How daring of you to want to decorate your home with a stained glass lamp. There’s nothing humdrum about such a bold and colorful light fixture, which makes it a challenge to integrate one into the landscape of your home décor. Once you’ve introduced such a glorious piece into your home environment, there’s no ignoring it; it becomes a conversation piece and possibly even a focal point of the room where it lives.
Meeting these challenges successfully puts you in the impressive company of luminaries such as Barbara Streisand, the Beatles and David Geffen, just to name a few examples of people who have been known to decorate with stained glass lamps.
Need ideas or inspiration for how to decorate your home using stained glass lamps? We have you covered, whether you’re wondering how to decorate around a vintage art nouveau Tiffany lamp or you have your eye on a contemporary stained glass lamp made by a living artist. Check out 7 of our best stained glass lamp decorating ideas. These tips and suggestions will guide you in your quest to create a harmonious space that perfectly complements your stained glass lamp without being overwhelmed by it.
1. Use a Stained Glass Lamp to Illuminate a Vignette, Tablescape or Collection
If chosen thoughtfully and arranged with care, stained glass lamps are ideal for use as accent lighting. Their interesting silhouettes and unique design elements can add drama to a still life grouping of objects displayed on a tabletop. The stained glass lamp is likely to be the tallest object in a grouping of vases, urns, pottery pieces, bowls, dishes, baskets, candlesticks or trays; it becomes the natural focal point for the grouping.
Turning on the lamp is akin to completing the scene. The illumination adds a warm glow to the room; it brings out the subtle details in the objects d’art and sets the glass in the vases shimmering.
A stained glass lamp can work well for accenting almost any type of collectible object, whether you collect art glass, Russian nesting dolls, crystal decanters or miniature horse figurines. It’s particularly appropriate to pair Tiffany stained glass lamps with art nouveau, craftsman or arts and crafts style collectibles, but don’t be afraid to mix and match styles.
2. Use a Stained Glass Lamp as the Focal Point in Your Bedroom or Any Room
You’ll find a distinctive focal point at the heart of every captivating home environment.
When you enter your bedroom, does the use of space enchant you? Where are your eyes drawn first? If the answers to these questions are “no” and “nowhere,” the problem might be that the room is missing a focal point.
There are many ways you could introduce a focal point into a room where none exists. One easy possibility is to place a spectacular stained glass lamp at eye level in the room.
3. Illuminate Your Child’s Desk With a Stained Glass Lamp
Who wouldn’t want to sit at a desk this pretty? Who knows, perhaps a setup like this could even motivate your little one to sit down and get her homework done.
A stained glass lamp would also be an attractive addition to a desk in the study or an adult’s bedroom.
4. Illuminate the Library With a Stained Glass Lamp
A comfortable leather reading chair + bookcases full of books + a stained glass lamp + hardwood flooring = a recipe for a classic home library.
5. Layer Your Lighting: Incorporate Stained Glass Lamps as a Part of Your Entire Lighting Design
Since stained glass lampshades can obscure significant amounts of light, it would be a mistake to rely on a stained glass lamp as your sole source of light in a room. Instead, you want to incorporate several layers of lighting into each environment that includes a stained glass lamp. Ideally, you’ll want at least one workhorse of an overhead light. You may also want to incorporate other light fixtures on the walls or at eye level.
6. Use Table Lamps and Floor Lamps in the Same Environment
If your space is large enough to warrant it, you can pair your stained glass lamps with other sorts of lamps for an effective layered lighting effect.
For example, if you’re decorating a sizable bedroom, you could utilize both a stained glass desk lamp and a larger floor lamp to create a well-lit and comfortable environment. Put both of these light fixtures on dimmers so you can easily set the right mood as needed for reading, romance or snoozing.
It also works well to layer two or more cohesive stained glass lamps in the same environment. If you adore the look of stained glass lighting, the floor lamp and desk lamp in the bedroom could both feature stained glass lampshades that would cast a colorful, enchanting glow over nearby surfaces in the room. A stained glass ceiling light is another possible addition to the room; another alternative would be a stained glass hanging lamp. You could add stained glass night lights in the bedroom, hallways and bathrooms too.
Go as big on the stained glass as you like, but do remember to keep in mind you’ll want to incorporate at least one prominent light fixture — perhaps recessed lighting overhead — that doesn’t feature a stained glass shade. Stained glass lamps are good for adding supplemental light, but they’re not the ideal choice for being the only type of light source in a room.
7. Use the Right Size Lampshade
It’s ideal to have your lampshade covering the neck of the light bulb. You do not want the lightbulb socket to be visible when you’re standing or seated anywhere in the room.
These are 7 of our best tips and ideas for decorating with stained glass lamps. We hope these insights will be useful to you if you decide to include a stained glass lamp in your home décor.
References and Related Resources
- At the New York Times Website — This article from 1989 is an interesting read, although it definitely qualifies as “old news”. This is the reporting that alerted me to the celebrities who purchased Tiffany stained glass lamps.
- At the New York Times Website — The metropolitan guide to the glow of Guide to Louis Tiffany’s glass.
- At the SFGate Website — How to decorate using Tiffany lamps
- At the CNBC Website — How to spot an authentic Tiffany lamp
- A Related Resource on Our Website — Lighting trends 2018. Read this article to learn more about layered lighting and LED lighting plus discover some of the most popular new ways people are incorporating lights into their living spaces.
- A Related Resource on Our Website — Discover 6 ways bedroom floor lamps can enhance your home décor.
- At the Houzz Website — How to get your lighting right
- At Beth Bynon’s Website — A short and sweet guide to choosing the right light for your home
This page was last updated on 3/16/2018.
7 Stained Glass Lamp Decorating Ideas
If you aren’t sure how to decorate around a Tiffany lamp or other colorful stained glass lamp, these stained glass lamp decorating ideas will help. This page was last updated on 3/16/2018.