Shopping Tips: Choosing Your Floor Lamp

Before you buy a floor lamp there are certain things that you might want to keep in mind. First of all you need to know that floor lamps were considered to be more dangerous than other lamps until the last decade or so when technology and good design helped fix some of the problems that made this style of lamp flawed in the first place.

For instance, historically, floor lamps have always been known to tip over. Nowadays there is a standard that contemporary floor lamps must meet call the UL “tipability” standard. This means that the floor lamp you are buying has a much heavier base and there is less danger of it falling over and landing, say, on a sofa cushion and setting it on fire.

Yet another feature of floor lamps that made them dangerous for years was the cords. The cords were made of cloth and easily caught fire with the slightest of power surges. Nowadays floor lamps are made with a plastic zip cord rather than the old cloth cords. The old cloth cords also used to fray and it was much easier for an animal or child to chew through them or get accidentally shocked just by touching it.

The fact that most antique lamps do not have a standardized non-tippable base or a safe electrical cord is why you are probably better off to buy a new floor lamp then one from an antique store. It is just safer.

Yet another reason is that the very old floor lamps attached their lampshades through a wire clamp that was attached to the shade itself. This style of clamp for attaching light bulbs is also obsolete.

However if you do find the floor lamp of your dreams there is no reason why you can’t take it to an electrician or antique dealer to see what can be done to refurbish it. This is done all of the time to recycle old floor lamps. It is probably a good idea not to try and rewire an old lamp yourself unless you
are an experienced electrician.

Although rewiring an old floor lamp is easy, making sure the base is stable is not. All it takes is one wild child or unruly dog to tip it over and you could have a fire on your hands.

Floor lamps come in an incredible number of styles nowadays including all of the retro looks that you would find in an antique store and all of the more contemporary styles. As you browse online to shop for floor lamps it is quite common to find them in every style imaginable including Mission, Seventies Retro, Tiffany, Art Deco, Arts and Crafts, Country, Late Victorian and Gas. You can also find modern Swedish
styles that include shades shaped like upside down frying pans and large metallic mixing bowls.

Nowadays floor lamps come in every type of finish and shade including glass, porcelain and brushed metal and there are some very unique, beautiful and interesting contemporary floor lamps, as well as the more traditional styles, around.

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