Remember the days when a bulb was something that had to be hidden in a lampshade at all costs? The outrage when the very first eco bulbs came in and they were so big they stuck out of the top of every shade? And how in the end it wasn’t the shades that got bigger but the bulbs themselves that had to get prettier.
Now we all love a lightbulb on its own. Lee Broom has made a crystal version with a gold silk cable to hang it on. Who would dare cover up such a thing of beauty? Even my mother has had to concede that a silk shade with the traditional gold lining would be a crime on a Lee Broom. Then the old Edison bulbs were revived and you could choose the patterns you wanted and even, sometimes the shape.
And now just as we’ve all got used to seeing a bare bulb swinging gently from a cord in the ceiling and it doesn’t mean you’re watching True Detective but more likely Grand Designs, the trend has moved on a little further.
Yes, now we can’t even be bothered to hang the light from the ceiling. No, we’re just going to let it sit on the table, right there. That’s how casual and design we are. There’s a bulb, there’s a table, away you go.
The Zahra is perfect for this, with its soft fluted finish and fashionable brass fittings. It’s from Rowen and Wren and costs £132 but remember, you don’t have to buy a shade for it…
