Let there be light

Here's a shameful secret: in three years of living together, Ben and I had never bought a lamp. Not one. No accent lamps, floor lamps, bedside lamps - nothing. A lot of it had to do with lack of space - in Darwin we lived in a truly tiny two bedroom apartment, so if we wanted a lamp, we probably would have had to throw out the couch. We still don't live in a mansion, but it's a bit larger than what we used to have, so we finally have room for a few more things. Like a coffee table. Or more than two seats in the living room. Or a lamp.

Operation: Lamplight was a bit slow to get off the ground, mostly due to my bewildered indecision. Did I want classic? Funky? A ceramic base? Metal? There are way too many options for someone like me, who likes to examine all options before making a decision. I never thought I'd go for a Tiffany style, since Early Grandma has never been my favorite decor...but after looking at roughly three bajillion lamps, I was continually drawn back to the colored glass. Our living room is decorated entirely in neutrals, and it's really rather bland overall: our couches are what the manufacturer calls "latte" (which is a fancy schmancy way of saying it's a pale camel color), the walls are a light beige, and the wooden furniture is all stained a deep brown. It really needed a punch of color, something in an interesting style to lighten the mood.

Of course we couldn't afford one of the gorgeous but ridiculously expensive lamps, so I had to find a cheaper design that didn't feel tacky or clunky. And then I found this little beauty:

If you think it does look tacky and clunky, that's OK. I adore it.

I can't tell you how much I love this lamp. It's fun and happy, adding some much needed color to the room - and it just fits. When you look at it, it just looks right with the rest of our furniture. Which is something of a small miracle considering that I'm quite possibly the worst interior decorator in the world.

Excuse the library books. I'm stockpiling reading material for over Christmas. Nerd alert, I know.

I was always drawn to graphic line compositions over chiaroscuro values in form, to the perpetual exasperation of my classically trained art professors. In other words, I think these poppies rock.

Happy colors! This makes me smile just looking at it.

One lamp down. Now we just have all the other rooms in the house to go!