Floor lamps can add beautiful aesthetics to your living room while also providing functionality. The cool thing about them is that they can be placed anywhere in the room as long as there is an electrical outlet within a few feet. There are several types of floor lamps to choose from, and in this post, we've found and highlighted the best options for you.
Here are a few of the best types of living room floor lamps:
- Arc
- Tripod
- Swing-arm
- Task
- Pharmacy
- Column
- Tree
- Torchiere
- Chandelier
It's not that difficult to find a floor lamp to enhance the color scheme or existing furnishings in your living room. If anything, you may be overwhelmed with the number of choices available in the market today. Continue reading to learn more about the most popular floor lamps used for living room spaces.
The best floor lamps for the living room
Because they are portable and available in a wide array of styles and colors, floor lamps can provide versatile functions and add amazing decor to your living room. You can position these lamps anywhere in your living room to enhance existing furnishings and color schemes.
They can also provide ample reading light when you want to cozy up with a new book without having bright lighting overhead. Many modern floor lamps also include USB ports, touch controls, and storage compartments --so you can keep your Kindle fully charged and handy.
Arc
Arc floor lamps can light up an entire room and are especially popular and modern living rooms. They have a smoothly curved neck that allows them to fit perfectly in several areas in a room. Arc floor lamps are ideal for small or large living rooms and can be placed behind or beside sofas and end tables or wherever you need a little extra illumination.
Tripod
Tripod floor lamps can sit perfectly behind an armchair or a long sofa in your living room. These modern floor lamps are becoming more popular in contemporary-style homes and are very similar to tripod table lamps except that they are bigger and taller. These three-legged lamps can be used for accent lighting or full living room lighting.
Swing-Arm
Another great flooring lamp to consider is the swing-arm floor lamp. These old school lamps have a pivoting arm that allows them to shine light in any direction for several different activities.
Task
Task floor lamps work great when you need extra lighting for your work table or reading table. You can place them anywhere in your living room and adjust their curve necks to shine light in any direction.
Pharmacy
The cool thing about pharmacy lamps is that they come in a wide variety of finishes, including black, bronze, and silver. These lamps have adjustable arms and dome-shaped metal shades that can effectively illuminate your living room or add a touch of supplemental lighting.
Column
Column floor lamps are in a league of their own. These unique column-shaped lamps can go on the side of your end tables or behind your sofa to help accent the other light fixtures in your living room. They almost stand out as art pieces, towering over end tables, sofas, and dining tables.
Tree
Tree floor lamps typically have three or more branches of lights that are positioned in any direction. Their arms branch out from the base of the lamp, similar to that of a tree. Since these lamps typically have three or more lights, they can easily brighten any area of your living room on their own. They can also help you to create a unique lighting pattern by using different bulb colors. Tree floor lamps are great for living rooms with limited space, as they are rather slim, and their arms are usually 18 inches or less.
Torchiere
Torchiere lamps are probably the most popular floor lamps in modern living rooms today. Resembling medieval torches, they direct their light to the ceiling and help create an ambient and relaxing mood in your living room. These floor lamps typically have shades that open upward, which can help to make your living room feel cozier.
Chandelier
Chandelier floor lamps can help your living room make a statement. Their extravagant designs and colors can add a sense of character to your living room, whether it's traditional or modern. These floor lamps are great for providing both accent and ambient lighting.
How do I choose a floor lamp for the living room?
You should consider several factors before deciding on the right floor lamp for your living room. In fact, here are a few things to think about.
How much light do you need?
If your living room is relatively small (between 100 to 200 sq.ft.), you won't need as match lighting as a living room over 300 sq.ft. The amount of lighting that you need in your living room will depend on how you use your living room, for the most part:
- Is your living room is strictly for entertainment?
- Do you often dine in your living room?
- Do you prefer a well-lit living room for studying and reading?
Try to think of the day-to-day activities that will take place in your living room and decide what amount of lighting is necessary. You also want to consider the amount of natural lighting coming in from windows or skylights.
