Hi biochem. Wow what a room! I don't have a luxurious or refined LR and I'm definitely not a designer or decorator but I did try a floor lamp in my LR and wound up taking it out because I couldn't make it work. I love the lamp though so I hate it wouldn't work for me. Leslie

I love floor lamps by a reading chair -- just right for my weak eyes! And creates a personal cozy pool of light .... My room is basically traditional/thrift type decor ....

Of course -- we do have LOTS of lamps around the rooms -- and very few ceiling can-type lighting (except in our one-and-only living room)

Interesting observation.

I have 2 floor lamps in my living room because the room is tiny and there is not enough room for tables big enough to support table lamps, nor wall space for wall lamps.

Also don't have a lot of end tables so floor lamps are very practical.

Ditto Teacats! I love that warm little pool of light that I get from a just-the-right-sized floor lamp pulled next to a comfy chair. It's so nice for reading. My house is very limited on space, so as mentioned above, I can't use tables in places I might otherwise like to have them. So floor lamps fit the bill perfectly for me, in several rooms. Then again, I'm not interested in "very fine" decor, and can't see myself ever living with the kind of high-end items in the inspiration pic. Lovely to look at - just not me though.

I don't think affordability or convenience has much to do with the scarcity or popularity of floor lamps. It's likely that they are not as popular as they were in years past for other reasons. It's not as easy to decorate with them when side tables are such a necessity for the convenience of having one's drink or food close at hand. In years past people actually sat at table to eat and drink. End tables have become such essential furniture where there is space for them and there are so many choices in table lamps that most people don't think of the alternative of a floor lamp.

I'm waiting for a business call so have some time to spend and was curious as to how many of the pics I've saved show floor lamps so clicked quickly through and found that 7% of the LR pics I've saved show them. I have 121 pics of LR's so not sure if that means anything. I also checked a few designer LR's I've saved and there are some there.

Room by Charlotte Moss...

Room by Diamond Baratta...

Room by James Radin...

"2 floor lamps here"

"another one here"

"might be a floor lamp"

I have one floor lamp which I love. It's an antique turned wood lamp and is large. One of those finds I just had to have. Good thing I have a large LR altho I'd use it no matter what size the room. I have difficulty with the concept of "it doesn't work". IMO if I love something it works or I'll make it work somehow. Even if the scale, color, or style of some object may not be *perfect* for the room if I love it, it works. That's what makes rooms interesting IMO. Life is too short and uncertain to deny myself the pleasure of owning something beautiful or well made, especially when it has that feeling that a good antique has. My lamp is similar to the one in Charlotte Moss' room.

Have 2 in the house and one on the screened porch.

I think floor lamps either say you don't have the space for a table/lamp combo, or you like to read and need the light to be functional. As lovely as the room in your inspiration photo is, it appears to be a "morning room". If you wanted to spend any time in there after sunset, you won't be reading or darning your socks.
Personally, I don't care much for ceiling lighting, unless it's a decorative chandelier. Good for cranking up the wattage to dust and clean, but not very appealing otherwise. I prefer lamps and/or sconces for ambient lighting.

I've always loved floor lamps, and have 4 of them. Perhaps they're a bit overshadowed by table lamps these days because, if you have the room for them, end tables are convenient to have and use.
The four floor lamps we own were bought because they're so pretty and unusual, IMO anyway.
I looked for quite a while before finding this one at an antique shop. It sits in our family room behind an antique humidor table that my DH uses as his end table. The table is too narrow for a lamp and this pretty baby works well with it. It's great for reading.

I found this one at a home furnishings shop down in Albuquerque. It sits in the corner of our living room.

Both floor lamps have really pretty bases. I'm sorry that the latter one's is hidden behind the table, but it's working there nicely at the moment. I move it around periodically.
Lynn

I have a floor lamp in my living room, and it's not because I don't have room for a table there--I do. My lamp is very old etched brass and I just like the way it looks--mild-mannered and traditional. There are table lamps on two side tables and one on a buffet. No ceiling lights and I don't long for any. I like the puddles of light effect created by the lamps.

I have two floor lamps in our LR. One is beside the couch for reading and one is on the other side of the room between the big-screen and the hutch. The room isn't all the big but the ceilings are vaulted going to 10 1/2' on that side of the room and we really needed light to get rid of the shadows on that side. It took two years to find one that was substantial and tall enough so that it wasn't dwarfed by the tall ceilings. I like floor lamps.

Sometimes floor lamps are the best, or most sensible, option. I have a couch angled near a wall and have a floor lamp behind it. I used to have a tall table with table lamp there but it just didn't put the light where it was needed. The floor lamp has a arm that swings toward the couch so offers better light. When you don't have, or want, ceiling lights you've got to do whatever it takes.

We use floor lamps too. We have 2 in our sitting room that are used primarily for reading. As you'll note neither location has room for a table lamp.

I love floor lamps. I just returned from a trip to Dallas and found myself really intrigued by the floor lamp in my room. I don't even like modern, but I really liked the shape of that lamp.

