How to Choose the Right Size Lampshade for Your Lamp

When you fit a beautiful lamp with the perfect lampshade, the result is a special kind of home decor magic. Here’s how to choose the right size lampshade for your lamp.

Finding just the right lampshade for your lamp can elevate the decor in your entire room. Light fixtures of all kinds, lamps included, really set the tone for the personality of a room, so although a table lamp seems like a relatively simple, functional item, it can have a big impact on your decorating. You may find a beautiful, one-of-a-kind lamp base at a thrift store or antique market, or maybe a beautiful lamp at a big box discount store that could be made so much better with a shade upgrade. In either case, knowing how to measure your lamp for the right shade will make purchasing so much easier, and the final effect much more beautiful. Here’s everything you need to know about how to choose the right size lampshade for your lamp.

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Removing the Guess Work

Picking up a new shade for a lamp seems like it should be a simple, almost mundane errand, but if you’ve ever tried to find just the right one to make your lamp sing in your space, you know that the process isn’t so straightforward. Ordering online or even buying in person can be difficult because we don’t often carry our lamps around with us to test lampshades out in the store.

The process ends up being a bit of guessing game and the result is often disappointment or frustration leading to lots of returns and wasted time. Knowing how to measure your lamp base properly and how to follow a few simple rules makes the whole process stress-free and a lot more fun, as adding decorative elements to your home should be.

How to Choose the Right Size Lampshade for Any Lamp

Here’s the simple formula you need to know. Since shades come in all different shapes and sizes, you’ll look at one measurement for the height, and then you’ll consider the measurement for the width separately. Once you have both measurements, you’ll try to find one shade that fits your parameters for both measurements.

The type of lamp that you’re working with makes a difference. You’ll use one set of guidelines for larger, jar or vase-style lamps, and another set for thinner lamps with a stick or post base.

Measuring for Jar Lamps

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For the height of your shade on jar lamps, you want to measure your lamp from the bottom of the base, all the way up to the top where the lightbulb socket begins. Ideally, the right lampshade will be 2/3 – 3/4 the height of your lamp.

To find the correct width for your new shade, measure the width of your lamp base, then double it to find the correct diameter for the bottom of your new lamp shade.

Measuring for Stick Lamps

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Lamps with a thin base require a different set of measurements to find the right shade. You’ll usually want a slightly smaller shade with this style of lamp, so measure from the bottom of your lampshade, up to the base of the lightbulb socket, and find a shade that is roughly half as tall as that measurement.

You have a little more freedom with the width on this style of lamp, and generally, any width of shade will work as long as the height of the shade is correct.

Measuring for Buffet Lamp Shades

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A third situation you may encounter is with tall, graceful buffet lamps. This style of lamp will typically have a very, tall thin post for an elongated look. Measure the height of the lamp base in the same way as with the other styles, but with this type of lamp, we’ll go even smaller with the shade. You will want to find a shade whose height is roughly 40% of the total height of the lamp base.

With the width of the shade, as with the stick-style lamps, you have some flexibility, so choose a shade that you think of beautiful, regardless of the diameter of the shade.

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Rules Were Made to Be Broken

You definitely have a bit of creative freedom with the lampshade you choose, but it’s important to know how to break the rules if you choose to do so, especially when it comes to jar-style lamps.

If you’d like to push the limits a little bit and use a shade that falls outside of the parameters of what’s considered “correct,” you definitely can. With jar style, lamps, choosing a shade that is slightly taller and wider than the standard measurements will result in a look that is more casual, relaxed, and charming. This is a great look for cozy, cottage-style rooms, or even for bringing a more laid back feel to modern spaces.

If you choose to use a shade that is slightly less tall than the standard for a jar lamp, the result will be a look that feels a little more elegant and refined. This can work well when you want to bring a sense of formality to a room, for instance in a formal dining room, or a sitting room that’s reserved for special occasions and when you have guests.

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Making Adjustments When Needed

If you have a shade that you really want to use on a particular lamp, but it doesn’t quite fit the height requirements, there are a few things you can do to make adjustments. Lampshade risers can work beautifully if your shade is a bit too big for your lamp. Risers help to give the lamp the illusion of being taller, making the shade seem more well-suited to the lamp.

I have a thrifted lamp that I’ve been trying to find a shade for over the last year or so. Because of the shape of the lamp, I would need a rectangular shade that’s only four to five inches tall, and that just isn’t easy to find. When I came across a lovely rectangular shade in a cream silk at a thrift shop recently, I decided to get it and increase the height of my lamp instead with these lampshade risers. Here’s a little look at this lamp after I made the adjustments for the new shade.

If your shade is a bit small, you can help to give it the allusion of being taller and wider by making a DIY pleated lampshade slipcover, or by adding a bit of fringe trim to the base of your shade with some hot glue.

When looking for a new shade, don’t rule out thrift stores, consignment shops, or antique shops to help you find just the right shade with just the right personality, size, and shape for your space. You can always paint your new lampshade, or try the DIY pleated lampshade trick to give it an upgraded look on a budget.

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