I need a bright, low-profile lamp.

December 21, 2021 4:50 AM

I'm in search of the perfect lamp...bright, small, and old-looking. Can you help me?

I want to buy a lamp to go on my end table. Unfortunately, due to the layout of the living room (which CANNOT be changed) the end table is in front of a window. I hate to block the window, so I'm looking for a lamp with these three criteria (in order of importance):

1. Bright. I don't want a nightlight, or a decorative light. I really want it to illuminate the corner of the room. Since we don't have an overhead light in that room we rely on lamps.

2. Low-profile. The shorter, the better. If you all can't suggest an amazing lamp, I'm considering buying an Echo Glow.

3. I live in a 1920s home, and we try to furnish and decorate with items that are either antique, or timeless/classic. It would be great if the lamp fit in with that aesthetic.

4. Purchasable in a modern store or online. I'd love to spend weeks antiquing and thrifting until I find the perfect lamp, but my room is dark and I need it lit up sooner.

My dream lamp would be one of those stained glass turtle lamps, but I've only seen them as nightlights, not as lights bright enough to illuminate a room.

Can anyone suggest a great lamp for me?

posted by christinetheslp to Home & Garden (11 answers total)

Raven holding a light bulb? There are wall mounted versions of this lamp too if that would work.
posted by nouvelle-personne at 5:18 AM on December 21, 2021 [3 favorites]

An Echo won't give you much illumination. It's a smart lamp designed for a kids room. According to Amazon, it's a 100 lumens light. Determining how bright 100 lumens is going to depend on the room that you use this type of light. This is not a very strong light and is going to be good for smaller rooms such as a closet, or basement. That is roughly equivalent to a 15 watt incandescent bulb. You can purchase regular big bulb-of-light lamps which can take a 40 watt equivalent bulb, such as this one.

Something like this, perhaps? It's 21 inches tall. It will take a 100 watt equivalent bulb. This lamp is a somewhat similar design but uses two bulbs.

I think a term that may be useful is Tiffany table lamp, but I'm not sure
posted by blob at 6:06 AM on December 21, 2021

Best answer: Globe lamps will be shorter than most lamps and also help direct the light all around rather than just up or down.
posted by raccoon409 at 6:39 AM on December 21, 2021

I am not sure this is bright enough for you, but since you mention the Echo Glow, I recently got an LED sphere light (you can turn off the color cycling at whichever shade you like and it remembers) and it's fulfilling the function of "low-profile corner illumination" for me. It's not as bright as a lamp with a high-watt bulb, obviously, but it's definitely far brighter than I'd want as a nightlight and pretty akin to things sold as desk lamps. At night it's plenty of light for approximately a seven foot radius, and can be seen by in other parts of the room but I'd want additional sources to actually read/work outside that radius. Aesthetically, I've got kind of a mid-century modern thing going and it fits in well.
posted by teremala at 6:41 AM on December 21, 2021 [1 favorite]

Instead of short, what about skinny with a clear shade? There are many versions of lamps similar to this, some might fit your aesthetic better than others.

PB with curvy blown glass
Actually vintage adjustable at Rejuvenation

Globe lamp is probably the search term you want for lower profile lamps since they are basically all shade, giving off less directed light so it appears a bit brighter.
posted by Mizu at 7:00 AM on December 21, 2021 [1 favorite]

Lamps Plus has a surprisingly wide variety of styles available. The search function on their site is pretty useful.
posted by corey flood at 8:30 AM on December 21, 2021

For vintage shapes, I have seen accountant’s lamps (also called banker’s lamps) that have hinges so they can be taller or shorter. Great task light on their tables and they do come with Tiffany style shades.

Or a small gooseneck lamp?

If you don’t need to be vintage, the LED counterpoise lamps that fold down to almost nothing surely win for light-to-gone ratio.
posted by clew at 10:39 AM on December 21, 2021

How low is low - here are a few that are 8-11" tall, and can take 100 watts, with the light shining straight up (so they should illuminate pretty well) 1, 2, 3
posted by Mchelly at 11:23 AM on December 21, 2021

Depends on your exact setup and the location of clampable edges, but can you make use of a metal clamp light? I think it's a pretty classy bit of old-school industrial design. With a fancy filament light bulb, it could go more retro or steampunk (especially the ones with a wire guard).
posted by yeahlikethat at 12:54 PM on December 21, 2021 [1 favorite]

This utterly fails criterion #4, but I have several table lamps I really like which are nothing but low-profile old schoolhouse globes sitting upside down in heavy old glass ashtrays with suitable sockets inside and switches in the cords — and I treasure the moment when someone inspected the one with a high sided pebble textured hexagonal green glass base, noticed one of the three notches for cigarettes (one of which is essential as a passage for the cord), and asked very tentatively "is that ... an ashtray?"
posted by jamjam at 2:59 PM on December 21, 2021 [4 favorites]

We have a reproduction of a Bauhaus lamp (also called the WA24 Wagenfeld Lamp) used for a similar purpose. It actually was originally created in the 1920s. Random example of such a repro. lamp. Most of the reproductions call for a 60 watt or 75 watt bulb, though using a clear rather than frosted bulb will give you a bit more oomph.
posted by gudrun at 7:43 PM on December 21, 2021 [2 favorites]