Lamps are an essential part of home décor. Along with lighting up the space, floor and table lamps also aesthetically complete a room. Whether you talk of a floor lamp or a table lamp, lamps are made up of two parts: the base and the shade. Lamp shades are of varying types and changing merely a lamp shade can often dramatically change the appeal of a room. Here’s an introduction to the many different types of lampshades.
Hard Backed vs Soft Backed
All lampshades can be classified as hard backed or soft backed shades on the basis of the structure used to support its shape.
A hard backed lampshade has a metal ring at the top and bottom and the lamp holds its shape by a hard lining (usually plastic) over which paper or any other fabric is stuck. The hard lining can also be made of a reflective opaque material to reduce the amount of light emitted through the shade. The hard lining layer ensures that these lamps maintain their shape over large periods of time. The drawback of these shades is that they are not washable and once dented, cannot be fixed.
In a soft backed shade, the metal rings at the top and bottom are connected with metal supports to maintain their shape. They may still however be lined with fabric. While a soft backed shade allows more light to pass through the shade, the metal framework may cast shadows and distort the light. A soft backed lamp shade can also be designed to be collapsible.
Empire vs Bell vs ….
Lamp shades are available in a number of shapes and sizes. The shape of the lamp shade not only aesthetically completes a lamp but also defines its functionality. Here are the top five shapes of lamp shades.
Cylinder
As the name suggests these lamp shades are round in shape and taller than they are wide. Lamps with such lamp shades emit light from both the top and the bottom and thus are great for ambient lighting. They are best paired with narrow table lamp bases in contemporary or minimalist living room designs.
Drum
Cylindrical lamp shades that are wider than they are tall are called drum lamp shades. These lamp shades pair well with almost any type of table lamps or floor lamps and can also be used as ceiling fixtures. Drum lamps can be both hard backed and soft backed and produce plenty of ambient light through the top and bottom.
Empire
Empire lamp shades feature a narrow opening at the top and a slightly larger base opening. A lamp with an empire lamp shade casts light downwards with very little ambient light emitted from the top. This makes it ideal for reading lamps and ceiling lights. Empire lamp shades are usually soft backed can be found with round, square or even hexagon shaped frames.
Bell
Like the empire shade, the bell shade is also narrower at the top and broader at the bottom. The difference lies in the inward curve of the shade as it flares out that makes it resemble a bell shape. These are usually not lined and can often be seen with scalloped edges at the base. Bell shaped lamp shades are suited to lamps with a curved base shape. These lamps can often be seen in residential interiors that favour a classical interior design style.
Coolie
A coolie lamp shade is reminiscent of the hats worn by rice farmers in Vietnam. These shades are very narrow at the top have a much broader base. Thus the sides of the shade are heavily slanted. These lamps are ideal for task lighting lamps.
Material
The third element that makes up a lamp shade is the material of the shade. The most commonly found lamp shade materials are paper and fabric. Other notable materials are metal, glass, cane and ceramic. Paper and fabric lamp shades are definitely cheaper but have a shorter lifespan compared to metal or glass lamp shades.
Amongst glass lamp shades, one of the most well known are Tiffany lampshades. These feature intricate designs created by soldering together a number of small pieces of coloured glass. These lamp shades are custom designed along with their bases and hence cannot be mixed and matched with other lamp bases.
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