DMD12 Table Lamp: 71cm tall, and the table it needs

The DMD12 Table Lamp is listed in one size, 33 x 33 x 71cm, with what the description calls a crushed diamond finish. 71cm is tall for a table lamp, and that is the whole story of whether it works for you: a tall lamp on a tall table ends up above your eye line, and a lamp 33cm across needs a surface wide enough to take it. Both are worth measuring before you order.

The figures, exactly as listed

Read as a table lamp, that is something about 33cm across standing 71cm tall. The listing does not label which figure is which, and it does not describe a base or a shade, so if the width is the number that decides it, ask us to confirm it.

Add the lamp to the table, not to the room

The figure that matters is the total: the height of your table plus 71cm. A bedside table of around 55cm puts the top of this lamp at about 126cm off the floor. A console or sideboard at 80cm puts it near 151cm, which is standing eye level.

For a bedside lamp, the comfortable arrangement is that the bottom of the lit part sits roughly level with your eyes when you are sitting up in bed, so the light falls on the page and not in your face. The listing does not say whether this one is shaded or which way it throws its light, so that is worth asking. Most people sitting up in a bed are looking out at somewhere between 110cm and 125cm from the floor. A 71cm lamp reaches that from a low table and overshoots it from a tall chest, so this is a lamp for a low bedside table, or for a console where you want it seen.

Does 33cm fit the surface you have?

Bedside tables are often 40cm to 45cm deep, and a 33cm lamp leaves very little either side of it on a 40cm top. Measure the actual surface, not the frame, and allow room for a glass and a phone if that is what the table is for. On a console or a sideboard it is less tight, but check the depth at the point where the lamp will stand and keep the top of the lamp clear of anything hanging on the wall above.

• Surface depth: allow more than 33cm, with room to spare behind for the cable to drop.
• Overhead clearance: if a mirror or a picture hangs above, check that 71cm does not reach it.
• Socket: decide which socket it runs to and whether the lead reaches without crossing a walkway.

What the listing does not say

The description does not state what the crushed diamond surface is made of or what it covers, the lamp's weight, the bulb type or whether one is included, the switch position, or the length of the lead. A lamp is one of the few things where getting the fitting wrong means an extra trip, so ask us and we will check it with the supplier rather than guess here.

What it goes with

The DMD02 Floor Lamp is listed with the same crushed diamond finish at 47 x 47 x 158cm, which is the easy way to light a room at two heights without mixing two looks. If 71cm turns out to be too tall for your bedside table, the MD41/42 Table Lamp is the low alternative at 43cm tall and 26cm across, in silver or rose gold. The MD02 Floor Lamp is the floor-standing version of that same strip detailing. Everything else is on the lighting page.

Measure the table first, then the wall above it, and the DMD12 Table Lamp page has the photographs. Delivery is free within 50 miles of our Glasgow store and £50 beyond.