17 of the best floor lamps for instant ambience (2024)

Lights & Lamps is the brainchild of Niki Wright, who has honed his eye working designing and developing lighting for the British high street for over 15 years. Wright’s aim is to make striking, design-led lighting accessible for any budget – the ‘Ridotti’ raffia floor lamp, with its uniquely graphic take on bohemian style, is a case in point. £100, lightsandlamps.com

Available in black, pink or, for the more adventurous colour pioneers among us, lilac (pictured), this floor lamp is British brand Houseof’s most recognisable design. All of the colour options have an appealing matte finish and the light produced is pleasingly diffused (as the name would suggest). £169, houseof.com

Inspired by the vintage lights that decorate Soho House’s DUMBO House in Brooklyn, this design will add a little opulence while occupying a relatively small footprint. Its two glass globes are anchored by a marble base and create a soft, diffused light that’s perfect for cosy evenings. £275, sohohome.com

Furniture and homeware brand Arteriors has joined forces with award-winning, New York-based multidisciplinary studio Workshop/APD for its first ever collaboration. The 48-strong collection of lighting and accessories revolves around artisanal processes, including glazing, which inspired this floor lamp. £1,688, arteriorshome.com

One of the esteemed winners of a 2021 ELLE Decoration British Design Award, for his pendant light ‘Loer’, Tom Raffield has created quite a stir from the relative quiet of his workshop in Cornish woodlands. Inspired by the region’s tradition for weaving baskets from steam-bent ash, oak and walnut, his pieces all have a handcrafted quality. Wherever your home is – town or country – this floor lamp will add a little rural charm. £485, heals.com

The imaginative, sculptural quality of Turkish designer Merve Kahraman’s work is influenced by nature, mythology, and in the case of the ‘Cassini’ floor lamp, outer space – it’s named for the Cassini-Huygens project, a joint mission to send a probe to Saturn. Price on application, mervekahraman.com

First designed in 1952 by British architect Edward Armitage, this lamp was a forgotten modernist gem – until now. Edward’s grandson Joe Armitage – also an architect – has brought the design to light again, recreating its striking angular frame (originally made from Indian rosewood and steel) in walnut and brass. Meanwhile, its distinctive conical shade has been updated with a print created by his grandmother, wallpaper designer Marthe Armitage, making for a design that’s a true family affair. £2,200, thenewcraftsmen.com

Part of Bocci’s delicate, nature-inspired ‘Stem’ collection, this floor light features three blown glass bulbs attached to a thin brass central column. Its 360-degree dimming function allows you full control of the ambience in your room. £2,986, bocci.com

In smaller homes every piece of furniture has to work extra hard, which is why multifunctional pieces are having something of a moment. Ideal for compact living rooms, the ‘Dase’ by Idelfonso Colombo is a hybrid – part elegant floor lamp, part coffee table. £860, gomodern.co.uk

Engineering and the principles of physics were the very practical starting points for designer Sam Weller when designing this floor lamp for Scandi brand Hay. The piece gets its name from the perfectly balanced counterweight system that allows the smooth movement of its cantilevered arm. Slimline and unassuming, it’s perfect for illuminating small reading nooks. £475, hay.dk

Designed by Gupica in collaboration with Visionnaire, this botanical creation is inspired by the liana, a type of climbing vine. With LED lights decorating the stems of its leaves, this is a highly decorative design that’s also surprisingly functional – remove the leaves to create modular wall, table and pendant variations. Price on application, visionnaire-home.com

At under £100, this is an affordable floor lamp that still manages to exude design confidence. There’s an elegance to the hanging lantern, attached via a black metallic loop to its simple, slimline base. Just a touch of brass completes the design that will be an ideal fit for contemporary urban homes. £99, made.com

Originally created from a car headlight and a fishing rod by mid-century Italian designer Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni, this experiment has become one of the most recognisable floor lamps of the 20th century. Originals fetch a high price, but with the design now reissued by Flos, it’s possible to invest in this quirky classic. £860, twentytwentyone.com

One for the devoted maximalists, this design by Marioni comprises a glowing orb displayed atop a stacked tower of cone-shaped ceramic sections. Available in a selection of different heights and colours, you can choose one that blends into your interior scheme or go for a daring clash. £1,515, artemest.com

‘Beauty is subjective: you can like what others don’t. But perfection is perfection,’ says Enzo Catellani, the designer of this floor lamp for Catellani & Smith. It’s a bold and confident statement, but one that befits the simplicity of this piece. A simple U-shape sat atop a slim support, it is a no-fuss future classic, available in white or black. £894, catellanismith.com

Designer Tom Fereday was inspired by the beauty of raw materials – specifically the delicate veins in marble – when creating this floor lamp for Rakumba Lighting. Minimal but sculptural, its domed bulbs create a flattering indirect light ideal for informal settings. £3,289, darklightdesign.com

Finely tuned, elegant furniture that fuses Asian and European sensibilities is Stellar Works’ speciality, and now the brand is applying the same approach to lighting with the launch of ‘Haro’. Designed with long-time collaborator Space Copenhagen, it takes its name from the aura of light emitted from its floating opal glass shade – the word means ‘halo’ in Japanese – and comes in four variations. £578.40, do-shop.com