Where to put floor lamps in the living room

Floor lamps are tall, standing lamps that cast light at a higher level, allowing you to vary both the design and light levels of your living room. They can be used to achieve all three types of lighting: task, ambient and accent. The type of light a floor lamp provides often depends on its placement. Read this guide to get the right lighting from your living room floor lamp.

Modern LED floor lamps are so versatile that they can be placed nearly anywhere. Before deciding on one, you’ll want to look at what other light sources you have in your living room – windows or French doors, ceiling lights and other lamps, for example – to create balance. Look for any dark corners or bare areas where your floor lamp could add ambience

A popular choice for floor lamp placement is behind the sofa. If your sofa is positioned away from the wall, a floor lamp in between creates great depth and provides a perfect reading light over your shoulder.

Brightening dark corners with a floor lamp has an added benefit of bouncing light off two walls at once to create more overall illumination. With the Philips Hue Signe floor lamp, you can also cast soft, colourful light into the corners of the room for a unique wall-washing effect.

If you have a desk in your living room that you work or read at, you’ll need to focus on brighter task lighting. Place your floor lamp directly next your desk – even better if it has an adjustable head that lets you direct light downwards onto the surface.

Placing a floor lamp next to or behind your TV might not be an obvious choice, but a lamp here reduces glare and eye strain. Casting a soft light behind or beside your TV creates contrast, especially in a dark room when other light sources are off.

Larger living rooms have the advantage of being able to set furniture and accessories further away from the walls. If your sofa is in the middle of the room and you would like to place a floor lamp beside or behind it, you could add a floor power outlet to make this possible. This will help you avoid tripping over extension cables. If this isn’t feasible, a cordless table lamp such as the Hue Go is an ideal solution.