One of the materials that came to prominence during the 1950s and onwards in the manufacture of small furniture and accessory items was a material known as Lucite. This is a cross between plastic and glass giving you the clear qualities of both but it is a tougher, more durable type of plastic than something like Perspex.

Lucite was used as a highly mouldable medium that was just as capable to form traditional lamp base shapes as it was for the more innovative progressive styles that were becoming prevalent. Lucite was used as either the lamp shade or the lamp base or as a combination of the two.

As a copy of more traditional glass lamp shades the Lucite lamp shades were more reliable, less prone to cracking and could be made relatively cheaply and in great numbers. But just because these lamps were able to be produced cheaply didn’t meant they looked in any way cheap. In fact the designs that came out of the retro era were produced by some of the foremost architects and designers who threw their creative talent into producing some of the more distinctive space age creations imaginable.

Not only was Lucite suitable to use as the entire lamp but it was also spotted frequently as small adornments that were added to the lamp bases and shades to give them sparkling appeal. In many cases table lamps that were made with Lucite could be realistically classed as strange but cool table lamps.

Lamp shades come in a wide variety of shapes and styles and each one gives the lamp a completely new look. You may want to know what the options are so that you are able to ask for the one you want at the store. A lamp shade should generally be approximately two-thirds the height of the lamp base and about one and a half times the width.

The more familiar designs that most of us have seen includes conical, drum, hexagon and square.

These traditional style lamp shades are designed to diffuse the light through plain or brightly decorated material. The embroidered lamp shade is usually made of cotton fabric and your job is to not only choose the kind that is large enough to suit your room, but also in the color and design that will complement the décor in your room.

Whether you are looking for a lampshade that will help to give you’re a traditional look or to replicate a retro look these kinds of lampshades will help to give the room a definite mood setting. Table lamps work best if they are placed in an appropriate setting. This means choosing one that is large enough to light a good proportion of the room, but not too large that it will dominate a small room.