A buffet lamp is a narrow lamp that runs tall — usually twenty-seven to thirty-five inches — so it gives a console, sideboard or bar real height without eating the surface. That is the whole idea. On a dining room buffet you want light at the height of a standing guest, not a wide shade sitting in the middle of the serving dishes, and on a hall console you want something that reads vertical against the mirror above it.

Buy them in pairs. A single buffet lamp at one end of a sideboard almost never looks right; two flanking a mirror or a piece of art is one of the most reliable moves in decorating, and it is why these are sold as often to designers as to homeowners.

The edit here runs from stone to sculpture. Eleanor is a tapered travertine column, Octavia a slim black marble stem with brass pull chains and two light levels for a dinner table. Philippa comes in gunmetal or gold with a matching metal shade, so the whole silhouette reads as one line. Charlotte is whitewashed faux bois under a woven rattan shade, Josephine a cast iron stem in antiqued gold leaf, and Arabella a natural brass column under a scalloped linen shade in cream, green or poppy. Rosalind, gold on a clear acrylic base, is the dressiest of the group.

Need a lamp where there is no outlet? See the cordless table lamps, including a 24-inch cordless buffet lamp. For plug-in lamps in every height with our pleated shade options, browse the full table lamp and pleated shade collection.