The Best Table Lamps, According to Designers

Here’s a ceramic lamp from Target’s in-house Threshold line, designed with Studio McGee. Emilia Baker, an architect atAtelier Cho Thompson, recommends it; it’s a great price for an all-ceramic base and shade.

Annie Meyers-Shyerfirst told us about this lamp from Zara Home in aSecret Strategistnewsletter (sign up here). Made with an iron and aluminum base and topped with a cotton shade, it gives off a Diego Giacometti vibe that I love so much that I bought it immediately. Meyers-Shyer says despite its affordable price, she’s “never gotten more compliments on a lamp in my life.”

Ming Thompson, co-founder ofAtelier Cho Thompson, also recommends a Zara lamp. “I love the combination of the patinated chrome and linen,” she says.

Interior designerJess Knauflikes this glass lamp from British interior designer Birdie Fortescue, which you can customize withpaperorraffiashades.

Both Robert Khederian, a real-estate agent and author of SubstackSecond Story, and Strategist deputy editor Simone Kitchens own this lamp from Tala, whose glowy lightbulbs are some of our favorites. Inspired by Victorian chimney pots, the Heath’s shape “nods to an older style of lamp, while still feeling modern,” according to Kitchens. “The crimson glaze is gorgeous, and the quatrefoil-shaped linen shade diffuses light in the warmest way. And it really has a presence; it’s larger than a usual table lamp, so it feels almost sculptural with a base that looks and feels like a flower vase. It has a nice chunky fabric cord and a very smooth dimmer function.” Khederian appreciates how “the inky oxblood glaze glows perfectly under the warm cast of aTala bulb,” which he says is “one of the best LED lightbulbs out there.”

Kitchens also recently bought this lamp from Ferm Living, saying that “it really exceeded my expectations when it arrived.” According to the product description, the lampshade is made of a “steel structure with a sprayed-on polymer skin,” which sounded abstract to Kitchens at first, but in person, “the actual material is a polymer, and the effect is almost close to a hide that’s been pulled taut over a drum frame.” She went with a very low-watt bulb and says that the shade’s translucence “creates this very warm glow.” She also appreciates the lamp’s overall shape, describing it “almost like a contemporary interpretation of a Tiffany lamp with its flower-like shape and satisfying pull chain.” It’s now become one of her favorite lamps in the house, “one of our ‘always on’ kitchen-counter lamps.”

This is the table-lamp version of one of our favoritefloor lampsand it’s a simple, sleek option whose flexible shade comes in a variety of colors. Turning on the light using the long lever is a pleasurable experience, and assembly was straightforward. The only issue I had was removing the protective layer of film on both sides of the shade. Knauf is also a fan of this lamp, especially in red. “The shape and scale are perfect,” she says.

I saw this lamp at the Room & Board showroom and liked its bulbous ceramic shade and the taller cylindrical shade. With a height of 19 inches, it’s a good size that doesn’t overwhelm smaller spaces, like a nightstand or desk.

Kitchens also loves this stitched lamp from Santa & Cole (which she first alerted us to inSecret Strategist). It comes in two styles, with a shorter lampshade or anelongatedone, and Kitchens says that the shade casts the most beautiful light: “At night, it literally feels like our walls are glowing,” she says. “I’ve never seen a warmer light.” It’s popping up in other places, too, likePonytail, a new store in Charleston, and thisprojectby interior designer Jared Frank.

This “mini”-lamp, as Knauf calls it, is only 12 inches tall, making it perfect for small spaces, “or very glam tucked into a bookshelf,” she says. Knauf likes how the hemp-string shade “casts a sophisticated glow.”

I love the gnome-likewoven shadesof these lamps from Vancouver- and Los Angeles–based Twenty One Tonnes that are made from handwoven palms leaves that perch on hand formed ceramic bases by two Oaxacan artists Belén Perez Garcia and Eligio Zárate Blanco.

And here’s another one with a really great shade I saw at the bar at Raf’s. I reached out toPost Company, the studio behind the restaurant’s design, and they told me that they got their scalloped and trimmed shades from Etsy storeDuzyDesigns. At the restaurant, the lamps are actually repurposedvintage candlesticks, but Duzy sells lamp bases with its shades, too.

According to MillerKnoll creative directorKelsey Keith, Ingo Maurer’s Lampampe is the “ne plus ultra of table lamps.” It’s also a favorite of curator Su Wu. Like the Akaris, this one is made from Japanese paper and casts a warm glow from its crinkled, oversize form.

Amanda Hesser, who runs the popular SubstackHomeward, recently talked toSecret Strategistaboutall the lamps she uses in her kitchensin Ojai and Brooklyn. She likes this one from Renwil because it looks like a potato.

Hesser calls this pleated Ikea lamp “a good transition piece between work areas.”

I love how petite this lamp is in scale. The glass shade emits the softest glow, and the wood base plays off it so nicely. It’s wireless and turns on and off with the touch of a brass-finish metal knob at the top of the shade. I originally got it as an extra light for my walk-in closet, but I moved it into the bedroom because I wanted to display it. It’s a very beautiful object.

Interior designerPenelope Augusttold us aboutthese portable glass mushroom lampsfrom Humber that she uses in clients’ projects and in her children’s room. “I feel like these Murano and mid-century Venetian glass lights used to be these expensive things you would buy at auction. But this company is so accessible, and the lights just make the warmest, most beautiful glow,” she says.

