This Lamp Style Makes a Plain Light Fixture Actually Feel Fun

Lighting is often overlooked when it comes to enhancing the design of a space, but the functional fixtures are actually a great opportunity to play with texture, shape, and mood. Need proof? Look no further than fringe lamps. 

Featuring flapper-esque tassels reminiscent of decades past, fringe lamps are resurging as a playful accent in spaces across the world. 

Amina Camilleri, for example, opted for a slim-profile fringe floor lamp in her Barcelona apartment. “It is incredible how the correct lighting influences your well-being and mood,” Camilleri told Apartment Therapy when we previously published her House Tour. “We chose indirect lighting for the living room and bedrooms as it creates a warm ambiance with a soothing soft light.” Beyond the fun aesthetics, the fringe lamp offers an additional softening quality: The tassels dampen the light bulb’s harshness. 

Across the ocean in New York City, Sarah Jackson took a DIY approach, creating a bespoke fringe lamp of her own. It started with a floor lamp that Jackson bought purely for functional reasons when she first moved into her Roosevelt Island studio. But because she liked the brass base so much, she found a way to give it some character.

“I decided to use this as an opportunity to add another texture to the corner where [the lamp] resides,” Jackson shared with Apartment Therapy in her House Tour. “I found a custom fringe seller on Etsy and purchased six feet of 12-inch-long fringe in a warmer, ivory color. I hot glued the fringe around the inside, top rim of the lamp shade, which resulted in a custom lamp shade that could not only belong in a ’70s lounge, but also pass as Cousin It’s cousin.”

So, next time you’re looking for a bold accent, try reimagining your lighting rather than the walls or seating. A fringe lamp can work wonders for a soothing ambience and some dimensional texture.