It’s a problem as old as time: how do you see once the sun’s gone down? From the earliest days of humanity, stumbling about in darkened caves, to you or I in the middle of the night, stubbing our toe on our mission to the pitch-black bathroom. Of course, we’ve had electric indoor lighting for almost 150 years now, but one question still remains: what makes the best table lamps for bedside reading?
In this quick and simple bedroom design guide, I put my many years as a stylist to good use, helping you to explore the characteristics and considerations that go into choosing the perfect bedside lamp. By the end of this short guide, you’ll know exactly what kind of things to look for in your ideal reading light.
Not just any table lamp will do for a bedside light!
Surely a bedside lamp doesn’t need to be fancy. Its main purpose is to help you find your way in and out of bed once the big light’s turned off, right? Well, I’d say wrong! In fact, the table lamp you choose to put by your bedside may just be one of the most important pieces of décor in your house. After all, it’s both the first light you see in the morning, and the last thing you touch before going to bed—which means getting it right is key.
A table lamp for your bedside might be the thing to help you wake up on early or overcast mornings. Its light helps you find your way in and out of bed, yes, but it also serves as auxiliary atmospheric lighting in your bedroom (or, in smaller homes, in what might be a combined bedroom/living room). A bedside lamp also adds to the overall aesthetic of your bedroom—an ugly one can spoil the otherwise carefully planned look of the rest of the room—and, of course, is crucial as the source of light for your many fruitful hours spent reading or chatting au lit.
The best table lamps for bedsides: 6 things to consider
We’ve learned that a bedside light is much more than just a finishing touch, a purely practical addition to your bedroom’s décor. In fact, a good bedside lamp has many different roles to fulfil. Let’s take a look now at 6 key characteristics and considerations of the perfect bedside lamp, to help you find one to fuel your bedtime reading.
1) Do you have somewhere to plug the table lamp in?
It might seem a bit dull, a bit obvious, to start with a question like this, but it’s worth asking! Most table lamps for bedside reading draw their power from an electrical wall socket, but depending on the layout of your bedroom, you may not have one to hand. In this case, you’ll need a table lamp you can charge and recharge, which may limit your options.
Alternatively, if you’re going full-renovation, you could opt to have your bedside lamps wired into the mains electricity with a light switch installed by your bed, like you’ve probably seen in hotels before. Of course, this is a pricey option and may lock you into a single style of lamp or reading light for the long run.
2) How bright does your table lamp need to be for nighttime reading?
The most crucial questions to ask of your bedside lamp are:
- How bright do you need it to be? and,
- Would you prefer to read in a warm, neutral, or cold temperature light?
The warmth and brightness of a bedside table lamp will be largely dependent on the type of bulb you choose to pair with the lamp itself, but for our purposes, let’s think of bulb and lamp as one and the same.
In order to be able to comfortably read by the light of your table lamp, you’ll need a light bright enough to illuminate the pages of a book—this light should be bright enough that you’re not having to strain your eyes, yet dim enough that it creates a pleasant nighttime atmosphere. Somewhere in the region of 450-900 lumens is usually best for easy reading.
How warm you want the light to be is more a question of taste, though I tend to advise my clients to opt for warm lighting throughout the bedroom, and especially by the bedside. Think Moulin Rouge and you’re getting the idea—a warm light (around 2700-3000K) is both easy on the eyes and on the boudoir.
3) What style of lamp and shade are you looking for?
Once you’ve figured out the practical side of things, it’s time for the fun stuff: getting to shop for a style of lamp and table lamp shades that complement you and your bedroom.
There are quite literally tens of thousands of different styles, shapes, vintages, colours and materials of lamp for your bedside table, meaning you’ve got plenty of fun browsing to do—either online or in-person—before you find your perfect lamp.
A good way to start might be to take a gander at various furniture makers’ websites, to get a feel for the many different kinds of table lamps for bedside reading there are. Then, armed with your preferences—e.g., a carved wooden stand vs a kitsch plastic one from the 70s, tall vs short, patterned lampshade vs plain—you can start to narrow down the search.
4) Matching the lamp table to the lamp
One of the things I often see done wrong is when a homeowner pairs a beautiful bedside lamp with a completely mismatched, or downright hideous lamp table. The table you place your light on will, after all, be directly illuminated by that gorgeous, bright and warm bulb, night after night—as such, it’s worth taking the time to either find a lamp whose style matches your table, or to consider upgrading your drab old IKEA bedside cabinet for a table to match your lamp.
5) Standalone lamp or a matching pair?
Here’s another question: will you need a standalone lamp or a pair of two, one for either side? If you live alone, one ought to be enough, though you may still opt for two so visitors have a reading light as well, and for the sake of symmetry.
If you live with a partner, then chances are you’ll need to illuminate both sides of the bed—in such cases, you’ll have to decide whether symmetry is preferable, or the asymmetry of two different people’s tastes will mesh with your bedroom’s design…
6) To dim or not to dim, that is the question
Lastly, what about a dimmer? Traditional table lamps for bedside reading will turn on and off at the flick of a switch or the pull of a cord. These, though, only give you one option when it comes to the strength of the light: full power. Modern lamps, however, often come with a dimmer switch—a small knob you can turn to change the brightness and/or warmth of your bedside lamp in increments.
A dimmer lamp can often be the best choice of bedside lamp for reading because it gives you, the reader, far greater control over the light you read by. As the natural light in your bedroom changes, you can counteract and balance it by dimming or enhancing the artificial light by your bed. Of course, dimmer lamps may be more expensive, or may not be available in your preferred style, but they’re always worth looking out for!
The Takeaway: What makes the best table lamp for bedside reading?
Reading in bed is one of the premier joys in life, and a nice bedside lamp to read by only makes it all the more enjoyable.
The best table lamps for reading in bed cast a bright but not too bright, warm and gentle light in the region of 450-900 lumens (brightness) and 2700-3000 Kelvin (warmth). They may be dimmed, depending on need, and their style complements your personal taste—as well as the material and design of the tables they stand on.
And lastly, whether they come in pairs or as a standalone, table lamps for bedside reading are best when they’re made well, last a long time, and make you feel most at home, cosied up beneath the covers with a good page-turner in hand.
