Yahoo News 10 best bedside lamps for a warm bedroom glow
Good bedroom lighting has the ability to transition us gently from day to night. It should be warm, soft and relaxing if we want to achieve a proper wind-down that ensures a good night’s kip.
Choosing the right bedside lamp for our nightstands, then, is of utmost importance – not only for our interiors schemes, but for our general wellbeing, too.
Lighting design is boundlessly innovative, bringing form and function together with the most dazzling results – and there’s a wealth of creative styles to choose from in a bedside lamp.
Traditional designs that feature a heavy ceramic base with a fabric shade feature in our top ten alongside the wholly contemporary and sculptural.
Beyond the obvious aesthetic appeal, you’ll need to think about the lamp’s shape and size, allowing it to sit pretty on your bedside table without overwhelming the space.
Some table lamps are seriously sizable – great for a loud statement piece in the hallway, not so much in the quiet sanctuary of the bedroom, so if space is an issue, look for styles that specify bedside, and get your tape measure out before you commit.
Invest in a good quality, frosted bulb for your bedside lamp and you’ll be rewarded with an ambient glow so inviting you’ll want to dive straight into bed. There’s no need to go over 40 watts here – choosing soft mood lighting over brightness is key. And with the naked bulb trend seeing no sign of dimming, some bedside lamps demand a decorative bulb with a visible filament to give you the full effect.
We tested these bedside lamps on our nightstand, looking for design and functionality, quality and affordability, and more than a little bit of wow-factor. Because when it comes to illumination, the very best products should spark awe.
You can trust our independent reviews. We may earn commission from some of the retailers, but we never allow this to influence selections, which are formed from real-world and expert advice. This revenue helps us to fund journalism across The Independent.
Hurn & Hurn gold goblet tripod lamp: £120, Hurn & Hurn
Audible “oooh’s” were heard when we took this beauty out of its box. Its unconventional design – a brass plated steel goblet supporting a gold hued glass shade – is both retro and warm. Heavy duty and gleaming before we’d even switched it on, it certainly made its presence felt on our nightstand. An ideal bedside light, it offered a golden glow that turned our bedroom into a cosy sanctuary, yet, with its slender tripod legs, left us enough space on the bedside table for our morning coffee. Team it with a large, globular E27 bulb for the best results.
BHS Beryl LED table lamp, brass: £50, BHS
High street casualty British Home Stores was always about the lighting – an interior designer’s secret weapon, in fact, offering an enviable selection of pendants, chandeliers, floor lights and table lamps, all design-led and deceptively affordable. Like a phoenix from the flames, it's reinvented itself as an online only venture focusing almost entirely on lighting. The tall and elegant Beryl, with its trombone-like hooped brass structure, and frosted glass LED lights that offer a soft glow, was a class act on our bedside table. Deco-fabulous.
Pooky smaller artur table lamp: £160, Pooky
A maximalist’s dream, this artichoke shaped lamp is crackle glazed in arresting turquoise while its block printed, pleated shade is opulent in its disregard for economy of fabric. Offering inviting textures on top of textures, and layers on top of layers, the lamp looks every bit a lucky vintage find, or an intriguing family heirloom brought down from the attic and reimagined in a contemporary space. We loved having this sumptuous craft-driven light bedside.
Nove blackened table light: £160, Nove
Founded by interior stylist and designer Kirsty Saxton, Nove is a contemporary lighting brand whose raison d’être is to bring the beauty of nature (and specifically, cork) into the light. Simple forms and sustainability come together in a covetable collection that fuses contemporary silhouettes with the natural patina of the renewable material. We loved the blackened cork finish of this stylishly understated light with solid brass finishes, teamed with the Tala Porcelain III bulb. A beautiful bedside addition.
Barker and Stonehouse stoneware etched table lamp, aquamarine: £99, Barker and Stonehouse
To be filed under “products that look and feel deceptively expensive”, this beautiful two-toned lamp offered big ’70s impact in our bedroom, complementing our vintage furniture perfectly. The ceramic base is glazed in dreamy sea blues and is etched with a geometric pattern that’s difficult not to run your fingers over. Its muted mustard shade offers an eye-catching contrast. On the larger side, we found this lamp works best on a mid-century mahogany headboard with low, integrated bedside tables.
Houseof pill table lamp in brass: £40, Houseof
If space saving is an objective when choosing a bedside lamp, this delicate and diminutive number from the newly launched Houseof could be the one. Proving that the best designs are often the simplest, the lamp comprises a clean-lined brass base, topped with an elegant pill-shaped smoky glass shade. Only taking a maximum 28 watts G9 bulb, it provided just the right amount of light for winding down before bed – an ideal little lamp on our nightstand. Make no mistake, it may be petite but it packs a punch on the design front.
Seletti sitting grey mouse lamp: £73, Amara
We can’t get enough of quirky animalia in our homewares, and bedside lighting is no exception. Seletti’s resin rodents by Italian designer Marcantonio Raimondi Malerba, make for an ideal lamp on the nightstand: available in three variations of mouse stances and primary bulb colours, you can place one of these handy helpers either side of the bed for a look that’s matching without being completely uniform. LED bulbs are included and offer a warming glow (even in blue).
Gingko R space lamp, walnut: £69.95, Prezzybox
Whether it’s for rest, relaxation, reading – or all three, the R space lamp marries innovative design with clever tech to provide a great little bedside lamp. It arrived in an inconspicuous slender box (top marks for minimal packaging), and unfolds, book-like, from a wooden R into a pretty lantern-inspired lamp supported by an attractive walnut frame. A versatile bedside lamp, we loved that we could plug it in and charge it up with its in-built rechargeable battery, while a nifty remote control allowed us to dim the light.
Rockett St George modern gold accent table lamp, dusky pink: £120, Rockett St George
With design roots in a classic desk lamp, Rockett St George’s offering is as practical as it is pretty. In soft dusky pink with accents of rich gold, the light brings modern glamour to the bedroom in a stylish and understated fashion. We loved the way the steel lamp provided a gentle down-light, making it ideal for snuggling up with a bedtime book. Impressive details include a chic monochrome patterned flex, upping the elegance even further.
Umage Eos Mini with tripod stand: £100.30, Black by Design
Formerly Vita Copenhagen, Umage is our go-to for smart, design-led Danish lighting. Pronounced oo-may, the name means “make more effort”, encouraging us all to invest in beautiful pieces for the home (no objection here). Offering an ethereal look that’s guaranteed to send you off to sleep gently, the Eos shade is crafted from hand-placed goose feathers and gives off a soft ambient light with a celestial quality. Don’t worry about dust, simply give it a gentle blast it with the hairdryer for easy cleaning.
The verdict: Bedside lamps
Hurn & Hurn’s gold goblet tripod lamp gets first place for its imaginative design. It achieved a rare feat of bringing both retro warmth and contemporary elegance to our nightstand. We were seriously impressed with Barker and Stonehouse’s ’70s-inspired stoneware etched table lamp for its palpable high quality and wonderfully tactile base, while Pooky’s smaller Artur table lamp won us over for its unapologetic flamboyance.
