Quest for a Black Lamp Shade

I never knew buying a lamp shade could be such a difficult thing, but it is. Since I bought a pair of gorgeous vintage lamps, without shades, I did not know for sure what size I needed to purchase or even what particular style would look good with the lamp base.I was open to new possibilities. In my minds eye, I pictured a couple looks that I thought would look good but kept changing my mind. Eventually, I decided I wanted a uniform look to match my new floor lamp, so the shade would have to be black. I thought it was a drum style shade I wanted but the shade isn't totally straight vertically like the drum style is. It is slightly flared out on the bottom. I think it is a barrel style which is very similar. It really is confusing how many different names they have for a style/shape of a lamp shade. Not to mention all the different types of fittings they have and apparently the most common type of fitting is now almost impossible to find!! That has made my task rather daunting!!

 


My lamps in the first picture have a harp and a beautiful crystal/lucite finial, so they require a spider fitting to attach the shade. Most lamp shades have a spider fitting that the shade sits on and then you screw in your finial. I ordered 2 cute black lampshades with a silver metallic lining from Target and was so excited to open the box and try them out on my lamps. I couldn't wait for a visit from Mr. Mailman and when he did finally visit, boy, was I disappointed!! I tore open the box and found out that had a Euro fitting, one where you cannot use a harp or finial because the light bulb screws into place to hold down the fitting for the shade.Now I could have removed the harp and not used the finial and I could have made it work,but I loved the finial and didn't want to lose the look of it. So rather than send the shades back to Target, I thought I would drive to the nearest one to return them to see what else they had. I always loved Target and since we don't have one in my town, I always jump at the chance to go to one.But oh, my quest had really just begun!!


So my boyfriend and I took a ride to Target and returned the black lamp shades. Now off to find ones that fit. Hopefully,I will find one in a similar shape to my floor lamp, pictured above. So we find the lamp/lamp shade aisle and I am not feeling too confident. One aisle from top to bottom had nothing but lamp shades with Euro fitters. One tiny section, with maybe half a dozen shades with the spider fitting,only one black and it is way too huge. Everything they had in this tiny section was huge shades,like floor lamp size, not for table lamps.So I was rather disappointed with Target.I went to a few other stores and also didn't find anything.

 A friend recommended I try Hobby Lobby, so I was eager to see what they had. Hobby Lobby recently opened up in my town and from what I had seen, I really liked their home decor items, so I was hoping that they had what I needed for my living room lamps. I am sad to say, they had a million and one lamp shades with Euro fittings and very little with the spider fitting that I so desperately needed. There was not one lamp shade I liked that I could use....they were all some form of brown and you know how I feel about brown!!! LOL I have been keeping my eye out online but most websites do not specify what type of fitting and I am not having a repeat of the Target incident. I don't know what I will do next but am open to suggestions. One thing is I don't want to spend a lot on a plain lamp shade. I spent over $50 on my bedroom shades and they are gorgeous but were way more than I wanted to spend....if they didn't tie everything together so well in my bedroom, I never would have splurged. My comforter set cost less!! (lol I bought a second hand one on ebay.) 

So now I am on a Quest...for the Holy Grail of cute black lamp shades!! At least that is what it feels like to me. I never realized this could be such a difficult task, but I would like to have the new shades before my new furniture gets here, I have some time....maybe a month, give or take a week either way to find them but it is just annoying looking at a bright bare light bulb. I have so many cute touches I want to add to my lamp shades once I find them and I can't wait to get started but until I find what I need I will have to. In all my research, I found for some reason spider fittings for lamps seem to be going the way of the dinosaur and the Euro/uno fitters seem to be the new kids on the block. Also, while out shade shopping, I found some other goodies for the living room that I will share in my next blog which I will devote to accessories. Until next time....xo