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Lights

Good lighting can transform your room and elevate your mood – as well as helping you make best use of the space. This illuminating selection offers solutions for all your lighting needs.

Fortuna metal floor lamp Oka

One of the keys to getting the décor right is the lighting and one of the ways to get the lighting right is to layer it – that means you need several sources at different heights. Here’s your floor lamp. The small base means you can tuck it next to a chair or at the end of a sofa and it won’t take up much space at floor level. The shade is big but the room is emptier up there so you have more room to fill. The colour – dark grey - is classic and will always be friends with all the other colours in the room. Change the shade to refresh the décor. And if you have a small desk (or a desk in the corner of another room) then a floor lamp, instead of a task light will give you more working space.
GREYSON FLOOR LAMP Soho Home

A good floor lamp is hard to find. So often they are angular metal which looks a bit more office or contemporary than you might want. Or they have a wide base which means they take up too much room to be tucked at the end of the sofa, or the lamp so wide it sticks out too far from the corner. I know this because I have a beautiful standard lamp that has all these problems and I may have to move house just to accommodate it. But this has a narrow base, a narrow shade and its wooden bobbin form makes it an on trend classic. If you’ve solved your sitting room lighting problem but are struggling with a small WFH desk put this to one side instead of a task lamp and instantly win back more space for desk clutter.
Wilma table lamp in ebony Pooky

Now lighting is one of the areas where you can make a huge statement and you should do but you also need those classic bases that will move around the house and work as ambient light in the sitting room, a bedside light or even, if you have space, the new trend in lighting in the kitchen. In line with the fashion for the un-kitcheny kitchen, so comes the unkitcheny light – good for when you have turned down the spotlights (because you did fit a dimmer didn’t you) and just want something a little softer to light the bowl of pasta. This one isn’t breaking any design ground but it will still look good in 20 years time when your family will be raving about the vintage lamp you bought so long ago. It comes in ebony (my classic of choice) but you might prefer the hot pink or lime green. And, of course, you can change the shade to match your mood or current décor.
45cm straight empire shade Pooky

Hand-painted shades are set to be all the rage this year and Pooky has a great selection if you’re not in the market for a spot of DIY. This is just one example but there are dozens of sizes, colours and patterns on the site. It’s part of the Bloomsbury revival for those want reassurance that it’s not a passing made-up fad.
Wilma table lamp Pooky

You’ll never go wrong with a turned wooden lamp base and this – at 23cm tall – is a classic of the genre. Choose your own shade to suit the room you plan to use it in and, if you get bored, you can paint the base and change the shade. A pair on either side of the bed would look great but the dark wood version would sit equally well downstair as well.
Kyoto Chandelier Soho Home

Inspired, unsurprisingly by Japanese design, this linen light is held by thin wires to give the impression of floating in mid-air. It’s a rather beautiful piece that will work in both minimal designs as well as maximalist, where it will bring a much needed simple full stop to all the pattern and colour. An investment but one that you will love forever.
Georgia cluster ceiling light Made

The fashion for rattan shows no sign of going away any time soon and a lamp is a good way to acknowledge a trend without going overboard. It’s also a good way of using a material in an unexpected way. Cluster lamps used to be let down by bad ceiling roses but this white one will blend into most ceilings and the differently shaped shades bring more interest to the piece as a whole as does the fact that they are arranged at different heights. Great in a bathroom (if you have the height and required zones) but also good in kitchens and bedrooms. A truly versatile light fitting.
Vince floor lamp Made

Good floor lamps are notoriously hard to find, so often they are just tall thin metal poles that don’t take up much space but look a bit “office”. This has a 70s feel to it while having a narrow base (30cm wide) and lamp so you can tuck it into the smallest of spaces. It’s 131cm tall and don’t forget you can always swap the shade to ring the changes.
Bobbin Base Floor Lamp Rose & Grey

Bobbin furniture is having a moment but since it was first popularised in the late 17th century it can hardly be dismissed as a modern fad. It's more of a second wave sort of thing. This lamp is perfect and will honestly look great in any room for ever - just change the lampshade as you require. You can, of course, also look out for antique originals (with a hefty price tag).
Curve Table Lamp Houseof via H&M

Available in both brass (shown here) and charcoal this table lamp is pleasingly sculptural and at 35cm across and 28cm high means it will look good on a table even when not in use. The grey cable is made from fabric which is. I'm glad to say, increasingly common these days. It's made by Houseof - a great brand set up by two former high street lighting designers and it's good to see them find a wider audience.