How to Choose an Alabaster Table Lamp

Choose an alabaster table lamp by the surface it will stand on, then by the job it has to do. A bedside wants a lamp 40 to 55 cm tall with the glow at shoulder height when you sit up; a console takes 50 to 70 cm; a desk takes 40 to 50 cm and a separate reading light. Alabaster gives soft, even light rather than bright task light, so pick 2000K to 2300K for mood and 3000K where you want a cleaner light, and ask for dimming.

In brief

• Bedside: lamp 40 to 55 cm tall on a 55 to 65 cm table, so the shade centre sits near your shoulder when sitting up.
• Console or sideboard: 50 to 70 cm tall, in a pair if the console is over 1.2 m long.
• Desk: 40 to 50 cm tall for atmosphere; add a directional reading light for the page.
• Colour temperature: 2000K to 2300K is candle-like; 2700K is warm evening light; 3000K is a touch cleaner for reading.
• Care is a soft dry cloth. No sprays, no water, lift by the base.

What size table lamp for a bedside table?

For a bedside, choose a lamp 40 to 55 cm (16 to 22 in) tall on a table 55 to 65 cm high, so that the centre of the glowing part sits roughly level with your shoulder when you sit up against the pillows. The footprint should take no more than a third of the table top, which on a 45 cm table means a base under 20 cm across.

The same logic scales: the glow should sit at the eye level of the person using the room, not above it. On an 80 cm console, where you stand, a 50 to 70 cm lamp lifts the glow to eye height. On a 75 cm desk, where you sit, 40 to 50 cm keeps the stone below eye level. A sofa side table takes 45 to 60 cm.

Surface	Surface height	Lamp height	Footprint
Bedside table	55 to 65 cm (22 to 26 in)	40 to 55 cm (16 to 22 in)	Under a third of the top, about 15 to 22 cm
Console or sideboard	75 to 85 cm (30 to 33 in)	50 to 70 cm (20 to 28 in)	Up to 25 cm; pair if console is over 1.2 m
Desk	72 to 76 cm (28 to 30 in)	40 to 50 cm (16 to 20 in)	Under 20 cm, at the back corner
Sofa side table	50 to 60 cm (20 to 24 in)	45 to 60 cm (18 to 24 in)	Up to 22 cm
Shelf or niche	Any	Leave 10 cm above the lamp	Small sizes, 12 to 18 cm

Teeshaa's Totem Table Lamp, 49 cm tall on a 22 cm footprint, sits at the top of the bedside range and the middle of the console range; the Pebble comes in three sizes and several Essenzo lamps in two.

Is an alabaster lamp bright enough to read by?

An alabaster table lamp gives soft, even light across the whole stone, enough for a bedroom or a sitting room in the evening and for a few pages before sleep, but it is not a reading lamp. For long reading at a desk or a favourite chair, add a directional light and let the alabaster set the mood around it.

The reason is the material. Stone scatters light inside itself and sends it out in all directions, so little arrives as a focused beam on the page. The Totem runs an 8 W LED strip, right for a glowing object at arm's length, wrong for lighting a desk. That is the trade-off for a light source that is itself the object. Most designers layer the two: alabaster for ambient and accent, a small adjustable lamp for the task.

Colour temperature follows the job. At 2000K to 2300K the lamp is close to candlelight and suits a bedroom; 2700K reads like warm evening light; 3000K is a touch cleaner and better where colours should read truthfully, at a dressing table or desk. The Totem offers 2000K, 2300K or 3000K. A dimmer, available on request, lets one lamp do both jobs.

Lit stone at close range

A chandelier is seen from three metres, a table lamp from thirty centimetres, and alabaster rewards the closer distance. Switched on, the clouding of the block becomes a soft gradient across the surface and veins read as fine shadows inside the glow. Where the wall is thinner the stone is brighter; where thicker, warmer and more shadowed. No photograph shows the lamp you will receive, because no two blocks are alike; the material page explains how blocks are chosen.

Dimming changes what you see. At full output the veins recede; at half they return and the lamp looks like a candle inside stone. Ask for dimming when ordering.

Placement: bedside, console, desk, shelf

At a bedside, stand the lamp towards the outer third of the table, on the side away from the pillow, so your arm reaches the switch without knocking the shade. Have a 230 V socket within 60 cm of the table so the cord does not cross the floor. If the lamp is the only bedside light, choose the taller end of the range.

On a console, a pair at either end frames a mirror or a painting; a single sits off-centre with books. On a desk, place the lamp at the back corner opposite your writing hand. On a shelf, leave about 10 cm above it. Keep any alabaster lamp away from open windows, basins and kettles, on wood, stone or lacquer, with a felt pad under the base.

Caring for an alabaster lamp

Alabaster is soft, around 2 on the Mohs scale, and sensitive to water and chemicals. Dust it with a soft dry cloth. For a mark, use a barely damp cloth and dry it at once. Never spray cleaner onto the stone or use anything abrasive. Lift the lamp by its base, not its shade, and follow the care guide supplied with the piece.

Alabaster table lamps for each surface

For a console or a generous bedside, the Totem Table Lamp stacks alabaster forms to 49 cm on a 22 cm footprint, with an 8 W LED at 2000K, 2300K or 3000K and dimming on request; it is the lamp for a living room or a main bedroom. For a narrow bedside or a shelf, the Pebble Lamp sets Spanish alabaster on a hand-sculpted body of black Gorara stone, or white stone, in three sizes; the dark base makes the lit stone read brighter.

Among the six Essenzo table lamps, the Essenzo Dome Table Lamp Style 4 gives a soft domed glow suited to a bedside, and the Essenzo Melange Table Lamp Style 2, in Small or Medium with Antique-Burnished Brass, Bronze or Polished Nickel, suits a console or a desk. The table collection has the Dot, Cone and Porcini forms as well.

Mistakes to avoid

• Buying one lamp to do everything. An alabaster lamp will not light a desk for work. Pair it with a directional reading light and let it do the mood.
• Choosing 4000K. Cool white makes alabaster look like grey plastic. Stay at 3000K or warmer; 2000K to 2300K in a bedroom.
• Oversizing the bedside. A 70 cm lamp on a 45 cm table glares at a reclining reader. Keep to 40 to 55 cm and a third of the top.
• Cleaning it like glass. Spray and wet cloths etch the stone. Dry cloth, then a barely damp one for marks, then dry again.

Questions people ask

How tall should a bedside lamp be?

40 to 55 cm on a table 55 to 65 cm high, so the glowing part sits near shoulder height when you sit up. Taller than that and you look into the light; shorter and the lamp disappears behind the pillows.

Do alabaster lamps get hot?

The Totem Table Lamp runs an 8 W LED strip, so its stone stays no more than warm to the touch. Leave 10 cm above it on a shelf.

What is Gorara stone?

Gorara is the dark stone hand-sculpted into the body of the Pebble Lamp, finished in black or white. The alabaster sits on top and glows; the Gorara stays dark and gives the lamp its weight and contrast. The natural stone lighting page compares the stones.

Every Teeshaa table lamp, with sizes and finishes, is on the alabaster table lamps page, and the bedroom lighting page weighs a lamp against a sconce or a pendant at the bedside.