds like you might need a break Carrie. I know I get obsessive when I start looking for something as well. I like too many styles!

You might try buying a lamp 3 inches shorter than the existing lamp, and buy matching shades. The lamps don't have to perfectly match, but should be similar, and reach the same height at the top of the shades. If you go with very dissimilar lamps and shades I am afraid it will never look pleasing to you. You want it to look well thought out, not like a consignment shop showroom, although I would certainly shop at the thrift stores. How tall was the silver lamp in the first thrift store picture? Good luck, it is a very nice room.

By your own admission, you're basically the only person who's going to see it. Why do you need the approval of strangers on the internet for something as insignificant as this? Just bored and lonely?

"I've spent literally hours on Etsy today looking at lamps. One moment I want antique, the next moment I love something industrial/steampunk, then I fall in love with some MCM and then something contemporary. I might need a break from lamp shopping..."-haaaaaa that sounds familiar! I had to outfit the whole damn house by a certain date-electrical inspection..well lamps don't count obviously but wall fixtures, ceiling fixtures-these have to be installed. I started months in advance, obviously. It's been a year since we've moved-still can't stop looking at lights. Messed with my brain, I'm telling you.

But to somehow narrow it all down-you know what I did? I created (also on Pinterest, but on Etsy as well) boards..you can divide there favorites into categories, right? So you put there everything you fall in love with, as different as might be. And you give yourself time and look at these. Chances are at certain point you'll be drawn more to some more than to others. You'll like them all-but there will be a light you somehow can't resist.

Yes, overwhelming, and yes, can take days, can take weeks. Or the opposite might happen -you see it, you're smitten, you know. But I usually go though everything anyway. Just to make sure. Because I also love all sorts of lights, and they all can work too, so how one chooses? I choose the one I get back to in my thoughts, look at it some more, somehow just fall for it harder.

Tatts: Only people who are bored & lonely are deliberately unkind to strangers on the Internet, and that I am not.

Mayflowers - the top bar of the headboard is 24". When I had my old lamps in place (20") several people said they were WAY too small. Would the extra 4" be enough to make them not puny proportionally?

Voila - thanks. I'm not going to do matching of any kind, though I might make the shades a *similar* style & color. I've actually seen pictures Online with wildly different tables & lamps, and love the look - though I understand that it takes a lot of skill to pull that off. I'm not looking for a silver lamp, though there is a silver lamp to the right of one of the ones I posted. (I numbered all the photos for easy reference.)

AprilNE - I wish I could figure out Pinterest. I've tried several times and always give up in frustration. That site gives me agida. I do think I need to take a step back.

I had a matching set of bedside lamps a decade ago. I lived with them for a year before I decided that I just couldn't do it. I switched out one of them and was sooo much happier. Those were the too-small lamps. I love them, but I've realized that they are too small, aesthetically and for reading. I do think they look nice, besides the smallness. Here they are:

PS: there are TONs of photos like this Online: mismatched tables, lamps, heights, shades, styles. And I like them.

Just jumping in with a happy update. I've found a solution - which might be temporary - that I'm very happy with.

I decided to cross the bridge to NJ to check out a large thrift shop, mostly because I've been so unsure, that spending a lot of $ on a lamp just didn't make sense. I found a lamp for $9.99 that I thought would work, and when I got to the register, found out it was on sale for $7. Of course, I had to pay a $5 bridge toll, and, then, find the right lampshade - plus a shade for the existing lamp. I spend a while yesterday running around looking for the right combination of shades.

So, this is what things look like, now. At some point, I may fall in love with a lamp or two, or a shade or two. But this feels like a favorite set of hoop earrings - not too fancy, but they can dress up your jeans just a bit, and they feel comfortable and classic to me.

Thanks soooo much for all your help and suggestions, and for your kind and gentle encouragement. The plastic coverings are still on the shades in these photos, just in case...

I LOVE your current lamp bases and how the tops of the shades line up perfectly in height but each has its own own personality :) Well done!!!

I wasn't any help, but have enjoyed following along because I love your style, and have also been on a quest to find more appropriately sized lamps for our bedside tables. It's hard! And I'm even looking for matching lamps which you'd think would be easy, but not for me. Today I need to package up a pair to return to Ballard so I thought I'd procrastinate for a few minutes and was delighted to see your update. It gives me hope!

They look cool. And I can't stop looking at your bear:)

Eastautumn - Thank you! In terms of lining them up, it's not perfect, but it is close. It occurred to me that I could finagle the heights a little bit by switching up harps... that helped.

Aprilnever ends... bear... cat(s)?

Awesome find Carrie! The color matches enough that they don't feel completely different but they still work well together. Finally!

Glad you were able to find something that works!

Carrie, you can also finagle heights with a book (or two or three...) underneath. Very chic that way : ) .

Honestly, I think they work better the other way. The dry sink seems to fit perfectly on the right and the smaller chest on the left gives more breathing room for the curtains.

Yeah, katinparadise, I'm thinking you're right.

I hope you have furniture slides to help move things around. How are feeling about the room? Do you feel like it's finished?

Hah. No furniture slides, just brute strength & crazy determination. :-) No, room's not finished. I still haven't hung most of the artwork, and I'm not sure how to arrange items: bookshelves, rocking chair, bench...

You had it right the first time with the dry sink on the right.

Look at ebay as well. I never buy new lamps.