Considering everything from quality of light to the size of your space, choosing a bedside fixture can be difficult. Task lights work well as a secondary light source, providing directional light, housed in a classic form. While they might not make sense in every bedroom or mesh with all aesthetic preferences, here are a few reasons why I'm loving task lamps.
You can ditch the separate shade. I've recently lamented with more than one person about the difficulties of finding the right lamp shade. Whether it's the color, shape or size that's slightly off, the perfect fixture rarely seems to be paired with quite the right shade for your space. Here's to eliminating that problem and going for a solution without a separate shade.
Flexible light is more versatile. Some days you want to set the mood with a diluted, up-light, and others you need a focused light for reading. Many of these fixtures can be manipulated to change the direction (and affect) of light in response to how the space is being used.
Sleek form, vast style options. Clad in antique brass, polished silver, or a bold hue, task lamps embody a range of styles. Whether you're looking for a fixture that's playful, sophisticated, architectural, vintage, or industrial, there's something for everyone. Furthermore, the geometric shape of the task lamp contrasts with the soft, more organic, contours of blankets and pillows, adding interest and balance to the bedroom.
A great choice for small spaces. If you're bedroom is small and your nightstand smaller, you probably don't want to consume all the available surface area with a lamp. Clip-on and wall mounted fixtures will free up the most space, but there are also some smaller table-top fixtures that fit the bill. The operable arm, allows for a less restrictive light source, even if the actual footprint of the fixture is small.
Do you have a favorite fixture to recommend? I'd love to know...
MORE TASK LIGHT RESOURCES ON APARTMENT THERAPY:
• Tasked with Color: 10 Boldly-hued Task Lamps
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• Ten Awesome, Adjustable, Wall Mounted Task Lights
• Best Task Lamps Under $50
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Love them! I have one on my bedside desk that doubles as a night stand and one on my rolling bar cart that doubles craft cart. Can you tell I live in a small space?
Like a lot of AT readers our bed is where we do a lot of different things (laptops, books, kindles, even the occasional craft while watching a movie) and so task lamps were pretty practical but we didnt really want to get rid of our more soft mood setting bedside lamps for harsher task lighting.
So we got 2 cheap task lamps from ikea (http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/10128734/). After carefully inspecting them in the store we realized they didnt need the bases, a quick trip to the hardware store for some extra supplies and we had them mounted behind the headboard in the center. The reason for this is if someone is up late reading the light points from the middle out to the side of the bed, instead of the edge pointing in, which bothers your sleeping partner a lot less! We mounted the inline on/off switches right on the back edge of the headboard too. Its very easy to reach back and switch it on or off, and even your partners if they left it on on accident without crawling across the whole bed to their night stand. Since they are flexible you can also bend them down and you cant even see them. Great $25 solution for anyone who wants to add a bit of hidden task lighting.
i just hung an ikea kvartal on the wall above my bed and i love it. i don't do a lot of reading at night before bed, but it's nice to have a light there that doesn't take up space on the nightstand.
i'm in love with the industrial wall sconce from west elm. we put one on each side of the bed - wall-mounted, no footprint, totally adjustable. love!
These are nice but mostly pretty large...In our tiny bedroom, clamp or wallmount were the only options. I just spent a week trolling all the options...ugh. The Original BTC Hector is what I settled for, but with a 12 week wait time (!!) and a baby to nurse at night I got $25 Grandrich clamp lights on Amazon while we wait. I like to plug our bed lighting into a dimmer by Lutron; the lights are basically 'on' all the time and I use the dimmer to turn them on and off. Very partner and baby friendly. We had tiny halogen clamp lights from Ikea for ages before they died, they were great and didn't heat up, but our nearest Ikea is harder to get to than the internet! There are a couple darling vintage clamp lights on Etsy right now if your headboard is a thin one. I personally find a gooseneck a necessity, too.
I love the flexible lamp. This is very practical solution and it has a great sleek appearance.
Cerno makes an amazing task lamp that looks like a wall sconce when it's not in use. Great for saving room on bedside tables! http://www.cernogroup.com/cgi-bin/cubo.asp?Category=Products&SubCategory=Lighting&Lighting=cubo&ImageNum=Image1
I have this one on my desk for my craft projects plus is warm led and
http://somostienda.com/products/lighting/fugáz