Bedsides, hallways, sofas and even kitchen areas are always improved with a table lamp. If you crave character, welcoming pockets of light and relaxed ambience then you’ve come to the right place. Layering your lighting with table lamps is essential for adding depth and modifying the energy around you. Bringing in pools of light from different sources like table lamps is the key to a balanced atmosphere whilst giving you the option to dial up the cosiness.

REFRESH WITH A LAMPSHADE

Before you buy a new lamp, pause a moment. Do you need one, or can you refresh the look of your room with a new shade? We’ve styled our bestselling Mansfield lamp with eight different handmade shades to show just how versatile a well-placed table lamp can be.

By focusing on the longevity of what you already have, you’ll be surprised how easy it is to update your lamp for each season or easily relocate room to room to shake up your style.

LAMPSHADE SHAPE INSPIRATION

There are no rules, but we do try to stick to the following guidelines. The height of the lampshade should be approximately two thirds of the height of the lamp base, and the lampshade itself should be wider than the widest bit of your lamp base. This just ensures a harmonious, balanced look and avoids a shade looking too small or too large.

Cylinder Shades

If the idea of swapping shades throughout the hope appeals to you, then Cylinder shades are the most versatile as they can be used to fit lamp bases as well as ceiling pendants. The straight sides have a contemporary feel and look wonderful in more modern settings. Tip: our Cylinder shades in plain fabrics can be turned upside down and used as a pendant for a bedroom or dining room.

16cm Medium Cylinder Shade in Grey Pastoral Toile de Jouy

20cm Wide Cylinder Shade in Vintage Pink linen

Oval Shades

Choose a sloped oval for a traditional feel, or a straight sided version for a more modern look. All our oval lampshades are designed to fit a table or standard lamp, and the straight sided version in a plain fabric can be used as an alternative to a cylinder shade for a ceiling pendant light. They will wash your room with a soft, flattering light that creates a warm, inviting atmosphere wherever they are placed.

20cm Sloped Oval Shade in Slate Blue

Square Shades

Update your interior with one of lovely square, straight sided or sloped square lamp shades in a multitude of different sizes and fabrics. The geometric shape of the straight sided shade gives your room a contemporary feel. These shades work very well with an angular or column lamp base, whether a table, standard or floor lamp.

25cm Sloped Square Shade in Red Isabelle Linen

French Drum Shades

Our superb collection of classic French Drum lampshades are available in a huge range of sizes for creating the perfect finish for your table, standard or floor lamp. With its gently tapering sides, a French Drum shade offers a classic, timeless look for all room styles.

20cm Medium French Drum in Soft Green Cow Parsley

20cm Medium French Drum in Paprika Waterford Linen

Empire Shades

Complement your interior with one of our beautiful Empire Shades. With its traditional cone shaped sides, an Empire shade is possibly the most recognised shade shape which works in all manner of settings.

20cm Empire Shade in Natural Isabelle Linen

25cm Empire Shade in Natural Longford Gingham

Choosing a fabric type

Consider which tones will best suit your existing colour scheme but do bear in mind that both the colour and fabric of a lampshade influence how it diffuses light. Each shade is lined with quality card for stability of form, and the fabric used on top will impact how much illumination your light fitting will have.

Before choosing between a translucent or opaque fabric for your lampshade, think about the purpose of the lamp. If it is for reading or to shed ambient light, you should choose a translucent shade as it will allow light to escape through the sides of the shade, diffusing it evenly across a space. Opaque shades are made from material that prevents light from escaping from the sides. Instead, it is emitted from the top and bottom of the lamp creating pools of light that give a sense of drama to a room. If you’re using the lamp as accent lighting and don’t need a lot of light in the room, an opaque shade is ideal.

Tip: We strongly recommend that you order a swatch before ordering any of our fabrics to help you decide if it is right for you.

Sizing your shade

Table lamps come in all shapes and sizes, so it is important to keep the shade proportional to the size and shape of the base . You don’t want your look dwarfed by a huge shade or unbalanced by a small one. A perfectly fitting shade should hide the bulb holder underneath without encroaching on the lamp base itself.

Lamp shades are sized by measuring cross the diameter at the bottom of the shade – so if the shade diameter measures 25cm across the bottom, then it is known as a 25cm shade. As a rule, you should be looking for 15-20 cm wide shades for a smaller lamp base, between 20-35 cm for an average lamp base and anything up to about 50 cm for a larger lamp base.

A rough guide to working out the size of shade you require is to measure the height of your table lamp from the bottom of the base to the top of the lamp stem just below the lamp holder. The shade you select should then have a diameter of plus or minus 5cm of this measured height. So, if you have lamp that is 40cm tall, you should choose a shade that is 35 to 45cm wide.

Made by us

All of our lampshades are handmade here in our Suffolk workshop by our talented soft furnishings team.

By focusing on quality of materials, craftsmanship, outstanding customer service and the well-being of the Jim Lawrence community, our mission is to create stylish, designer quality fixtures and fittings for the home made with natural materials. It is our belief that by selling directly to our customers, we can guarantee that every product we sell meets the exacting quality control standards we have set and for which we are renowned.

We have come a long way since our farm days, and you may no longer have to bump down a track to find us. But our ethos remains the same: to provide individually handmade products and the highest possible levels of customer service. Read the whole JL story here.

Styled by you

Do you want to see more? We are very proud of the quality of our workmanship and designs that highlight the skill of our workers and their ability to make products that suit both contemporary and period properties. View all of our table and desk lamp designs here.

For even more home interior ideas, keep up to date by following us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Don’t forget to tag us in your home updates– we love seeing our products in their new homes!