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I have a large living room I need to light up. It's about 360 square foot and I cant install a ceiling lamp. It's rental unit and they don't want to tear into the plaster wall to put in a ceiling lamp.
So, I need to get a floor lamp or lamps to light up the room. I currently have one old floor lamp that uses an incandescent bulb (I forget the wattage), but it isn't bright enough. What kind of lamp/bulb/wattage would be appropriate? What are the considerations? Is there some standard recommended wattage per square foot measure I can use as a starting point?
Location: somewhere between Lk. Michigan & Lk. Huron
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How about a Halogen floor lamp? Not sure about the different kind of wattage you can place in one, but I think you can use a 100 watt in one. That should brighten up any room.
Sure go with halogens if you can. You need more than one lamp. If you have end tables, then lamps for the tables make sense. If you don't have end tables, buy a couple of floor lamps.
Every chair needs a table by its side. On that table, you can put a lamp.
The best source for moderately priced, on trend lamps that I have run into is Home Goods. These will not be heirloom quality, but they won't be junk and they will be moderate in price. Good luck.
I have a livingroom that is about the same size. It doesn't have a ceiling light, either. If possible, I would suggest at LEAST 4 table lamps and/or floor lamps. I have 4 now but I have had as many as six, depending on how I've arranged the furniture--I'm constantly moving things from room to room.
Don't have lamps? Even an ugly, outdated brass lamp you find at the thrift store looks great spray painted! I have one that I sprayed a bright red for a pop of color. It looks great and was only $6.00 (not including the paint).
I went through a phase where I replaced all my incandescent bulbs with florescent. I HATED it, even in the soft colors. I had to go back. The light just wasn't *pretty*.
Don't have lamps? Even an ugly, outdated brass lamp you find at the thrift store looks great spray painted! I have one that I sprayed a bright red for a pop of color. It looks great and was only $6.00 (not including the paint).
I second FunnyMummy on this one. We have several older/vintage floor lamps that have been restored. I do the work myself (including re-wiring). Many of the newer lamps are just not made of the same materials as the older stuff. Just get an attractive silk shade to top it off.
BTW, aside from the different types of bulbs, there are different types of "brightness" (i.e., natural light, daylight, etc.). Some are whiter vs a yellowish depending on what you prefer.
Also, think about how you use the space and if you need areas for reading, working on the computer, etc. that should help with the placement of lamps.
Only caveat on wattage is what the lamp itself says. There's a little golden or other colored stick thing, it goes around the part just below where you put the bulb in, and it'll say something like, "Do not use any higher wattage than 60w." Floor lamps generally you can use 100 watt bulbs, which provide the average amount of light homeowners use. But a three-way that allows 150 watt, that's great for reading at the third turn. Incandescent, the regular bulbs, give off a warmer hue than most other bulbs, which I also like.
It depends of the lighting conditions of the room, the color of the furniture, and your personal preference. However, the recommended light intensity for casual activities is usually 20 lumens per square foot. That means 20x360 = 7200 lumens needed to light up your living room. You will definitely need more than one light source.
What I’d recommend here is to have 2 - 4 bright floor lamp, which should be compact with very simple designs and colors. You can try putting 2 Brightech LED torchiere floor lamps in. The lamp is very skinny and is minimalist in design, so you don’t have to worry too much about where to put them - they fit just about anywhere. They’re about 3000 lumens each and are dimmable. You can also try the Brightech Eclipse (the one with 2 rings of light on the light head), it looks very unique and stylish but the light output is lower, at 2000 lumens. Then you can place another lantern floor lamp by Revel near the center of the room, behind the sofa for example. Buy 3 LED or CFL bulbs with total light output of about 2000 to 3000 lumens and you should be good. I suggest buying the brighter bulbs because you can always turn off or dim one of the lights if it’s too bright.
You can find more info for the lamps here. Hope it helps!
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