Light Shades: All You Need To Know About Light and Lamp Shades

Lamp Shade

Light shades are aesthetic covers for lamps. They are utilized to direct the light emanating from a light bulb. The shades have several available shapes in the market such as cylindrical, conical, and other creative forms. They can be made to fit the floor, desk, or table top. Hanging lamps are also well known. There are lamps that come with their own shades upon purchase and there are others which can be fitted with shades bought at the store. You can also have your shades custom made for your lamps with unusual sizes.

Handbooks in making Lamp Shades are available at the book stores. These have instructions for making your own lamp shades from scratch. Listed there are techniques on repairing or modifying your existing lamp shades. Pasting patterns on old lamp shades is a common technique in refurbishing shades.

How to Maintain Your Lamp Shades

Light shades are easy to take care of. Before cleaning your lamp and shade, make sure that you have removed the cord from the outlet first. Remove the shade. If your light shade is made of cloth, you can use warm water and detergent to clean it. Just put your shade in a basin of bubbly water and then rinse. Make sure to use mild detergents only or dish washing liquids. You will notice that the cloth will sag when wet but once dried, it will tighten again. Pat the light shade dry with a thick towel until it is almost dry or you can sun-dry it outside by hanging it in the clothesline. If your light shade is made of plastic, fiberglass, parchment, and the likes, just wipe it with a soapy cloth or sponge then rinse with a clean cloth and wipe until dry.

Three Types of Light Shade Illumination

• Ambient Light – an overall room light that keeps you from bumping into things during the night. It is a commonly used light such as

  

  Head Lamp

  chandeliers or inset light. Majority of the builders nowadays install ceiling lights in every room. The shading consists of a glass cover and an attached plate.

• Task Lighting – in this type of lighting, the light shade has an important functional and design value. These are the lamps that are on your table tops, hutches, and stands. These are made to give light toward a specific place only. Reading lamp is also an example of task lighting type of lamp. You use these when the overhead light is too bright.
• Accent Lighting – Limited shades are used for accent lighting because the purpose of this type is to give light onto any point of interest where you want attention drawn to. You can see a lot of this type in museums wherein they feature paintings and draw attention to them by using spot lights.

Simple Light Shade Design Tips

You can use any light shade in your home but you have to take note of the overall design theme of your house. Below are simple tips you should follow:

1. You should avoid buying the basic white lamp shade. They do not add to the aesthetic value of your room unless your theme is minimalistic. You can opt for a different coloured shade to brighten up the room.

2. You should match the shape of the shade with the lamp base.

3. Make sure that the size of the base is proportional to the size of the light shade.

Home owners may opt to change light shades every once in a while to flow with the current fashion or to reflect their personal preference.