January 13, 2005
Light up My Room.
A fact: nice lamps are usually really expensive. I guess that is why a lot of us ended up with lamps like this in college:
A confession: that is my exact lamp from college. Bugs would die and collect in the bottom of the plastic cone, and it was gross. Make no mistake, I was still all about decorating. I sewed my own velour leopard print duvet cover (Don't judge! That was extremely cool in 1997!), but for some reason I chose to bathe it in plastic cone nightmare light. Why? Why did I do this?
Money, that's why. That lamp was--and still is--$9.99 at Kmart. And I had to buy beer and books, so my lamp budget was limited to yup, about $9.99.
Years later, I tossed the cone and took a good look at the base. And realized that the lamp itself? Was fairly sturdy and neutral. It worked with 3-way adjustable lightbulbs. And... I COULD REPLACE THE SHADE, BY GOD.
A wide range of retailers carry inexpensive stand-alone lampshades. You can find them in any specialty lighting store, Target, Anthropologie, even Wal Mart. I bet some digging on the internet will unearth even more. The best, most simple shades have a clip at the top that'll hug your lightbulb, like this one from Urban Outfitters:
That's a slight variation on the shade I have, and it cost me about $15. So for $25 dollars + a soft pink hued bulb (Very slight pinkness makes everyone pretty!) I have this:
Comparable to: CB2, Restoration Hardware, RetroModern, or Lamps Plus.
Other fun, inexpensive lighting ideas:
If you're stuck with your apartment's harsh overhead lighting, I have two words for you: Dimmer. Switches.
Posted by Lara at 01:08 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack