The short answer: there are six practical types of floor lamp, and what separates them is not the shade shape — it is where the widest part of the shade sits relative to your eye. Put it at 48–52 in (122–133 cm) and you get a reading lamp. At 58–64 in (147–162 cm) it becomes an ambient column. Below 28 in (71 cm) it behaves like a table lamp that stands on the floor. Everything else — material, colour, silhouette — changes how it looks, not what it does.
Most guides start with style. That is backwards, because a floor lamp is the only piece of furniture in the room with a light inside it. Its height decides where the light lands: on a face, on a wall, or on the floor. Get that wrong and no shade shape rescues the room.
Captains Bamboo makes 15 floor lamps across these six types, from $125 to $1,080. Every measurement below comes from our own bench, in inches first and centimetres in brackets.
1. Reading floor lamp — shade at 48 to 52 in
The classic task lamp. The shade's widest point sits at seated eye level, so the light spreads sideways across a book rather than down onto your head. This is the type almost everyone means when they say "floor lamp", and the one most often bought at the wrong height.
Two of ours land in this band: the 10A at 21 in across and 48 in tall (53 × 123 cm), and the 13A at 19.7 in across and 52.4 in tall (50 × 133 cm). The 10A is a sphere on a tripod; the 13A is a diamond that is widest at the middle.
2. Ambient column — 58 to 64 in
A tall shade that runs most of the lamp's height. It throws a soft wall of light into the room instead of onto a surface, which is what you want in a corner or beside a window. It is a poor reading light: the shade is above eye level and the light goes over your book.
The 11A is 15.7 in across and 58 in tall (40 × 147 cm) — a flare, wide at the top. The 12A is 15 in across and 63 in tall (38 × 161 cm), pinched into three sections. The 14A is 13 in across and 64 in tall (33 × 162 cm), a vase that narrows to the floor.
3. Sofa-height lamp — under 28 in
Low enough to sit beside a seat rather than above it. The light lands on the floor and the sofa, not in your eyes, which makes it the most comfortable type in a small living room. It is also the type people most often mistake for a table lamp.
The 20N is 16.5 in across and 23.6 in tall (42 × 60 cm) on four legs. The 22N is 16.5 in across and 25 in tall (42 × 63 cm) on three thin legs. The 9A is 17.3 in across and 27.2 in tall (44 × 69 cm) — a shallow bowl with a wood ring at the rim.
4. Sculptural floor lamp — 57 to 75 in, 18 to 22 in wide
Here the lamp stops being a lighting tool and becomes an object. These are wider than a reading lamp and taller than a column, and they are usually placed where nothing else can go: an empty corner, the end of a hallway, beside a stair.
The Hitomi UF3-DL is 19.7 in across and 57 in tall (50 × 145 cm), a tall oval on four long legs. The Hitomi UF3-Q is 22 in across and 57 in tall (56 × 145 cm) with three round windows cut into the shade. The UF4-33N is 18.5 in across and 75 in tall (47 × 190 cm) — a frame bent into an S and covered in paper.
5. Adjustable column — 32 to 75 in in one model
A single model that covers two jobs. The UF3–UF4-31N stands 32.3 in (82 cm) in its short version and 75 in (190 cm) in the tall version — the same folded column, different height. It is the type to pick when you are choosing for a room that will change, or when you cannot decide between a floor and a table position.
6. Floor lantern — under 16 in
The smallest type. It sits on the floor but reads at ankle or knee height, and it is meant to be seen as a pool of light rather than to light a room. The 5X is 9 in across and 15 in tall (23 × 38 cm): a pyramid, wide at the base, with the slope throwing light downward onto the floor instead of outward.
All six types, side by side
| Type | Height | What it lights | Models | From |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading | 48–52 in (122–133 cm) |
A seated person and a book | 10A 48 in · 13A 52.4 in | $180 |
| Ambient column | 58–64 in (147–162 cm) |
A wall and the room behind it | 11A 58 in · 12A 63 in · 14A 64 in | $355 |
| Sofa-height | 23–27 in (58–69 cm) |
The floor and the seat, not the eyes | 20N 23.6 in · 22N 25 in · 9A 27.2 in | $165 |
| Sculptural | 57–75 in (145–190 cm) |
A corner, as an object | Hitomi DL 57 in · Hitomi Q 57 in · UF4-33N 75 in | $385 |
| Adjustable | 32–75 in (82–190 cm) |
Either of two rooms | UF3–UF4-31N | $245 |
| Floor lantern | under 16 in (41 cm) |
A pool on the floor | 5X 15 in | $125 |
Two types we do not make
For completeness: arc and cantilever lamps (a shade on a long curved arm, usually over a sofa) and task-arm lamps (a small adjustable head on a thin stem). Both are metal-and-joint designs; neither works in hand-laid paper, which cannot carry a cantilevered load or hold a tight adjustable joint. If you need one of those, look elsewhere — we would rather say so than sell you the wrong thing.
How to measure before you buy
- Sit where you will actually sit. Not stand — sit.
- Have someone hold a tape at 48 in (122 cm) beside you. If that height lands at your ear, a reading lamp is right.
- If it lands at your chest or shoulder, you want an ambient column at 58–64 in instead.
- Measure the gap between the sofa arm and the wall. Anything under 14 in (36 cm) of floor space will crowd a lamp wider than 20 in.
The number in the name is not the size
Every model carries a design code from Noguchi's studio, and the codes do not run in size order. The 9A is 27.2 in tall; the 5X is 15 in. The 13A is 52.4 in while the 14A is 64 in — one apart in the name, twelve inches apart in reality. We publish all 56 models measured, in inches and centimetres: the full size chart is here.
What a floor lamp cannot do
A paper floor lamp is a poor task light. You cannot read small print under one, and it will not light a home office desk. It is also wrong for a room with strong side light from a window, where the shade turns into a silhouette and loses its glow. And if you have cats that climb, paper will lose. Buying the right type for the job is more useful than buying the most beautiful one.
Where to start
If you already know which type you need, the akari floor lamps is sorted by model. If you are choosing between two heights, the 56-model chart lists every measurement, and the Japandi buying guide covers how height changes the feel of a room.
Captains Bamboo is an independent workshop and is not affiliated with the Noguchi Museum.
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