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The ten lamps here were picked from their Amazon listings and the brands’ own sites. None of them has been tried out for this page.

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• What’s the best floor lamp with shelves?
• Are corner lamps good?
• What’s a good black floor lamp for a living room?
• What’s the best tripod floor lamp?
• What’s the best arc floor lamp?
• Can a floor lamp light up a whole room?
• What’s the best floor lamp for a reading corner?
• What didn’t make the cut
• How tall should a floor lamp be?
• Is warm or cool light better for a living room?
• Questions

What’s the best floor lamp with shelves?

In our living room, there’s a corner we always meant to turn into a reading nook. Then a relative gave us a massage chair, and the chair’s still there.

We’d still like a lamp and some shelves for our books in that spot, and a floor lamp could fit beside the chair.

A lamp with shelves built in would give us both.

Best for most living roomsBrightech Maxwell Shelf Floor Lamp

Best for: a living room corner that needs light and somewhere to put your books.

The Maxwell’s shelves start at the floor, so books or a plant sit right under the light.

Its base is just 10 by 10 inches, so it’s a great fit beside a chair.

We’d put any new lamp on our Kasa smart outlet anyway, so we can switch it on and off and set a schedule. The Maxwell works with one, so it would slot right into that setup.

Specs63 in tall

Size

63 in tall, 10 x 10 in footprint

Shelves

Three, roughly 15 in apart

Bulb

9 W LED, 800 lumens, 3000K, included

Best for a dark cornerYXALOR 3-Light Floor Lamp with Shelves

Best for: a corner by a chair that needs more light than one bulb gives.

With three sockets set high, middle and low, the YXALOR can light a corner from top to bottom. All three come on with one tap of the foot switch or the remote.

The rattan shade and wood shelves give it a softer look than the Maxwell’s black frame. If your room already has a lot of wood in it, they’d look gorgeous there.

Specs70.9 in tall

Height

70.9 in by its title, 80 in by its specs

Sockets

Three E26, up to 60 W each

Each shelf holds

Up to 20 lb

Are corner lamps good?

Yes. A corner lamp does the most good beside a chair, where it lights a seat you actually use.

Pull it a little out from the corner, too, so the spot doesn’t feel crowded. A wide shade or more than one bulb spreads the light further.

The two shelf lamps above both work here. The Maxwell takes up very little floor, and the YXALOR has three sockets.

The Govee is for a different kind of corner, one you’d like to fill with color.

Best for color in a cornerGovee RGBIC Floor Lamp Basic

Best for: a corner behind the TV or the sofa that could use some color.

The Govee lets you pick a color or one of its scenes on your phone, so giving the corner a new look is easy.

It’s a mood light more than a room light (you’d still want a regular lamp nearby to read by).

Specs53.7 in tall

Size

53.7 in tall, 7.9 x 7.9 in base

Colors

16 million, 85 scene modes

Wi-Fi

2.4GHz only

What’s a good black floor lamp for a living room?

Best warm glowONEWISH Globe Floor Lamp

Best for: a corner you’d like to glow rather than light up.

The ONEWISH is a black industrial lamp, from its matte base to the dark glass globe at the top. That globe is the bulb itself, so it’s a great pick if you want the lamp to be the decoration.

A bulb in plain view bothers me a little, but if this one looked good in the room, our corner is where I’d put it.

Specs64.6 in tall

Size

64.6 in tall, 8 in base

Bulb

6 in glass globe, LED, 1800K, included

Switch

Foot switch on a 5.8 ft cord

What’s the best tripod floor lamp?

A tripod lamp stands on three wood legs and suits the end of a sofa or a reading chair.

Best classic tripodLEPOWER Tripod Floor Lamp

Best for: the end of a sofa in a mid-century room.

The LEPOWER is light enough to carry from the sofa to a reading chair on your own, which is great if you like to rearrange.

There’s no bulb in the box, so you get to choose how warm your light is.

Specs61 in tall

Size

19 x 19 x 61 in

Weighs

6.28 lb

Bulb

E26, not included, 10 to 12 W LED suggested

Best tripod with a dimmerSMEFNOS Tripod Floor Lamp

Best for: a sofa end where you’d like bright light some nights and a soft one on others.

The SMEFNOS remembers your last setting, so when you switch it back on, the light comes back just how you had it. That’s great on the nights you keep it low.

Specs66 in tall

Size

22 x 22 x 66 in

Shade

Linen, 17.3 in across

Bulb

15 W LED, 1,500 lumens, included

Warranty

2 years

What’s the best arc floor lamp?

