Stylish Solutions: How To Use (Awesomely Affordable!) Clamp Lights All Over the House

Clamp lamps are a brilliant, doable, and budget-friendly boon for renters. It’s on demand task lighting that moves with you —and often costs under $10. Flexibility is their best feature: stick them in your home’s shadow zones, and angle them to direct the light just where you need it.

Above, Joe and Keith forgo a floor lamp in favor of a clamp light attached to adjacent shelving. They get light while on the sofa, but don’t have to sacrifice space in their small studio.

Need an immediate spotlight the the work surface in a kitchen, but your rental doesn’t deliver the goods? Clamp one on and actually see the food you’re chopping. Mandi of A Beautiful Mess installed a small one over the coffee station in her newly renovated budget kitchen.

Pantries and storage spots are tougher at times. Many don’t come with built-in lighting solutions, so you’re forced to paw around looking for split peas in the dark. Jeffrey and Clayton solved this little problem in their historic Catskills home with a lamp.

You know what other spaces are dark? Closets. Arthur and Kristin tackled the space with the simplest of solutions: clipping a lamp to the handle of a suitcase.

No space in the bedroom for a traditional table lamp, or just don’t like the visual clutter? Clip a lamp directly on the headboard for light to read by at night. Halden and Gina used simple ones from IKEA in their modern Connecticut farmhouse.

Or any nearby surface. Pella of Stil Inspiration got creative with a ladder and an architect’s lamp in her minimalist bedroom.

This goes double for cave-like bunkbeds, so your kid doesn’t need a flashlight at night. From Milk Magazine.

Use a clamp light and chair to fill up empty corners, turning unused space into an impromptu and functional reading nook. Stadshem (via Planet Deco) shared this Scandinavian room with an Eames chair and bookshelf.

You can use a light to highlight artwork or shelf decor. Melissa of Design Chaser, via Decor Dots, has one on her String shelves in the living room to draw your eye to accessories.

You don’t often see task lamps in the dining room, but Mariana and Manuelchose a standard architect’s light to brighten their table.

If you like this look, but don’t like the lamp’s color, spray paint the shades in a variety of colors. The matte finish on Emily Henderson’s versions look fresh and modern.