60 Floor Lamps for Every Style and Budget

Floor lamps are so much more than decor. They can drastically change the brightness and functionality in a room, especially if you don’t have much natural light or live in a rental with limited fixtures. Floor lamps are also great at creating a better ambiance. Because no matter how fancy, overhead lighting can feel like an interrogation spotlight, and the wrong combination of lights in a room can hinder functionality and mood. If you’re shopping for a new floor lamp, we’ve assembled a handy guide on the most popular styles for every lighting need, from the best reading floor lamp to the best floor lamp for dark corners in a living room. Take a look at our top-rated picks below and add some warm lighting to your space.

Floor Lamp Lighting 101

The world of floor lamps is massive. There are so many lamp styles and options, ranging in price from $25-$2,500. So, what’s best? The first thing to consider when shopping for a floor lamp is your lighting needs for a room. Are you looking for a little or a lot of light? What are the primary functions that need to happen in this space? Does the floor lamp need to provide task lighting for a reading nook or light that fills the whole room? What other light fixtures do you already have in the space?

There are three primary types of lighting: task, ambient and mood lighting. Floor lamps can provide task lighting, ambient lighting or both. When adding task lighting to a room, you place light fixtures close to where a certain activity like reading or puzzling will happen and illuminate a specific, targeted area. While task lighting is necessary for making a room functional, you typically wouldn't light a room solely with task lights because they may not give off enough light for a whole room and can be harsher, especially if they're downlights. Ambient lighting, however, projects light to more areas of the room and may cast light upward, both up and down or in all directions if it has no shade at all, but may not be bright enough or targeted enough for certain tasks, depending on how dark the room is. A downlight task floor lamp is great for reading in a comfy chair or on your side of the bed without disturbing your partner, whereas a torchière floor lamp is ideal for illuminating an entire living room with bright light because it casts a wide swath of light up toward the ceiling.

Light bulb features are another thing to consider. Single-bulb lamps with single-brightness settings are much more budget-friendly, but lamps with multiple dimming settings can be handy for common areas where you have different lighting needs. It’s nice to be able to dim a lamp for family movie night or increase the brightness when entertaining.

Best Club/Console Lamps

A club or a console floor lamp is the most common lamp. It's a straightforward pole and shade combo, but that doesn't mean it's vanilla. You can change up shades to customize fabric textures and patterns. The bases range in materials, from sleek brass to sculpted wood. We're currently obsessed with this black base and cane shade combo from Kirkland's.

Best Tripod Floor Lamps

Oh, the tripod. This lamp staple is a timeless classic, from nautical designs to sleek midcentury designs. These days, you can go minimal with a metal base, preppy with wooden legs or super funky with sculptural iron.

Best Swing-Arm Floor Lamps

A swing-arm floor lamp does a little bit of everything. Typically, these lamps give off enough light for a dark corner in a living room and can add enough lighting to supplement overhead lighting. But, as the name suggests, the shade and light can swing away from the pole making it a good reading lamp, too.

Best Task Floor Lamps

Sometimes called a reading lamp, a task floor lamp focuses light on a small area. These are great for a nursing chair, reading nook or beside a desk if you don't want to sacrifice tabletop space for lighting. Brightech has some great task lamps in brass and nickel that look less office-y. For winter blues, Verilux, maker of the HappyLight, has a floor lamp with multiple settings for tasks and light therapy.

Best Torchière Floor Lamps

If you're not happy with your overhead lighting, you need a torchière floor lamp. Unlike task lamps, torchière lamps focus light up toward the ceiling thereby casting a larger glow, especially if your ceiling is a light color. And they're bright, often forgoing an opaque shade.

Best Arc Floor Lamps

This midcentury modern darling continues to be one of the most popular floor lamp types because it still works with so many design styles, from minimal, modern Scandinavian to eclectic boho.

Best Arch Floor Lamps

If an arc floor lamp is a little too over-the-top, say hello to its more subtle cousin, the arch floor lamp. Sometimes called a lantern floor lamp, these lamp bases have a tiny arch but are still mostly straight, making them easier to use in tiny corners or in between walls and sofas.

Best Tree Floor Lamps

In form and function, a tree floor lamp proves that more is more. These lamps typically have clusters of bulbs and can get pretty avant-garde as statement pieces. Because of the additional bulbs, a tree floor lamp may even allow you to skip overhead lighting.

Best Floor Lamps With Shelves

Short on space? Tray or table floor lamps come with a built-in end table, making them perfect for small bedrooms or living rooms. Of course, you have to be careful about the weight limits for these as the shelves can't hold a ton of items or weight, but they're perfect for a cup of coffee or a TV remote.