8 easy steps to design your own bespoke lampelier shade

We want you to have fun designing your own bespoke lampshade. We love big, bold designs but understand and appreciate that this will not always fit with your decor or your personal style. There is a reason that most shades are a neutral colour as they will go with everything, but we encourage our clients to step out of their comfort zone and be a little daring. A nice subtle way to do this is to put the design on the inside of the shade. This allows you to have a little fun and create a statement lamp, without conflicting too much with your existing interiors.

When designing your shade, there are a few things to consider. Read our guide below and then get in touch to start designing!

1. Shape

Our standard and preferred shape is the simple drum. It is clean and modern and a lot more unique as it is not usually found in mass-produced shades as they cannot be stacked for shipment. The shape you require may also be influenced by your base if you have one. As a general rule, the shade shape should match the base shape. So a round base, round shade. Square base, square shade.

2. Size

Diameter Size refers to the size of the shade rings. For drum shades, the top and bottom rings are the same size. For tapered shades, the top is smaller than the bottom. We stock sizes from 15cm to 50cm but can go up to 70cm.

3. Height

Self explanatory. How tall the shade is. For tapered shades, there is a vertical height, which is from the centre of the top ring to the centre of the bottom ring and there is a sloped height which is the measurement along the slope of the shade. We will use all this information to calculate the amount of fabric required.

4. Fabric

This is the fun (although can be hard!) part of the shade design. Choosing your fabric. In helping you choose we will try to understand your preferences either from a photo you have sent or answers to our design questionnaire such as whether you prefer geometric designs or florals. You might have a rug or painting you would like the shade to complement. We will also request your colour preferences and work with all this information to narrow down our search and find you the perfect match.

5. Interior

We can offer a number of options for the inside of your shade. Plain white for a crisp and bright look; Gold for a decadent and soft glow; Champagne just because we love the name! But also because it is a lovely silver/grey. Looks very fancy. Or you can opt to have a fabric or wallpaper interior.

6. Use

Consider where you will place the lamp and what you are going to use it for. If it is for reading, you would need it to emit a brighter light. If it is just for mood lighting then dark and soft is OK. If you are going to use it as a pendant or table/floor lamp is also important, especially if you chose a fabric that is directional. We don't want you to hang it up and discover the pattern is upside down! So we need to know if it is going to be used as a pendant.

7. Fitting

There are a number of standard fitting sizes .There are two European sizes, E14 and E27 and the US fitting which is much smaller and has the attachment on the top ring rather than the bottom ring.

8 Trim

Trim is a course ribbon that we can add to the top and/or bottom of the shade for an extra bit of colour and contrast.

Easy and fun! Contact us now and start the design process.