The Best Table Lamps, According to Designers

This is the table-lamp version of one of our favorite floor lamps and 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.

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

Peng also saw this Vernor Panton lamp at the host stand of the new Greenpoint restaurant Lingo. It, too, is rechargeable, and comes in a dozen-plus hues.

Here’s a slightly less-expensive lamp with a more minimalist design from Lous 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.

I love the gnome-like woven shades of 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.

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

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.

Interior designer Victoria Adesanmi recommends this squat table lamp (it’s just eight inches tall) from Crate & Barrel that incorporates a round marble base and an off-center brass-finished stainless-steel shade. She likes the mix of brushed metal and marble and the fact that it can also “serves as a piece of art.”

Designer and photographer Tommy Lei says the Baltra light designed by Kickie Chudikova for Gantri has quickly become his household favorite. Lei notes that this eight-inch dimmable lamp comes with “a sensible tray” (available in white, black, or persimmon), which he says is “ideal for pesky keys that somehow manage to magically disappear.” While he admits this feature makes the lamp more suited for an entryway, he proudly displays it on a bookcase. I can also see it being quite useful as a bedside nightlight thanks to its egg-shaped diffuser.

Caroline Grant and Dolores Suarez of Dekar Design recommend the Rex table lamp from Urban Electric because “it’s perfect for styling bookshelves and gives the most flattering glow,” they say. “The sleek lines add a classic-but-modern touch and it’s endlessly functional since it turns on with a single touch to the base and can be customized in different metals and colors.” The Rex, which measures nine inches in height, is also a favorite of interior designer Sasha Bikoff, who loves its “slightly-industrial-yet-warm element” and the fact that “it’s so simple yet so chic, with no buttons, knobs or switches of any kind.”

For a globe lamp that’s anything but dull, designer Ghislaine Viñas likes the playfulness of Marset’s Dipping Light by Barcelona-based designer Jordi Canudas. “It’s like a piece of candy; the green is my favorite,” she says. The just under nine-inches tall LED lamp incorporates a handblown glass diffuser painted with concentric circles (available in five festive colors) and a cylindrical brass-finished base.

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 ideal bedside-table lamp, as my colleague Erin Schwartz noted. The six-inch lamp is made of heat-resistant, corn-based plastic.

Entler’s blobby cast-ceramic stoneware table lamps were recommended by two of our experts, Lei and production designer Anastasia 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 at Pappas Miron also 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 designer Tali Roth recommends 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.

Fanny Singer, founder of homeware store Permanent Collection and co-writer of The Green Spoon Substack, now owns two of these Charlotte Periand-designed swiveling lamps after her husband bought one at the Paris shop, Merci. “We bought a second one online when we realized we wanted them to be our bedside table lamps,” she told the Secret Strategist.

[Editor’s note: Merci lists prices in euros, so the price shown here is an approximate conversion to U.S. dollars.]

We love going into the Ikea archives and scoping out vintage lights, like the Ton lamp from the ’90s that one of our editors owns and says would be great for a kid’s room.

I personally love vintage Laurel lamps and their blobby, space-age-y glass diffusers. My parents gave me theirs (a pointed, acorn-like version), but you can find plenty of secondhand mushroom lamps online.