A bedside lamp has a harder job than most: it has to be small enough to share a table with a book and a glass of water, tall enough to read by, and gentle enough that you can switch it on at two in the morning without waking up fully. Stained glass is unusually good at the last part. The glass filters the bulb, so the light in the room is coloured and soft even at full brightness.
Size against the table
Most bedside tables are 40 to 50 cm wide and 35 to 45 cm deep. The 25 cm table lamp takes a footprint of about 15 cm at the base and 25 cm at the shade, which leaves the front half of the table free. The 40 cm lamp needs a table at least 55 cm deep to avoid overhanging, and stands 61 cm tall, which on a standard 60 cm table puts the top of the shade at 121 cm, above a sitting eye line. Unless your bedside is a chest of drawers, choose the small lamp.
| Bedside table | Lamp | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Narrow, under 40 cm | 25 cm table lamp | Shade sits within the table edge; room for essentials |
| Standard, 40–50 cm | 25 cm table lamp | The intended pairing |
| Chest of drawers, 60 cm+ | 25 cm or 40 cm | The 40 cm lamp balances a wider surface and lights a larger room |
| No table, or a very small one | 30.5 cm wall light | Frees the surface entirely; see below |
Height against the headboard
The lamp looks best when the top of the shade sits just below the top of the headboard, or clears it by a few centimetres. The 25 cm lamp on a 55 to 60 cm table stands 95 to 100 cm from the floor, which suits a headboard between 90 and 120 cm. With a very tall upholstered headboard the lamp can look small; move it forward on the table rather than buying a bigger one.
One or two?
Two matching lamps is the classic hotel look and it works, especially with the calmer designs (Amber Floral Scroll, Cream and Amber Mission). Two multicolour lamps can be a lot in a bedroom. If you share the bed and only one of you reads, a single Tiffany lamp on the reader's side and a plain lamp on the other looks deliberate rather than mismatched. The stained glass will be the thing you notice; the other lamp will disappear.
CALM · A NATURAL PAIR
BOLD · BETTER AS A SINGLE
Wall lights as an alternative
If the tables are small or you would rather keep them clear, the 30.5 cm wall lights do the same job from the wall. Mount them so the bottom of the shade is around 120 to 130 cm from the floor, roughly shoulder height sitting up in bed, and 20 to 30 cm outside the edge of the mattress so you are not lit from directly above. They need an electrician; the lamps do not.
Bulb and switch
One E27 bulb, warm white; see the bulb guide. For a bedside lamp an in-line dimmer on the flex is worth having. At 30 percent a Tiffany lamp is a night light that happens to be beautiful.
