Who knew that choosing a floor lamp could be such a mine field of decision making? Actually, I had already decided what I wanted but could I find it? Could I chuff. I wanted wood, upright and straight but maybe with a bit of simple carving on it, not too expensive, and I didn’t mind if the wood was painted. But not grey. Obvs.
However, la mode for floor lamps these days seems to be either tall spindly metal jobbies with teeny tiny pinhead shades or efforts on tripods, whose legs spread soooooo far apart one would need to extend one’s modest living room before purchase in order to accommodate the unwieldy thing. Either that or the TV would have to go to make room in the Dark Alcove, and I can imagine the howls of protest THAT would bring from the quarters of His Lordship Malarkey.
I scoured around several websites for an hour or so this morning - all the usual High Street suspects like John Lewis, Dunelm, Ikea, Homebase, B & Q, Next, Wilkos etc - then some of the online only shops like Wayfair, Not on the High Street - and some specific lighting places with names I can’t remember but were something like ‘All Lights For U’, ‘Light World’, ‘Spot-Ur-Light’ etc etc. Tripods, there were. Tripods EVERYWHERE! They seemed a ridiculous waste of space unless you are going to install a rug underneath for your cat to sleep on. And we all know that installing a specific cat-sleeping rug in your home will automatically be rejected by your cat in favour of sleeping on your own favourite place on the sofa, don’t we, Flora Bijou Mybug? (She says she has no idea of what I am speaking.)
Eventually, though, I happened upon one which was hiding on the Argos website. I say ‘hiding’ because it didn’t appear on the list when I typed ‘floor lamp’ into the search bar, but it DID appear when I clicked on a lamp I quite liked and this one was offered as ‘one you might like instead’. I know, I was confused too, but there’s website shopping, too.
This is it...
However, la mode for floor lamps these days seems to be either tall spindly metal jobbies with teeny tiny pinhead shades or efforts on tripods, whose legs spread soooooo far apart one would need to extend one’s modest living room before purchase in order to accommodate the unwieldy thing. Either that or the TV would have to go to make room in the Dark Alcove, and I can imagine the howls of protest THAT would bring from the quarters of His Lordship Malarkey.
I scoured around several websites for an hour or so this morning - all the usual High Street suspects like John Lewis, Dunelm, Ikea, Homebase, B & Q, Next, Wilkos etc - then some of the online only shops like Wayfair, Not on the High Street - and some specific lighting places with names I can’t remember but were something like ‘All Lights For U’, ‘Light World’, ‘Spot-Ur-Light’ etc etc. Tripods, there were. Tripods EVERYWHERE! They seemed a ridiculous waste of space unless you are going to install a rug underneath for your cat to sleep on. And we all know that installing a specific cat-sleeping rug in your home will automatically be rejected by your cat in favour of sleeping on your own favourite place on the sofa, don’t we, Flora Bijou Mybug? (She says she has no idea of what I am speaking.)
Eventually, though, I happened upon one which was hiding on the Argos website. I say ‘hiding’ because it didn’t appear on the list when I typed ‘floor lamp’ into the search bar, but it DID appear when I clicked on a lamp I quite liked and this one was offered as ‘one you might like instead’. I know, I was confused too, but there’s website shopping, too.
This is it...
An added bonus is that it was in the sale with 33% off! I’m not sure about the shade. It is described as
lilac and I went through my lilac phase in my early thirties, never to return, but the lamp is cheap enough that I can splash out on a new shade at a later date once this one is in place and I’ve had a few days to peruse the lilacness of it all.
The base is white, which fits in with all the other painted wood in the house. It is suitably Victoriana in style and will be ready for me to collect after 4 p.m this afternoon. Job done!
Today is the anniversary of the Battle of Edgehill fought in 1642, a battle that was probably more onerous to fight than the one I’ve just had finding a floor lamp to my liking. Certainly there were more casualties. It was the first big battle of the English Civil War between the Roundheads and the Royalists. Cromwell’s lot won - bloody parliamentarians. Nothing changes, eh? I rather fancy that if I was around in those times (I might have been - reincarnation, don’t you know?) that I’d have been a Royalist. More attractive costumes. Better hairdos. Back in my teaching days I taught an A level English Literature class who were fascinated when I told them that the Roundhead Cromwell banned wallpaper as part of his war against all the fripperies that make life more enjoyable. The students invariably mentioned this nugget of information in all the essays they wrote for me, as part of the historical and social context. It’s funny the things that stick in your mind, isn’t it?
I expect Cromwell would have banned floor lamps, too. But I bet he loved the colour grey!
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