What style do you want?
After determining how much lighting you will need, you'll need to decide how you want the floor lamp to fit into your living room's decor. For example, do you have a minimalist decor theme in the living room, which will go better with more modern looking floor lamps? Or is your living room more on the traditional side, whereas a more ornamental floor lamp would be appropriate?
Think about your style preferences and whether you want your floor lamp to stand out as an accent piece. You might prefer it to blend in effortlessly with your walls and furniture.
What's the room's traffic flow?
If your living room has a heavy, daily traffic flow, you'll need to map out areas where you can place your floor lamps without them hindering the day-to-day activities within the room. The last thing you want to do is to spend money on a new floor lamp only to have it knocked over by pets or children-- or dinner guests that had too many glasses of wine! Consider the different areas that you'll be able to place your floor lamps where they are out of the way, such as behind sofas or adjacent to end tables.
What's your budget?
What budget do you have for your living room floor lamps? Floor lamps can range in cost from the super inexpensive lamps starting at $20 to $30 to the more extravagant lamps, which can go as high as $1,000 or more. When determining your budget, think about the number of floor lamps that you need and how much you are willing to pay for each of them.
What size lamp will work best?
The size of floor lamps can also vary greatly. For example, torchier and column floor lamps will take up a very small amount of space due to their slim statures. In contrast, arc and chandelier floor lamps may require additional floor space to accommodate their horizontal extensions. It's important to know how much living room space you have to work with so that you can find floor lamps that are the most accommodating.
What height will work best?
Height is another thing to consider when looking for the right floor lamp for your living room. This is important to note, as the taller the lamp is, the wider the lighting expanse will be. If you prefer to have ambient lighting in your living room, a taller light will be better suited for it.
If your living room has low ceilings, you'll want to go with a shorter floor lamp so that the lamp doesn't cartoonishly hover above all of the furniture. There are also floor lamps that come with adjustable bases, which can be very useful if you prefer to switch things up often. The average height of a floor lamp is around 58 to 64 inches. So if you have average ceilings, you shouldn't have any issues finding a floor lamp within this height range.
Where should floor lamps be placed in a living room?
Not all floor lamps are created equally, and they are designed to produce different lighting effects. That being said, the functionality of your floor lamp should determine where you place it in your living room. A couple of questions that you should ask yourself when considering the right placement are how you would use the floor lamp and what purpose it will serve?
Room's Edges
If you want a floor lamp to provide a bit of ambient light to your living room, one of the best areas to place it is at the edges or the corners of your living room. This can help give your living room more of a diffused or filtered lighting effect, creating a more relaxing mood.
Behind the Sofa/Seating
If you perform a lot of daily tasks in your living room, such as studying, reading, or working, you may want to consider replacing your floor lamp behind the seating in your living room to provide nearby and focused lighting. If you are worried about the lighting being too bright at such proximity, you can choose a lamp that has a darker shade or dimming capability.
Frame Alongside Furniture, Fireplace, or Art/Decor
You can also position lamps on either side of your living room couches, fireplace, or end tables to help them stand out a bit more. Or, if you have a new art piece that you want to showcase, you can place a relatively short floor lamp a few feet to the side of it to help draw attention to it.
Beside or Between Chairs
Another great place for your living room floor lamp is beside your chaise or lounging chair. Not only can this help to provide a bit of extra lighting while reading or working on your laptop, but it can help the chairs to stand out. If you have extra chairs in your living room, consider placing a floor lamp between them to create more of a warm and inviting conversational area for your houseguests.
What color light is best for a living room?
For most homes, warm white lighting of 3200-4200K will work best in the living room. This is especially true for living rooms that are mostly used for relaxing activities such as watching television, reading, or taking a quick nap. This Kelvin range gives the room a warm and cozy ambiance and can also work well in bedrooms, dens, and basements.
Wrapping things up
We hope that this post has provided you with enough information to help you determine what type of floor lamp will work best for your living room and how to go about choosing the perfect one.
Before you go, be sure to check out our other posts: