The perfect bedside lamp: ALÄNG adjustable table lamp

By Manda

Once upon a time I bought these cute little wall lamps for my bedroom from IKEA.

ÅRSTID Wall lamp IKEA Adjustable head makes it easy to direct the light. Fabric shade gives a diffused and decorative light.

(photo via IKEA.com)

I loved them! And I still do! They were just what our bedroom needed to look a bit more grown up and pulled together. The problem? My husband hated them. "Hate" is not too strong a word here: he LOATHED these lamps. They looked lovely above our bedside tables, but unfortunately they came with a very specific (to IKEA only!) light bulb that does not give off a ton of light. And for a person who avidly reads in bed before he goes to sleep at night, like my husband, this is a problem (and for extra negative points, it takes a moment for the light to "heat up" and when you have to get out of bed in the middle of the night with a kid it is not very useful and you'll probably trip over the dog. Not that I know that from experience or anything AHEM).

So, after a few years of his continued complaints, I set about finding a new set of lamps for our room. Ones that brought light! And used regular light bulbs! When I started shopping around I couldn't believe how expensive table lamps are. Out of control! When you combine the price for a base and a shade at even somewhere like Target it's just nuts! More than a hundred bucks for two lamps? NO.

And so back to IKEA I went! Just to check.

Hark, I bring you the ALÄNG adjustable table lamp!

ALÄNG Table lamp IKEA Height adjustable; adjust according to need.

(photo via IKEA.com)

I searched all through the IKEA lighting section and at first couldn't find anything I really liked. A lot were too girlie. Not sturdy enough. A lot required a bulb you could only buy at IKEA. Finally, as I was about to leave (and just as my son decided he'd had enough and began a rather enormous meltdown) I spied the ALÄNG lamps! They were perfect! I loved the oval shape of the shade and the gender-neutral design. I also loved that the height is adjustable! We have a rather tall bed and I wasn't sure exactly what height lamp would be best and this solved my problem. And lucky for me, I was attracting a lot of attention with my wailing child and I was able to round up not one but TWO IKEA employees to confirm for me that this lamp took regular light bulbs! And for $20? I snapped two up and ran for the door (and they were a cinch to assemble. Bonus!). They're available with a white or grey shade.

I think my nightstand is looking pretty snazzy these days, and I haven't tripped over a dog in the middle of the night once since I moved our wall lamps to the sides of our mirrored dresser. And the peanut gallery - aka my husband - has had nary a complaint.