An arc lamp stands off to one side and reaches its light out over the sofa.

Best arc over the sofaBrightech Mason Arc Floor Lamp

Best for: a sectional, or a sofa out in the middle of the room.

If you’ve got no room for a side table, the Mason brings the light over your sofa instead. Its arm reaches up to 44 inches out from the pole, and since the low marble base slides under the couch, it’s easy to set close to your seat.

That base is heavy, and owners say it keeps such a tall lamp from tipping.

Specs81 in tall

Size

19 x 19 x 81 in

Weighs

46.8 lb

Base

19 in marble, 2 in high

Bulb

9 W LED, 800 lumens, 3000K, included

Can a floor lamp light up a whole room?

Yes, if it shines up. A torchiere aims its light at the ceiling, and the ceiling spreads it around the room.

To compare brightness, look for the lumens on a listing. An old 100-watt bulb gives 1,600 lumens, so anything past that counts as bright.

Light from more than one place still helps a dark room, so a torchiere and a lamp by the sofa make a good pair.

Best for a room with no ceiling lightBrightech Sky LED Torchiere

Best for: a dark living room, a basement or a garden apartment.

If your living room goes dim once the sun’s down, the Sky is a great fix. It puts out 2,190 lumens of warm light, more than that old 100-watt bulb, and owners say it lights a room better than plenty of overhead lights.

A touch steps it through three brightness levels, and it remembers the last one you used. Its slim base fits in a corner, too.

Specs63 in tall

Size

10 x 10 x 63 in

Light

Built-in LED, 2,190 lumens, 3000K

Base

10 in, weighted

What’s the best floor lamp for a reading corner?

For reading, the light works best from one side and a little behind you, so it lands on the page without glare. These two are made for it.

Best for reading on the couchO’Bright Brook Pharmacy Floor Lamp

Best for: the end of the sofa where you read most nights.

The Brook puts the light on your page instead of across the room. You can raise or lower it to match your seat, then swing the arm in beside your shoulder.

It dims all the way down, and with antique brass, black or brushed nickel to choose from, it’s easy to match the metal you already have.

Specs47 to 55 in tall

Height

Adjusts from 47 to 55 in

Light

Built-in LED, up to 1,050 lumens, 3000K

Base

16.5 in

Best for reading in a dim roomNICOMAMA Reading Floor Lamp

Best for: a reading chair where you’d like as much light as you can get.

The NICOMAMA makes a book page bright and clear, with no flicker. The wide LED panel tops out at 8,000 lumens, five times what an old 100-watt bulb gives.

Its 4000K light is perfect for reading, less so for a cozy evening on the couch.

Specs77 in tall

Size

23 x 12 x 77 in

Weighs

27 lb

Light

23.6 x 11.8 in LED panel, up to 8,000 lumens, 4000K

Dimming

10 to 100%, knob at 39 in

Setting up a whole reading spot? Reading Nook Lighting has a lamp for the couch, the bed and a corner, and where each one goes.

What didn’t make the cut

The IKEA ISJAKT has a dimmable uplight and a reading arm, but the reading light is built in. It can stop working within months, and there’s no way to replace it.

The IKEA RÖDFLIK’s switch sits on top of the lamp, which can be a stretch from a low seat. Its pole also locks together for good once it’s built, so it can’t come apart for a move.

Wayfair’s Birch Lane Theodora can lean to one side, and the AllModern Flemings can tip without extra weight on its base.

How tall should a floor lamp be?

Tall enough that the bottom of the shade sits at or just above your eye level when you’re sitting beside it. That keeps the glare out of your eyes.

If the lamp stands farther from the seats, or has to light the whole seating area, go taller. That’s why the Mason is the tallest of the ten. Its arm has to reach out over the sofa.

For a reading chair, the easy answer is a lamp you can raise or lower, like the Brook.

Is warm or cool light better for a living room?

Warm, for most living rooms. Our main living room light is a floor lamp from IKEA by the couch, and we put warm bulbs in it.

Warm white is 2200 to 3000K on a listing, the same color as an old incandescent bulb. Above that it turns whiter, and from 5000K up it looks bluish.

If a lamp comes without a bulb, like the LEPOWER, choose a bulb in that warm range.

Dimmable floor lamps that set the mood

A dimmer gives you bright light to read by and a low glow for the rest of the evening. The SMEFNOS and the Brook suit that best. Both dim, and both switch back on at the level you left them.

Questions

I sold contract-grade furniture from 2016. More about who runs it.