What makes the ideal table lamp? The answer is likely to be different depending on the size, style and shape of the room it's in and the piece of furniture it's on – as well as who you ask, of course. Throughout the House & Garden archive, table lamps can be found standing proudly on all sorts of furniture: alcove bookshelves, midcentury sideboards, bedside cabinets, desks, console tables, the list goes on. This versatile, mid-sized lighting hero is a must for illuminating empty corners, providing a helpful light to read by, or simply for casting an atmospheric glow across a room – because nobody wants to resort to the big light, right? As our contributors' choices highlight below, there's a huge variety in what one person may find to be their perfect lamp, but proportion, materials, shape, and crucially how the light is diffused or directed, are all key criteria that tend to crop up.
‘As a studio we love it when lighting and art combine, so we are always after lights and lamps which feel sculptural and have a multitude of finishes to it. This table lamp by Virginia Sin is an all-time favourite as it ticks all the boxes for us. The bone ceramic shade and reflective ceramic glaze on the base is to die for.’
‘My perfect table lamp is an Isamu Noguchi Akari light sculpture. The washi paper casts the most beautiful, gentle light, bringing a sense of life and humanity to a room. Each unique version (I have four) has its own delightful personality. These are pieces I will never tire of.’
‘I love the Jago for its playful combination of an elegant sculptural form and bold use of saturated colour. The fact that each lamp is hand-painted gives it an added sense of individuality and character, too. The elongated shape feels unexpected, which is part of what makes it so interesting.
‘On a table, I like how it allows you to play with height and create more variation within a display, rather than having everything sitting at the same level. It would be fun to play with this and balance it against smaller displays of architectural flowers, for instance.’
‘For me, the perfect lamp should have as much character switched off as it does switched on. I love lighting that feels sculptural and collected, rather than something purely functional. The Alderley is a good example of that. It was inspired by a piece we found in a French flea market and has this wonderful simplicity to it, with the glass ball sitting almost playfully on the base. The light itself should always be soft and warm; it’s there to create atmosphere rather than simply illuminate a room. Ultimately, a good lamp should add character to a room and feel as though it has always belonged there.’
‘The perfect table lamp has to be one of our Moroccan Candlestick Lamp Bases. I think the ivory colourway is so interchangeable and versatile working on a bedside table, sideboard or as the main focal point in a sitting room. The subtle detailing in the glaze creates a lovely organic feel and adds depth and texture to a scheme, paired with a box pleat lampshade it is the perfect combination.
‘We've also recently launched rechargeable versions based on the same design. Wireless and fully portable, they are perfect for adding a warm cosy glow to dining tables, dark corners and small side tables.’
‘A design I go back to over and over is Tarquin Bilgen’s bronze tripod lamps, based on an original design by Jean Michel Frank. I find it to be a real chameleon; its simple but perfectly executed aesthetic can hold its own on an 18th-century desk, but then also retreat into the background as a bedside or sofa table lamp with the addition of a pierced shade to soften the lighting.
‘It encompasses in one piece what I look for when designing interiors as a whole: balance, pared-back detail and purpose.’
‘For me, it would have to be an Akari light designed by Isamu Noguchi, paired with a shade which was designed more than two decades later. The traditional washi paper gives off an incredibly beautiful, warm light, with a wonderful density that gently diffuses the glow. It's incredibly unique. The proportions are lovely. It’s quite a top-heavy piece, but the delicious, weighted cast-iron base gives it a real sense of gravitas and balance despite the top.
‘I love the materiality of it, too; the contrast between the cast iron, the natural bamboo stem and the mulberry-bark paper creates a beautiful tactile, textural quality. I’ve used vintage versions of this lamp in the past, but this is an amazing off-the-shelf piece that we’ve also used on projects.’
‘Often, I find the perfect table lamp emerges from the most unexpected of places. When I’m buying antiques, I always look out for objects that can be repurposed into lighting. Sometimes that means electrifying an old source of light, such as a candlestick or gas lamp, so that it retains its beauty but becomes more practical for the modern home. Other times, we might spot the potential in something that wasn’t originally intended to be anywhere near a lightbulb – a beautiful vase or glass bottle, for example.’
‘I was lucky enough to be able to bring my perfect table lamp to life for my own product line, The Workshop by Studio Peake. Created in collaboration with the wonderful potter Rupert Merton, The Blue Lamp has a monolithic ceramic base finished in a matt, deep ultramarine glaze – I love how the saturated colour gives the piece a sort of quiet intensity. The Workshop by Studio Peake is all about celebrating craftsmanship, and I think this lamp reflects that philosophy perfectly, with its simple, sculptural silhouette, the subtle variations in the texture and tone of the clay, and the depth of the glaze. I love it beside a sofa or a bed, paired with a simple fabric shade to offset the richer colour of the base.’
‘I love our Muschio Lamp for its simple, timeless shape and the subtle variations that come from it being entirely handmade. The celadon glaze was inspired by the beautiful patina and natural colouring of antique lamps, so each piece has its own character.’
‘We buy a lot of wonderful things from the London-based antique dealer Tarquin Bilgen. His edit is brilliant, which makes him inevitably one of the first ports of call for lamps. If you can't find quite the right vintage number, he also has a growing collection of pieces he makes himself. The William IV column lamp is a case in point: it makes a very fine desk lamp, or a handsome pair for a living room, bedroom or hall.’
‘For us, the perfect table lamp has two lives. Sculptural during the day when it isn't in use – then a swirly glow of warmth in the evening when on. Mouth-blown glass has that enigmatic quality; it changes character entirely when lit. We set out to design our own perfect lamp as part of Neotenic, our collection with Original BTC. Each piece is hand blown in Oxfordshire, with no two turning out the same - as much a sculpture as they are a lamp.’
‘My perfect table lamp is actually a pair — two urn-form lamps I found through Corde, a shop run by Cordelia Lembo, who has just the most masterful eye. They're iron, most likely Swedish, probably 1920s-40s, with paper shades and this wonderfully unusual, sculptural scale. I love that the hole cut into the base tells you straightaway they were made as lamps, not repurposed from something else. Since they're one of a kind, for anyone chasing that same presence I'd point them to the Trianon lamp from Jean Roger in Paris – hand-glazed earthenware with a curved, columnar confidence that gets at a similar spirit.’
‘My perfect table lamp is the Crystal Ball from The Lab’s Of Marble and Metal collection. I love it because it is discreet yet full of magic. Each glass sphere is unique and beautiful even when switched off – but once illuminated, unexpected flashes of blue and red appear within the glass, casting a warm, focused pool of light that transforms the atmosphere around it.’
‘One of the very first lighting pieces we ever designed is still, in my opinion, the ideal table lamp. The Adjustable Brass Lamp is a true classic; it works in any situation, is incredibly versatile and pairs with all kinds of shades. I think of it as a modern-day antique, taking something that feels like it's from another era but making it contemporary.’