I do find them hard to decorate around or with, but I like them anyway.

Lynn and Mary Lu, you both have some pretty floor lamps. I especially love antique floor lamps.

I have a floor lamp next to my big chair that I sit in every night with a dog. There is also a small table that holds a cup of coffee.
I like that based on how the dog is laying, I can move the table around to either side easily and reach my drink, depending on which arm is being laid on.
(and, incidentally, I paid an insane amount for this tiny table! And, I don't know why I'm telling you that other other than it is perfect in all regards. My singular case of "you get what you for", I guess!)

In that first picture I think the lamps say "I wish we had floor lamps here instead of those hidious pot lamps in the ceiling" personally...but maybe lamps speak differently to me than to others :)

I have several of them...honestly I don't know how many but they go from modern in one house to ones that date to the victorian period in another. They've been a useful fixture in homes for many years...go back a few centuries and look for candelabra's on stands...do you think those said "we can't afford tables to put the lights on?" or perhaps they were just handy, freeing up table space or lighting an area you might not want a table in.

I have one parlor that has three of them in it (I had to go look LOL). In that parlor I have many large case goods and not as many tables. It's a large room and the floor lamps scattered about (mostly in nooks and corners) shed a nice soft light downward verses the all over light you get from a chandelier. I have another in my dining room standing by the fireplace because it again lights up a darker corner. In the basement we have one over a chair we like to read in. Let's see where are the rest???? Oh one's in a corner behind a cradle (no baby in it) to light another dark corner again. And yet another sits between two reading chairs in a library. I have many lamps (I prefer them to ceiling fixtures most of the time) and all serve a purpose...some work on tables and some work on the floor :) But they all fill a purpose in my decorating scheme.

(and I have no pot lights LOL)

I think floor lamps say, "Real people live here and actually use this room". Photos of elegant living rooms, don't usually say that. Look back through your photos and see if any of those rooms would be FUNCTIONAL enough for you.

LOL Cindy, I can easily see myself living in the first room posted (after the contractors removed those horrible lights heh heh). Real people can enjoy elegant...mind you, under the cushions of the sofa would be a thomas the train and perhaps a lego...but we're real none the less and I love that room.

I have floor lamps everywhere. Antique ones that I rewired and refinished and a very beautiful 70's torchiere that was Mom and Dad's. I have a Pottery Barn type and one with a mica shade...on and on. I love floor lamps. They seem so cozy to me and I have tables next to them as I hate to compete with anything when I am using a table. I need space for all the books and the drink etc.

Warm pools of light is a lovely expression. c

Thanks Everyone for your input!

luckygal...Perfect! MY picture is of course a Charlotte Moss room. I'm fond of Moss and Sister Parish. Seeing CM use the floor lamp is a relief. Probably just the random photos I happen to have saved had none. (Diamond Baratta has only ever done ONE room I like. Those guys are nuts.)

I was hoping a decorator would weigh in with a historical perspective on the use of floor lamps.

Lynninnewmex and Mary_Lu, those are BEAUTIFUL!

Notice they are all antiques with special iron curls or fancy carved poles.

The real problem: there's a floor lamp in the formal LR that is bothering me. But instead of posting a photo and asking "What's wrong with this lamp?" I prefer to think through the reasons it may be wrong.

It's next to my secretary desk which I actually use to pay bills. There isn't room on the fold down flap for a lamp. Especially with a laptop on it now! The secretary is in a corner of the LR with a window on either side.

I think the problem is that my lamp new and not very interesting. Plain simple pole. Need to find a good antique one with a more ornate, substantial pole. Something with character.

That's a whole lot easier than trying to figure out how to put another table over there next to the desk.

Igloo! Hi! I feel more comfortable in formal rooms too. I could live in Windsor Castle. *grin*

More rooms with cool lamps but no poles (just for fun):

Mrs. Howard

Cool Lamp and Mirror I Love

Lake Michigan House

Igloochic I know real people can enjoy elegant, lol, my point was that when I see a room with a floor lamp, I know there is at least one spot in that room where I can read comfortably.

When I look at the photo that started this thread, I don't see anyplace to read or do any other activity...at least not after dark! There are no tables close enough to the seats where you could put a cup of coffee, etc.

I'm just saying that these rooms are often set up with all of the emphasis on "form" and no attention to function.

I'm with Cindyloo.

And not just "real people," but readers! That's why so many GWer's have them in their homes.

(Ditto for chairs with ARMS -- you don't see them much in the ads in modern-design magazine spreads, but who really wants to sit for a long time in a chair without arms?)

I've read that before a shoot of real homes, the "stylists" remove things that they find unaesthetic -- like floor lamps. So maybe even in those houses people are using them to read. The floor lamps just don't show up when the topic is visual "decoration."

The room pictured at the beginning of this thread looks more appropriate for a stand-up cocktail party. Imagine people sitting in the chairs as they are arranged and trying to have a conversation - let alone having a cup of tea. The two red chairs flanking the fireplace are maybe meant to be moved around, but they still look uncomfortable. It is a room with pretty furniture, not a living room.