23 Lamps, Vetted 23 Ways

Lora Appleton, founder of design studio Kinder Modern, says this affordable brass-finished lamp from Article is “easy-peasy, discreet, clean-lined, and classic.”

Appleton recommends this lamp from Crate & Barrel for kids’ rooms. “It has great design lines and will stay useful even as they get older,” she says.

Two tasteful folks told us about new kid on the (floor-lamp) block Ryan Preciado. According to brand consultant Emma Holland, his playful lamps — which, he tells us, are made “out of turned poplar and painted with car paint” — are the status ones right now; Hood Century’s Jerald Cooper agrees, saying, “Ryan’s lamp really reminds me of the big kid in me.”

Designer Courtney McLeod loves the Moresby by Aerin, calling it “a personal favorite.” It has a leaflike shade and a tiny tripod base and, she says, “so much personality — like a chic little alien landed in your living room and joined the party.”

Judging from a recent Charli XCX Instagram post, the singer’s apartment is filled with globular floor lamps of various sizes. If you’d like to emulate her approach, two interiors experts suggest placing some circular lamps either on the floor or propped up on a stack of books. Shannon Retseck, the owner of home-goods brand Cuttalossa, likes Artemide’s globe lamps, which are made of handblown glass and come in mini, small, medium, and large sizes. If well placed, Retseck says, they will “bring a serene diffused light,” and a “cluster of
a few different sizes will break up all the straight lines of your space.”

“For new lamps, we think it’s hard to top a Noguchi lamp,” say Meghan Lavery and Daniel King, owners of vintage-furniture and design store Home Union in Brooklyn. “They fit with anything and give the nicest glow.”

Strategist writers Liza Corsillo and Kayla Levy both own this column lamp with a rice-paper shade that reminds us of one of Noguchi’s Akaris. Like those, this one gives off a “nice glowy light,” says Corsillo.

Carrollo recommends using this lantern lamp if, for whatever reason, you can’t have an overhead light fixture. She particularly likes the “airy and ambient” vibe of this one.

Carrie Carrollo, a home decorator, stumbled on this lamp “probably 200 pages deep in a search through my go-to affordable online décor sources.” She had sought a three-globe light in an eye-catching style, “and this spiral brushed-steel design caught my eye right away. It’s quite modern.”

Recommended by interior designer Tiffany Thompson, this lamp has a tapered shade and a body covered in linen. “I know minimal lights are in,” she says. “But this brings a weighted quality to a room.”

The opening scene of Stanley Kubrick’s 1999 film follows Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman around their sprawling Upper West Side apartment as they get ready for a night out. It starts in the dressing room, where Kidman’s character slips out of her dress in front of a simple but handsome swing-arm lamp. This one, like in the movie, from Wayfair has a brass base and a cotton shade.

Ceramic lamps are everywhere right now: There’s Eny Lee Parker’s U-shaped ones, Casa Veronica’s colorful checkerboard pieces, and Episode’s coil-built bases. (Anthropologie has even started to sell a table lamp with a terra-cotta base.) Thompson’s favorite take is this lumpy Hebe Large ceramic base, which can be customized with any shade.

Two designers recommend the — per Appleton, “unbelievably exciting” — flocked-plywood-and-brass Calenda Lamp by Rebecca Claire Ford.

Set decorator Kimberly Fischer says this unassuming West Elm lamp is one of her go-tos. “I’ve used it many times. It’s classic, and the shade isn’t too white-white.”

The Selah Lamp 1.0 is by Nigerian industrial designer Nifemi Marcus-Bello, who was inspired by a local factory that produces metal casings for electrical-power generators. It’s made from a bent piece of sheet metal and can double as a stool or a bookshelf, which Cooper says is “genius.”

Globe lamps suspended on a gracefully arched stem are not in short supply, but we’re fond of this $90 one, which Carrollo first told us about, for its marble base and chrome finish. It’s available in gold or rose gold, and if you prefer something matte, it comes in a black finish as well. Plus it’s approved by the people, with an average of 4.4 stars by 797 reviewers on Amazon.

You can’t go wrong with a classic library-style reading lamp, says Fenton, especially for small spaces. When positioned next to a sofa, they take up almost no floor space. The look might be a little traditional for some, she says, but she appreciates that it can work in a variety of décor styles. This one from Lamps Plus is inexpensive and well reviewed.

Our writer Lauren Ro has long coveted the Danish ’70s Mads Caprani lamp, with its curved bentwood spine and pleated shade. But, she says, they’re too expensive (over $2,000) and so popular they sell out as soon as they go on sale. After sleuthing, she decided this is its nearest dupe. The arched rattan neck makes it more like the Caprani than any (affordable) lamp out there.