There’s nothing quite like the right lampshade to set the tone of a room. But with such a vast array to choose from, how can you be sure you’re picking a shade that’s just so?
The first elements to take into consideration are fabric and colour. ‘Lighting is a vital ingredient for creating ambience,’ says illustrator and designer Bell Hutley.
‘Lampshades with thick fabric and dark patterns help to achieve a cosy light. In a room where you want more freshness – perhaps a kitchen – go for a simple, pale canvas or a linen shade with a floral pattern. Avoid anything too embellished, as it traps the light.’
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For Mary Graham and Nicole Salvesen, who run the eponymous design studio Salvesen Graham, a lampshade ‘is a great way to inject colour and add an extra layer of texture to a room. We wouldn’t suggest a matching tone – go for contrast instead and try to have a mixture of sizes and styles in a space.’
The other major factor when shade-hunting is size. Get it wrong, and it can throw off the balance of a room completely. Hutley advises taking scale into account: ‘With rooms that have tall ceilings and large windows, I like lampshades that are also large and tall,’ she says. ‘In these rooms, more light fills the space, so the bigger the better.
‘In smaller rooms, I like sets of candle clip lampshades
