OzLighting

We understand that not everyone looking to improve the look of their home with lighting is an expert. To help you choose the best lighting for your needs we have prepared a wide range of instructional and educational articles to get you the knowledge you need.

Floor and Table Lamp Guide

The Floor and Table Lamp Buying Guide

Before we start its important for you to understand the different types of light:

Ambient light: This type of light generally sets the mood for the room and takes the place of daylight

Task: This is lighting that refers to any lighting that increases the visibility in a room and ultimately helps in performing any tasks. Examples of this would be desk and study lamps or bathroom lighting.

Accent: This is controlled lighting that is used to highlight interior features of a room.

Positioning:

Do you have a good idea on where you would like to place your new lamp? Is it going to be a Floor Lamp or a Table Lamp? And the last questioning being, is the lamp position going to be in an area in the house where there will be people walking around often?

It’s sometimes not so easy to get a good idea from the picture of a lamp online but you can look out for some important factors that will help you make the right decision. If you buying a table lamp to go on a desk or buffet etc you might want to consider the weight of the lamp and the surface of the table because you need to make sure the table is sturdy and that the lamp won’t scratch the table.

You might also want to consider not having top heavy lamps with overhanging shades in busy areas of the home because it will be bumped by passersby. We also think that that these types of top heavy lamps can potentially dwarf the table that it sits on. If you have kids playing around the house, you will also need to consider the location and size of the lamps that you display and decorate your home with.

Main purpose of the Lamp:

This is a very important question. Do you want a lamp to create the general lighting in the room or is it just for the subtle ambient lighting that it creates? Or maybe you need it for a specific task in the home like a study or office lamp to illuminate the work space. You also might just be looking for a lamp that has decorative effect or simply a combination of both.

Rule of thumb for the size/height of the lamp:

The bottom of the shade of a floor or table lamp should be roughly at ear level. If the light is for reading (task lighting) then make sure the total height of the lamp and the angle of the shade allow for the light to pass over your shoulder and onto the page that you are reading. If not, you will find the lamp may cause discomfort for your eyes and be too bright. To work out these measurements, you will need to measure a) the height of the table b) the distance from your ear (while sitting down) to the floor. Sounds complicated but it really isn’t and it’s far better than not doing this and buying a lamp that is not right for your home.