5 Innovative Ways to Style Your Space with Floor Lamps
Creating your well-designed home or office means having the right furniture, a good set of colors for the goals of your company or the feeling you want to convey in your home, but it also means having the right type of lighting.
One of the best ways to enhance any design is to create focal points, places where the eye is naturally drawn, complete with some sort of visually interesting display or collection. Floor lamps can serve as that focal point, or they can work as an accent to that focal point, enhancing the design of a space with the right style, size, and type of lighting.
When people think of lighting, they may limit themselves to overhead lights. However, floor lamps offer diverse versatility and functionality in interior design. Today, floor lamps can be used not just for illumination but as a key element in space styling.
Types of floor lamps
There are several styles of floor lamps from which to choose.
Club foot
The club foot floor lamp is a tall, free-standing lamp that is one of the most popular. It has different light shades on top but has a circular base and a single stand in the middle.
Swing arm
The swing arm floor lamp is very similar to the design of the club foot in that it has a circular base with a single stand, usually of thin metal. Still, the difference is the top section can be pivoted directionally from one side to the other. It can also be extended outward by a few inches or collapsed in by a few inches. This is sometimes known as the adjustable arm lamp and is generally designed for small reading areas. It’s a great lamp to have over a desk, a chair, or a couch.
Tripod
As the name suggests, the tripod is constructed of three metal poles that meet at the top and extend down to form a tripod base. The tripod has more of a minimalistic feel, generally crafted from metal or wood, and it’s usually taller than the traditional standing floor lamps, which makes it great for accent pieces, especially next to a piece of art or over a shelf with collectibles on display.
Arched
Another design is the arched floor lamp, which has, as the name suggests, an arched extension so that the light can be directed to a specific area. This somewhat combines the functionality of overhead lighting with the same flexibility as standing floor lamps. You can find contemporary to traditional designs perfect for any home or office and use them over a seating area, a reception lounge, or even as additional lighting in an unused corner.
Torchiere
The torchiere has a bowl-shaped lampshade that looks somewhat like a torch and casts diffused light upward. This is the opposite of the arched design, which casts light down, but you can find minimalistic designs all the way through ornate and modern designs.
Five innovative ways to style the space with floor lamps
You can use modern design floor lamps to stylize any space. Below are five innovative ways to use floor-standing lamps.
Creating focal points with floor lamps
In any space, good designs will incorporate floor lamps as striking focal points in a room. For this, select floor lamps with distinctive designs that complement the room’s aesthetic.
When you are creating a focal point, be sure that your standing floor lamp is placed in a strategic position next to the furniture you want to highlight. Pick complementary colors if it is going to stand next to furniture, in a corner, or against a piece of art. Don’t be afraid to try different styles, from traditional to ornate or sleek and modern, until you find the one that works for the space.
Enhancing ambient lighting
Modern-design floor lamps can easily go around things like mirrors to enhance the ambient lighting in the room. These floor lamps can add layers to the room’s lighting scheme. If you have overhead lights or small table lights, then you can cover the majority of the lighting that is cast over the room, but there are still areas of darkness or shadow, usually in the corners of the space. Similarly, the smaller table lamps you have might cast downward light for reading if you are sitting right next to them, but for all other areas, they don’t really draw attention.
Floor-standing lamps can create warm and inviting ambient light, especially in corners of the room. These lamps can enhance the lighting of the space when used in conjunction with overhead lights and can also serve as an alternative to brighter overhead lights if you want to create a specific ambiance with warmer lighting that’s softer and more discreet coming from the corners.
Defining spaces within open floor plans
If you have an open floor plan, you still want to design the space so that there are specific areas of activity within the open floor plan. One of the easiest ways to do this in an open-concept home or office is to define separate areas with pieces of furniture and standing floor lamps. Identical floor lamps on either side of a fireplace, a desk, a couch, or other piece of furniture can offer elegance while also providing the right type of light Direction in the space.
Be sure to pay attention to the lamp scale and style when you are doing this. You don’t want the lamps to be too small if the open floor space is very large. Instead, you want them to be the right height for the space and the purpose. You also want there to be enough lighting for your goals in that space, such as an overhead, arched standing floor lamp to provide light facing downward in a reading nook and an overhead torch light in a common space for socialization or lounging.
Accentuating art and decor
With floor lamps you can easily and effectively create an inviting atmosphere that has visual interest. While the floor lamps themselves might serve as your focal points, you can accentuate other arts and decor by adding your floor lamps in strategic places around the artwork.
The floor lamps you use should highlight art pieces, collections, or key decor elements in your space. This can be achieved through directional lighting and adjustable floor lamps that create accent lighting where you want the eye to be drawn.
For example, if you have a focal point such as a piece of art on the wall or a collection on a shelf, you can flank the shelf with standing floor lamps the same as a piece of art so that there is directional light cast over that area.
- For a home, this can help draw attention to the personality of the space, something that represents who you are.
- For an office, this can draw attention to things like awards you have received, plaques, or collections of successful projects that you want potential customers or investors to notice as soon as they walk into the room.
Incorporating floor lamps into minimalist designs
Floor lamps are vital to minimalist interior designs. You should select modern design floor lamps that align with minimalist aesthetics—focusing on simplicity, functionality, and clean lines.
Tips
- Mirrors can reflect light in a way that makes your room feel more open and bright. If you are working with a particularly small space, floor lamps, combined with different mirrors or glass objects, can maximize the lighting in the room.
- The texture is important when it comes to creating focal points and enhancing the overall look and feel of your space. In a home or an office, things like woven rugs or the textures of certain throw pillows can add visual interest, complemented by things like indoor plants in pots that have accenting colors.
- Speaking of colors, you can make the space more inviting and add more energy to it by adding a splash of color through a piece of furniture, the pot for an indoor plant, or an accent wall with lighting strategically designed around those colors to draw the eye to them. These colors might be things that complement the focal point, like a piece of art.
Summing Up
There are several innovative ways to style spaces with floor lamps. Overall, the right type of standing floor lamp can effectively create a unique ambiance, draw the eye to artwork, or define spaces in an open floor plan. Choosing the right colors and styles can add visual interest and draw the eye where you want it. Layering in texture and mirrors can also enhance your space in a way that reflects your style or your company’s business culture.
What matters most is that you match the lamp with the room’s overall design theme and practical needs. Modern design floor lamps can act as essential elements in both the functionality and aesthetics of home design.