Hope everyone had an outstanding holiday weekend. We spent the last few days hanging out with family and hit up the shore for a little while. Other than some sunburn, we couldn’t have asked for a better time.
Since we finished the built-in in our sitting room a few months ago, we’ve been spending a lot of our down-time there as we intended. The space is cozy and ideal for relaxing at the end of the day. The only problem is the lack of lighting. There is plenty of natural light when it’s early, but we often find ourselves sitting in the dark once the sun goes down. We’re looking to buy a simple room light or two that will let us read or do computer work without straining our eyes. I’d prefer something under powered that adds some soft light without flooding the room like search lights at Alcatraz.
We recently did a quick online survey of a few retailers and came up with a list of potential options. Here’s some lighting ideas we like…
Wall lights:
1. The Clapton Swing-Arm from Pottery Barn. $130 each or 2 for $240. We love the idea of mounting a couple wall lights above the couch. We haven’t remounted our reclaimed wood frame, but when we do, these would look pretty snazzy next to it. Pro: It’s not a hard-wired light, meaning I can just mount the light and plug it in. Con: It’s $130 each. Yowza. Probably going to pass on that price.
2. The Simplicity Swing Arm Wall Lamp from Target. Retails for about $80 each. Lower priced alternative to the Pottery Barn model with the same effective design. Pros: The cost is tolerable, although not ideal. The metal work is nice. Cons: The shade looks like something out of a mid-80’s Whitney Houston video. We’d need to replace it. It’s also a hard wired model, which means permits and inspections, etc.
3. The Alang Wall Lamp from Ikea. Retails for only $20 each. A similar overall design to the first two options with a fixed neck. Pros: It’s extremely inexpensive. It doesn’t require any wiring and it’s Ikea, so it probably matches our Ikea couch (matching stuff isn’t my department). Cons: Lisa isn’t crazy about the shade, but I don’t mind it. We could always replace it. More of a 5-10 year solution and not a long term option.
Floor Lamps
We’re also considering floor lamps. They’re dead simple. No leveling or molly bolts since they don’t need to get mounted. The only problem is a certain energetic 2 yo may decide she wants to knock it over.
4. Sutter Adjustable Lever Floor Lamp from Pottery Barn. Retails for $180. Pros: Not a terrible price. Classic look. Simple design. I like. Cons: Possibly too dark for the space.
5. Arstid Floor Lamp from Ikea. Retails for $40. Pros: It’s a very basic design with a low price tag. Cons: It lacks personality.
6. Barometer Floor Lamp from Ikea. Retails for $40. Pros: More interesting than the Arstid and great price. Cons: The light has an arm that overhangs on one side. That overhang probably will limit the light to one side of the couch only. Bummer.
7. Julian Apothecary Lamp from Ballard Designs. Retails for $100. This is my favorite floor lamp. Pros: It has a sophisticated look (or at least it’s staged that way) with an adjustable neck. $100 isn’t bad for high quality. Cons: Will require shipping since I don’t live within 500 miles of a store. Will need to talk Lisa into spending $100 for a lamp that I’ll use to stay up late reading.
So what’s your take? Like any of these options? Which would you buy?
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