Bedside Table Lamps
Sized so the shade lands at eye level when you sit up.
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Choosing bedside table lamps
The one measurement that matters at a bedside is where the bottom of the shade sits. It should land near eye level when you are sitting up in bed, which for a standard nightstand means a lamp 24 to 27 inches tall. Too tall and you look straight into the bulb; too short and it lights the table, not the book.
A translucent shade turns the lamp into a soft glow for the room; an opaque one throws a clean pool down onto the page. For a bedroom, most people want the second on the reading side and are happier with the first everywhere else.
Match the pair on height and output even if the designs differ. Uneven lamp heights either side of a bed are the thing that makes an otherwise finished bedroom look unresolved.
Bedside Table Lamps — common questions
How tall should a bedside lamp be?
Twenty-four to twenty-seven inches on a standard nightstand, so the bottom of the shade sits near eye level when you are sitting up. As a check, the nightstand height plus the lamp height should total roughly 44 to 47 inches.
Do bedside lamps need to match?
They should match in height and brightness; the design can differ. Mismatched heights are far more noticeable across a bed than mismatched shapes.