Another Ikea lamp that Hesser recommends. “Thisone’s more mood-setter than light-emitter,” she says. “Wedge it on a shelf among stacks of dishes.”

This Verner Panton lamp was spotted by former Strategist senior editor Chelsea Peng at the host stand of the Greenpoint restaurantLingo. It’s rechargeable and comes in a dozen-plus hues.

Here’s a slightly less-expensive lamp with a more minimalist design from Louis Poulsen. It’s the rechargeable version of the Panthella, and it comes in over a dozen colors in an acrylic or metallic shade. It’s on the smaller size at under ten inches tall and very lightweight, making it easy to transport from room to room.

The Tom Dixon Bell lamp is another pleasing option with a domed shade and a heftier base. I am testing one in red, and I love the shocking neon color that reads more orangey pink. While it’s cordless, it feels most like a real lamp among the ones I’ve tested. It’s available in polished plated steel in ten different colors.

A more industrial-looking mushroom lamp, it works best “in a dim corner of a countertop or next to your bar accessories,” according to Hesser. “Maybe bonus points for the reflective metal bouncing the light around in a warm-glow way.”

Thompson likes this similarly shaped brass number from Rejuvenation. “In unlacquered brass, this is timeless and beautiful around the house,” she says.

Interior designer Sally Breer recommended this little spotlight from Zara Home in our new column “What Goes Here?,” in which readers write in with design conundrums that we ask designers to help solve with product recommendations. The question in our inaugural post was what to put in a nonworking fireplace. Breer says it’s reminiscent of ’50s stilnovo spots and has “an ageless feel.”

New YorkMagazine features editor Katy Schneider has this slightly oblong globe lamp designed by Jasper Morrison as a gift and she says it looks like “a little glowy moon.”

Much more affordable but similarly moon-like is the Fado lamp from Ikea that writer Natalie So first told us about in a recent edition of the Secret Strategist. “Simple, inconspicuous, but still subtly stylish,” she told us.

I spotted this doughnut-shaped lamp at my sister’s apartment in Philadelphia and thought it was vintage but was surprised to learn that it was actually from Ikea. It’s made of an orange glass that gives off a glow-y aura that’s soft and extremely mood-setting. My sister had it on top of a desk, but it can also be mounted on the wall.

Kitchens also owns this “glowy, portable lamp” from Tala, whose dimmable matte bulbs are some of her favorites. “My living room doesn’t have overhead lighting so there are a series of table lamps and floor lamps around the room,” she says. “But I was missing light at a slightly higher level near the fireplace. It now perches on the mantle but can easily move around the room.”

Wooj’s mini version of its signature Wavy 3-D-printed lamp is one of Lei’s favorites for “a tiny corner or space.” He actually has one tucked away on a garden table under a covered patio. “It just looks sublime every time it’s turned on,” he says. “It’s super-glow-y and looks like you have a tiny jellyfish light floating around.” That glow-y quality is what makes (the full-size version) an idealbedside-table lamp, as my colleague Erin Schwartz noted. The six-inch lamp is made of heat-resistant, corn-based plastic.

Beagle-like in the most delightful way is Castiglioni’s Snoopy lamp, originally designed in 1967. It’s one of New York chief restaurant critic (and self-proclaimed “lamp fanatic”) Matthew Schneier’s “holy grail” items. “It’s a little marvel of pop and engineering,” he told us inSecret Strategist. “It lists backward and looks like it shouldn’t be able to hold itself up, but it does. (NB: It weighs a ton.)”

Entler’s blobby cast-ceramic stoneware table lamps were recommended by two of our experts, Lei and production designerAnastasia White. This lamp has a more organic shape with brass hardware and accents — details White calls “modern, classic, and fun” — and a cloth-covered cord. She loves the functionality of the downward-focused light, which makes it ideal for desks, coupled with the “anthropomorphic nature of the form,” which she says “gives the sense of a creature watching over your work.” Lei agrees: “The arresting nature of the light grabs your attention immediately.” Lei prefers it in this glossy black finish, but it’s available in an array of gloss and matte glazes, including pink, yellow, chartreuse, and lavender. It comes in an 18-inch version as well.

It’s no surprise that designers love Noguchi’s Akari lamp. “It’s sculptural, creates a magical ambient light, and my favorite part — it’s anthropomorphism,” says White. Richter of White Arrow agrees: “Noguchi designs are a classic, and paper lanterns cast such a pretty glow.” The designers atPappas Mironalso love the Akari light sculptures for their form and function. Plus, they say, “The handmade rice paper glows when lit, and the spindly legs simply make us smile.” This 3A model measures 11 inches tall and is supported by a metal frame.

For lamps that don’t necessarily look like lamps, interior designerTali Rothrecommends the Gatto lamp by Achille Castiglioni. “I love this lamp because it looks like a jellyfish,” she says. “It’s seriously beautiful and gives a soft light.”It comes in two sizes: 11.8 and 22 inches.

This earthen lamp by New York studio In Common With looks like it’s wearing a fancy hat. Roth appreciates the nostalgia this dimmable lamp evokes,as well as its hard-molded clay shade and steel base. It measures nearly 13 inches tall.

Here’s a similar style from Vakkerlight that Knauf recommends for its dramatic shade and rich brown color.