Contemporary Floor Lamps Or Antique Style?

Floor lamps might come across as being huge and heavy objects, with trailing cables and plugs but they are also quite popular within the home lighting arena.

Whilst not as versatile as spotlights and task lights, in the way that the beam can be directed into specific places, floor lamps still do manage to provide a wide range of lighting options.

Floor lamps have the added advantage of being portable, unlike chandeliers and hanging pendant lights. Therefore, when general light is needed in a room, a tall, sturdy floor lamp is often a quick and handy solution as opposed to getting a room rewired etc to provide general lighting.

There are many designs and styles of floor lamps available, from antique style floor lamps to Tiffany floor lamps and then the more contemporary and modern looking floor lamp.

Most of these contemporary floor lamps typically feature studio lights on a tripod stand which makes them look rather arty and cinematic. Many tend to be in black and constructed from thin, sleek metal rods.

These more trendy style floor lamps are in stark contrast to the more standard floor lamps which look like an elongated table lamp: very similar to a table lamp except for the 4 to 5 foot long lamp base stem. Also, these old style lamps tend to come with large conical fabric lampshades.

Luckily we have now moved on from such simplistic versions of floor lamps and there are some very modernistic and beautifully decorative styles of floor lamp now available.

Uplighters have become very popular. An uplighter usually uses a tungsten-halogen light source which is aimed at the ceiling therefore all the light from the uplighter is reflected from the ceiling and there is very little direct or diffused light and definitely no glare.

These uplighters tend to use a 300 to 500 watt lamp and so the amount of light emanating from these is quite significant with one bulb being sufficient to light up the whole room. Many of these uplighters tend to be very sleek, thin and highly stylish - no frumpy fabric shades or robust looking lamp bases.

Nowadays, it's all about minimalistic design, elegance and clean lines. Uplighters are more popular in living rooms and hallways and are starting to creep into bedrooms although not as much because the light they produce can be quite bright.

The thing to watch out for with uplighters and other types of standard floor lamps, is that they will have trailing flex so ensure that there is no danger of someone tripping over the wires. This is especially true of using them in hallways and entrance halls, where there are long walkways.

Because uplighters are directed at the ceiling, the light from them will bounce from the ceiling as well as from the nearby wall. Therefore, it makes sense to have the ceiling and top parts of your walls painted in light colors so as to maximize the light output.

Floor lamps serve a useful purpose in providing a good quantity of light for your room.

The choice is yours as to whether you go for the more contemporary floor lamp or opt for an antique lighting fixture to enhance your home.

Lauren Tyler is a writer for LampLightWorld.com.