We recently needed some simple bedside lamps for a project we're doing, and after lots of searching decided on these Retro Modern Lamp Bases from Urban Outfitters. Their simple but graceful shape is definitely mid-century, but not in a way that seems kitschy or too retro.
The best part? They came in way under budget, yet manage not to look cheap at all, even in person.
$36 each (doesn't include shade) from Urban Outfitters.
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Comments (7)
There are lots of retro lamp bases on eBay every day that cost less.
How is the quality of products from Urban Outfitters? I was not very impressed with anything they had in their store. Is the lamp and some of the furniture you can only get online any better?
I have this lamp. The quality seems perfectly fine. And I don't think the price was high at all. I only wished for a better selection of lamp shades.
Note that none of the UO table lights have the typical kind of wire/frame setup that you see in most American lamps (Lamps Plus, etc.0.
http://www.lampshop.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=06_00_WIRE
They don't use any finials, chimney tops, uno tops, washer tops, etc. The lightbulb just screws over the frame, holding it to the lamp base. It's pretty simple.
You can probably modify it pretty easily yourself (or hire a custom lampshade business).
I really like the lamp base. It's probably a copy of the vintage lamp Carrie Bradshaw had in the SATC show apartment (not the atrocious one in the movie). It seemed like a good value to me, and I plan to buy a nice lampshade later at Retro Lampshades.
It says the switch is on the cord. I hate that. My biggest pet peeve about Ikea lamps as well.
How would I go about making this 60W lamp into a 150W lamp? Thanks for any advice.
It's a copy of a <A HREF="http://www.hiandlomodern.com/IMAGES/LIGHTING/whiteandyellowlaurellamps.jpg" target=#new>60's design from the well known Laurel lamp company</A>, famous for their mushroom cloud lamps. The originals (Carrie Bradshaw had a white one on TV) are cast aluminum in a variety of metallic finishes and colors. They use a three way bulb with a switch on the bulb stem. Mine uses a 3-way CFL.
Hey everyone -
I'm pretty happy with the quality, it's a pretty durable ceramic (um, I already dropped one of mine) and the switch is not on the cord, but at the top of the stem where it should be.