There's no single right size for a lampshade, it depends on the base, the room and what type of atmosphere you're after.
We keep our range simple: three shapes with a small number of sizes in each. Other sizes available on request - see Custom Orders for more details.
The drum is the most versatile shape we make, same width from top to bottom. Equally at home on a bedside or living room table, a ceiling/pendant lamp or on a floor standard lamp.
Tapering from a narrower top to a wider base. Conical shades are suited to a wide range of table lamp bases. The large size could also work as a ceiling pendant.
Our smallest shade, sized for wall lights and slim candlestick-style bases. These clip straight onto the bulb - no fitting to worry about.
There's no single answer - it depends on your base and where the lamp's going - but two rules of thumb get you most of the way there.
First, height. As a starting point, the shade wants to be about two-thirds the height of the base. Taller and the lamp looks top-heavy; much shorter and the base looks bare. Measure your base from its foot to the bottom of the bulb holder, and aim for roughly two-thirds of that.
Then width. The widest part of the shade - the bottom on a conical, the whole thing on a drum - should sit a little wider than the widest part of the base, so the base doesn't poke out beneath it. It should also cover the works, so no bulb holder or fitting shows at eye level.
For a ceiling pendant, proportion matters more than rules: a bigger drum suits a bigger room, and it's worth holding it up against anything else hanging nearby.
Still unsure? Send us a photo with the height and width of your base and we'll tell you what we would recommend. And if none of our standard sizes are right, that's exactly what Custom Orders are for.
The candle clip shade clips directly onto a candle-style bulb, so there's no separate fitting to choose. For drum and conical shades, you choose the fitting depending on where it's going.
A Table Lamp shade has its fitting set into the lower ring, so it sits neatly on top of a lamp base. A Ceiling Pendant shade has the fitting in the top ring instead, so it hangs from a ceiling flex. It's the same shade either way - just built to hang or to sit, this is important for patterns that have a right way up.
If you're ever unsure, drop us a line and we'll help you choose.
