How to Choose: Design | Paper & Style | Lampshade Size | Lampshade Frame | Trim | Pricing

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Add Character to Your Favorite Room
Lighting is essential to imparting a warm, comfortable and inviting feeling to your home. Beautiful lampshades can instantly transform a room and show character and good taste. Select your lampshades to complement your decorating tastes.

Choosing a Design
A cut and pierced lampshade is an artistic creation. It is made entirely by hand, and no two are exactly alike. Most of my designs are floral because flowers lend themselves so easily and beautifully to the graceful natural elegance of these shades. Berries, apples, and pears are often part of the floral displays. Birds and some wildlife are scattered through some of the designs. A hunt scene is a particular favorite. Stylized borders can be adapted to lampshades used in more formal settings. I have designs for children's rooms, and Christmas holly will look festive amid your other holiday decorations.

Choosing the Paper and the Style
Many of the cut designs are made without color, using the hue of the paper, most often white, to enhance the effect of light shining through the partially open leaves and petals. Watercolor adds instant beauty to many designs, catching the eye long before the lamp is lit. Gold foil paper brings elegance to a room that was otherwise understated.

I have also been experimenting with some colored papers and they can give an entirely different look to old familiar design. I have done "Lilacs" on pink paper, "Adams Design" on bright red and see "Bird in a Bush", #32 in the Gallery, on blue paper.

Generally I use 3 types of paper for my lampshades.

  • Rough White: A heavy white paper ideal for small to medium sized shades and is excellent for watercolor designs as well as plain white.
  • Smooth White: Actually off white in color, this heavy paper is used for medium to large shades with plain white designs, although can also be painted.
  • Gold/White: A heavy paper, gold foil on one side, smooth white on the other. Gold side can be inside or outside. An elegant choice. Slight additional cost.

Size of Lampshade
If you have an old shade on a favorite lamp and are happy with the size, you need only to measure the shade and jot down the size. My sizes are listed always as
TOP X SIDE X BOTTOM or 6 x 8 x 12.

The top diameter is 6 inches.
The side measurement (from top frame to bottom frame) is 8 inches.
The bottom diameter is 12 inches.

If you are unhappy with the size of the original lampshade or the original shade is long gone, you will have to decide what size will work well on your lamp. Much is based on your tastes and style of decorating. You should make sure the lampshade will be deep enough to cover the mechanical on/off switch of the lamp. Pay attention to the height and overall shape of the lamp, and choose a size that will complement both the shade and the lamp. Generally, a shade equal in height to the lamp works well. The taller the lamp, the taller the shade can be. On the other hand, a small shade on a tall thin lamp can work as well. It truly depends on you.

The shape of the lampshade is also important. There are basically three shapes for round lampshades.

  • Drum: fairly straight up and down. Top diameter is usually one to two inches smaller than the bottom diameter. Most drums are for medium to large and extra-large lampshades.
    Some examples: 8x8x10 9x9x11 10x9x12 11x10x13 13x13x15
  • Empire: more of a triangular shape. Top diameter is significantly smaller than the bottom diameter. Most empire sizes are for larger shades with bottom diameters in excess of 12 inches.
    Some examples: 8x9x13 9x10x14 7x11x14
  • Standard: a proportional shape, somewhere between a drum and an empire. Generally used for smaller shades.
    Some examples: 5x6x8 6x7x9 6x7x10 6x8x12

The following is a list of my most popular sizes. There are many more inbetween that I have available. If you are looking for a size that I do not have, an additional charge may be added to create that size.

TOP X SIDE X BOTTOM

3x4x5
4x5x6
5x6x8
5x7x8
6x7x8		 5x6x9
5x7x9
6x7x9
7x8x9 		5x7x10
6x7x10
7x8x10
8x8x10		 6x8x11
8x8x11
9x9x11

6x8x12
8x9x12
10x8x12
10x12x12
8x9x13
11x10x13
7x11x14
9x10x14
12x10x14
8x11x15
9x9x15
9x10x15
13x13x15

10x11x16
12x14x16
14x11x16
10x11x17
15x13x17
10x13x18
12x16x18

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Frames
The type of top frame is important, because this will indicate how you attach the lampshade to the lamp.

  • Clip: A clip top is one that clips the shade directly to a standard bulb. It is usually a flush top so that the top of the shade will sit approximately &Mac189; inch above the lamp bulb. These are used on small lamps for small shades with a 5 or 6 inch top measurement.
  • Washer: Flush with the top, a washer sits atop a harp (an extension that raises the lampshade above the bulb in varying heights) and is secured with a finial. The correct size harp will adjust the lampshade to the lamp. This is the most popular top frame for these lampshades.
  • Chimney: Allows the shade to sit on a glass chimney found on old oil lamps or reproductions. It is recessed below the top of the shade by several inches.
  • Candle Clip: Clips small shades to the popular candle bulbs, most often used on chandeliers or wall sconces.

Specialty Lampshades in Varying Shapes
There is additional cost for these shades because of their odd shaped frames.

  • Hexagon: With varying top fittings
  • Rectangle
  • Square
  • Bulb Shield: Half round for wall fixtures
  • Night Lights: Mini half frame
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Trim
(This is applied to the top and bottom of the lampshades as a finishing touch, atop the paper binding.)

The STANDARD trim that I use is a 1/8-inch metallic gold soutache braid, which lends a final touch that is quiet and understated. Other color choices of 1/8-inch soutache braid are available and can be used to complement the painted design on the lampshade. Current available colors are: Red, Willow Green, Deep Blue, Light Blue, Pink, Maize Yellow, Brown, Ivory, Metallic Silver and Black.

Velvet Ribbon, 3/8-inch wide, adds an elegant touch to lampshades, and comes in a whole rainbow of colors. It is available at an additional charge.

A combination of a bias fold or pleated fold tape and soutache braid adds a nice finishing touch to some larger shades. They also come in a variety of colors.

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Pricing
The cost of a cut and pierced lampshade is based primarily on the size of the shade and then on the amount of work involved. I charge $6.00 per bottom diameter inch for most designs. A lampshade with a bottom diameter of 12 inches would therefore cost $72.00. This includes most white as well as most painted shades. The standard soutache braid trim is included (in gold or colors).

For certain designs which are more intricate, such as Lizzie's Garden or Pinwheel Design, I charge $7.00 per bottom diameter inch.

Additional costs may include creating a new size pattern ($5), using custom trim, such as velvet (varies by trim and size of shade, from $5) and customizing a new design (cost dependent on individual request), etc.

Shipping charges are additional.

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