As I was wandering through Target the other day and then later through another home store, both filled with lamps, all kind of lamps and lampshades, I realized how overwhelming it is to shop for a lamp. I am an extremely visual person and seeing a hundred lamps sitting side by side on a shelf frustrates me! I am also irritated with how similar they all look. It seems choices are slim with lamps. But I want my lamp to be special, colorful, not too large...is that too much to ask?? Then not only do you have to pick out the base but then you must find a shade! All I am asking retailers to consider is to display each lamp somehow in such a way that I can take a shade and place it on top and have that lamp on a detailed display in a room so I could see how it would look. I want an entire room display, like in IKEA. I can give them props because this is exactly how they sell their items. Their entire store is a display! It's genius and it works. If we can see it in a room with all of the other furniture we own, with all the details we are more likely to buy it because we know it works. The same goes for any light fixture. These are the most difficult items to buy for your home mainly because of their size. In fact, there are many things to consider when purchasing lighting. Size being one, but also maintenance. I was visiting a friend this past weekend and she recently moved into a brand new, gorgeous home. The first thing I noticed was her awesome light fixture over her dining room table. It is a mid-century modern looking fixture, very big, and has an almost cosmic look to it.(you can find it at www.lowes.com ) It has at least 15 light bulbs! Wowza! She loves the light but is annoyed at how many bulbs she will be required to change. Something very important to think about when choosing lighting! But let us not forget about size. Looking at lighting in a large box store can be deceiving. Those stores where you have no idea if they even have a ceiling or walls because all you see is product. Be careful about your space and how much lighting it needs and of course, the actual size of the fixture.

A general rule of thumb for measuring for lighting is to take the width and length of the room in feet, add those two lengths together and convert to inches. That is the basic size ceiling fixture you should buy for your room. I am a huge rule-breaker myself so this formula is not a "must" but it is somewhere to start if you are clueless about size. Going bigger is always better than getting a fixture that is too small. Lighting is an "accessory" to any room but it must also be able to illuminate a room properly. As for lamps, well, I wish you all good luck! Make sure you have done some research on exactly what kind of lamp you want. Keep it simple and functional and remember that lighting is the icing on the cake. I just wish we could all "try them on" like we do with clothing or shoes. Maybe someday my idea will catch on, but until then, happy lamp shopping!

My living room and my favorite vintage lamp I found in one of my favorite stores in DesMoines... "Calypso 968" it takes a lot of hunting for me to find the perfect one!