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One of the ways to add some real style to home decor is through the use of glass lamp shades. Unlike fabrics, glass permits a lot more light, colors it and recasts it with a glitter. The paragon of such shades may be the Tiffany lamp shades, made famous at the turn of the last century after the development of gas shades through the efforts of its creator Louis Comfort Tiffany.

Choosing to use glass lamp shades is the easiest part of the process. The next step, picking among the different designs, sizes and colors can be quite involving. The choices are made complex by the fact that naming of designs varies from maker to maker. Or when the name is widely established, it’s insufficiently descriptive to help the buyer. For example, the design known as a ‘student shade’ is characterized by a broad round base that tapers off to a cylindrical top. No buyer can infer that from name alone.

For the purposes of this article, we ignore these problems and turn our attention to just two designs: the cylindrical shade and the cone shade. These are among the most popular kinds.

The cone shade is so called because of its distinctive cone shape. The cone can be configured in one of two orientations with respect to the direction of the light bulb. The light bulb is fitted onto a fixture and points out to a direction. The cone can be aligned with the bulb direction or against it. A torchiere lamp with an upward opening cone is an example of the former, whereas a table lamp with a downward opening cone is an example of the latter.

In comparison, cylindrical shades have a fixed width, which can vary from 6 inches to 1 foot. The respective decorative feel of the smallest and largest sizes can be quite different. The largest cylinders are evocative of a classical and traditional era. The narrowest cylinders are ultra-modern and fashionable. Patterning and design can alter decorative feel of course.

Lamp shades made of fabric are usually adorned with patterns or art for decoration. Glass shades may also be decorated, usually through the addition of color glass or metallic top and bottom rims. The coloring of glass is an artistic process with a long history.

The difference between the cylinder and the cone styles occasionally blur. For example, the cylinder shade is very narrow or if the cone shade flares only slightly. One thing the cone shade can achieve is much better reflection and diffusion of the light source if the cone opens at a very wide angle.

Additional resources provided for glass lamp shades can be located here. Additional resources supplied for bankers lamp shade can be found here.