How to Choose a Floor Lamp: Height, Shade and Where It Stands

A floor lamp is the one light you can buy today, plug in tonight and move next month. It needs no electrician, no ceiling rose and no landlord's permission. It is also the light most often bought in the wrong height, with the wrong shade, for the wrong corner.

Here is how to choose one by what it has to do, with the measurements that make it work.

On this page

• Start with the job, not the look
• The four kinds of floor lamp
• How tall should a floor lamp be
• The shade decides the light
• Where to put it
• Base, cable and switch
• The bulb
• The numbers, in short
• Common questions

Start with the job, not the look

Every floor lamp is asked to do one of two things, and very few do both well.

• Light a task: reading in a chair, knitting, working at a desk without a ceiling light. This needs a directed light at the right height.
• Light a room: filling a dark corner, softening the ceiling light, giving the room a warm glow in the evening. This needs a wide, diffused shade.

Decide which one you are buying before you look at a single photo. A sculptural lamp chosen to fill a corner will be a poor reading light, and a slim reading lamp will never warm a room on its own.

The four kinds of floor lamp

Our floor lamps cover all four. A few examples, with the measurements that matter:

• The Nordic Floor Lamp, 120cm, has a curved gooseneck arm that aims a compact 13cm shade at your page. A pure reading lamp.
• The 2-Head Reading Floor Lamp, 165cm, has two heads that turn independently, so one lamp serves two seats.
• The LED Floor Lamp, 152 to 156cm with a 45cm scalloped fabric shade, is a shaded standard lamp for general room light.
• The Pebble Floor Lamp, 155cm with a 42cm layered fabric shade, and the Rice Paper Floor Lamp, 123cm with a 53cm handmade paper shade, are sculptural pieces: the light is soft and the lamp is part of the room's design.

How tall should a floor lamp be

The measurement that matters is not the height of the lamp but the height of the bottom of the shade, because that is where the bulb stops being visible.

• Beside a chair or sofa, for reading: the bottom of the shade should sit roughly at your shoulder height when seated, usually 100 to 110cm from the floor. Lower and the light lands on your lap; higher and the bulb shines into your eyes.
• For general room light: the bottom of the shade should sit at or just below standing eye level, around 140 to 160cm, so you do not see the bulb as you walk past.
• In a room with low ceilings: leave at least 50cm between the top of the lamp and the ceiling, or the lamp looks squeezed into the room.

That is why reading lamps are often shorter overall (120 to 140cm with an adjustable arm) and room lamps taller (150 to 170cm).

The shade decides the light

Two lamps of the same height can give completely different light. The shade is the reason.

• Open at the top and bottom: light goes up onto the ceiling and down onto the floor, the most generous kind of room light.
• Closed or narrow metal head: a focused pool for reading, little else.
• Paper, linen or layered fabric: a soft glow through the shade itself. Beautiful in the evening, but not bright. Pair it with another source if you read.
• Wider is warmer: a shade of 40cm and more spreads light across a sofa; a 13 to 20cm head points at one spot.

The same proportions as a table lamp apply: the shade should look generous next to the base, never pinched. Our guide to lampshade sizes goes into the detail.

Where to put it

Beside a reading chair

Stand the lamp slightly behind and to the side of the chair, so the light falls over your shoulder onto the page. In front of the chair, it lights your face and casts the shadow of your hand onto the book.

Beside a sofa

At the end of the sofa, close to the arm, with the shade clear of anyone's head when they stand up. An arc or a two-head lamp can serve the whole sofa from one side.

In a dark corner

Corners are where floor lamps earn their place. A lamp throwing light up the two walls makes a room look larger in the evening, because the eye reads lit walls as space. This is where a shaded or sculptural lamp is at its best.

Beside a bed

When the bedside table is too small for a lamp, a slim reading floor lamp does the job and frees the surface. Our guide to lighting a bedroom gives the heights.

Base, cable and switch

• The base must be heavy for the height. A tall lamp on a light base tips at the first brush of a vacuum cleaner. The 2-Head Reading Floor Lamp sits on a weighted 22cm base and the Nordic Floor Lamp on a weighted 21cm base for that reason.
• The cable should reach a socket without crossing a walkway. Measure from the lamp's spot to the nearest socket before you buy.
• The switch should be reachable from where you sit. A foot switch or an inline switch on the cable is easier than reaching up under a shade; a pull switch, like the one on the LED Floor Lamp, is easy too.

The bulb

Most floor lamps take an E27 bulb and leave the choice to you, so choose deliberately.

• Colour: 2700K warm white in living rooms and bedrooms. Our guide to colour temperature explains why.
• Brightness: around 800 lumens for a reading lamp, 800 to 1,000 for a room lamp behind a fabric shade. Our guide to how many lumens you need has the full table.
• On show: if the bulb is visible, as on an open reading head, a decorative filament bulb is worth the extra pound.

Check the product page before you buy: the Rice Paper Floor Lamp comes with its E27 bulb, while most others do not.

The numbers, in short

• Reading lamp: bottom of the shade at 100 to 110cm, beside and behind the chair.
• Room lamp: bottom of the shade at 140 to 160cm.
• Leave 50cm between the top of the lamp and the ceiling.
• Shade of 40cm and more for room light, a small directed head for reading.
• Bulb: 2700K, around 800 lumens.
• A weighted base, a switch you can reach seated.

Common questions

What height should a floor lamp be ?

For reading beside a chair, choose a lamp whose shade bottom sits at about 100 to 110cm, your shoulder height when seated. For general room light, the bottom of the shade should sit around 140 to 160cm, just below standing eye level.

Where should a floor lamp go in a living room ?

Beside a sofa or reading chair, slightly behind your shoulder, or in a dark corner where its light can wash up two walls. Avoid placing it in front of a seat, where it shines into faces.

Can a floor lamp light a whole room ?

A shaded floor lamp with an open top can light a small room on its own in the evening, because the light bounces off the ceiling. In a larger room it works best as one of three or four sources.

Is a floor lamp good for reading ?

Yes, if it has an adjustable or directed head and stands beside and slightly behind the chair. Sculptural lamps with paper or layered fabric shades give lovely light but are usually too soft to read by.

Floor lamp or table lamp beside a sofa ?

A table lamp if there is a side table at the right height; a floor lamp if there is not, or if you want the light to reach further across the sofa. Our guide to table lamp sizes covers the first option.

What bulb should I put in a floor lamp ?

Usually an E27 LED, 2700K warm white, around 800 lumens. Choose a slightly brighter bulb behind a thick fabric or paper shade.

Still unsure ?

Tell us the height of your sofa or chair and the size of the corner at contact@thelightheritage.com and we will suggest the right height and shade. We answer every message ourselves.

Browse all floor lamps, or start from the room: living room, bedroom, home office. For a room with no ceiling light at all, our guide to lighting a room without wiring shows how floor lamps fit into the plan.