The Best Lighting Solution for Your Kitchen Is A Lamp

The little kitchen lamp manifesto is simple: You likely have some form of mood lighting in your bedroom and living room, so why not give the kitchen the same treatment? I started seeing little kitchen lamps on my TikTok feed last spring, and the pull was immediate; these lamps were discreet, charming, oh, so calming.

Urban Outfitters little glass table lamp

Prices taken at time of publishing.

A small circus tent? A jester’s nightlight? This glass table lamp comes in a variety of patterns, but the green striped option can be styled so many different ways (maximalist, East Coast traditional, Design Within Reach-core).

Granted, there will always be moments when I need the full-scale illumination of overhead lighting. According to a Harvard Medical School article, broad, cool lighting can even help us to focus more deeply, albeit with the risk of screwing up our circadian rhythms, and providing about as much ambiance as an H&R Block. Unless you are performing surgery, dusting for fingerprints, or trying to assemble a new pasta machine (that last one is fair), I can’t wrap my mind around why anyone would decree harsh, overhead lighting as the only lighting option for a kitchen. Not that you need to feel like you’re in a Rembrandt painting when you’re rolling out cookies, but I do think you deserve to pour a late-night cup of tea without jumpscaring your senses.

The lamp in my windowless kitchen apartment functions as a sort of lighthouse; it adds warmth to an otherwise hard-to-illuminate nook behind the sink, and provides me with just the right amount of light to make popcorn, pour cereal, put the dishes away, and just generally feel like a Beatrix Potter character.

Even as I write this, I write beside the glow of my little wood kitchen lamp, which I selected for its mix of materials (a wood base and a pleated, warm shade), its under 10-inch stature, and its affordable price. It reminds me of some of the fancy, pleated light fixtures I find myself drooling over from the Scandinavian brand HAY every few months.