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SHADE ORIENTATION


Which way up does my shade need to be?


When choosing a shade it can be tricky to get the orientation right. Get it wrong and your light will look very odd. It is important to make sure your shade has the ring fitting in the correct place so that it screws onto your light the right way round, depending if you need to use it for a lamp base or ceiling pendant, so here is our simple guide to help ensure you choose the right one.


Cylinder and straight sided shades


Lamp base fitting shade



Lamp base fitting
bulb points up


Lampshades with a shade ring fitted at the bottom are designed for lamp bases with an upward pointing bulb.

All our cylinder shades and straight sided square, oval and rectangle shades made in plain or geometric patterns can be used to fit both lamp bases and pendant lights because you can use them with the ring at the bottom for a lamp base, or turn them the other way round, with the ring at the top for a pendant shade. 

Pendant fitting shade



Ceiling Pendant fitting
bulb points down


Shades with the ring fitted towards the top of the shade are designed to fit pendant lights where the bulb points down.

You can turn a straight sided shade the other way round, so the shade ring is at the top, to fit a ceiling pendant.


Shades with sloped sides


Sloped shade with lamp base fitting



Lamp base fitting
bulb points up


Shades with sloping sides such as our Empire, French Drum and sloped oval, square and rectangles are a bit more tricky as they need to have the shade ring fitting in the correct place depending if they are being used with a lamp base or ceiling pendant.

Most of our sloped shades are made to fit a lamp base. The gimble or shade ring sits at the bottom, so the bulk of the shade above it hides the bulb.

Sloped shade with pendant fitting



Ceiling Pendant fitting
bulb points down


Sloping shades required for a pendant fitting light, where the bulb points down, will have the shade ring fitted towards the top of the shade so the bulk of it hangs below to hide the bulb.

The majority of ceiling pendants and some table and floor lamps require a  pendant fitting. 


ICKWORTH PENDANT


There is always an exception to the rule and in this case, it is our Ickworth Pendant Light.

Although its bulbs point upwards, it has been designed with is shade fitting above the lamp holders so it actually requires a PENDANT shade.

Ickworth Pendant light with pendant shade
Ickworth Pendant with shade ring



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