Lighting a dark corner of my bedroom

Even before we redecorated our bedroom the mirror and space I use for my dressing table was a long way away from natural light, and despite the overhead spotlights often darker than I'd like for putting on my make-up. It was easily fixed of course with a table lamp, and once that was in place everything was fine.

That is until the lamp stopped working.  The last time I turned it on, it wouldn't turn off unless I pulled the plug from the wall, so that was pretty frustrating. But it made me realise I needed to replace it with another lamp, because since then we've decorated our bedroom in more dramatic colours.

The light needed to be functional and direct light upwards so that I stood a chance of applying my make-up in a non-Alice Cooper like way, and so when I dried my hair I could see what I was doing. A lamp with a shade wasn't going to help me much and so my hunt began. It turned out it was easier than I thought.

As I quite quickly spotted this light - the Claudia 2 Way Modern Touch Table Lamp - by Iconic Lights, and thought it'd be just the thing. And it is. The finish is Black Chrome, and if I'm honest I'd not heard of that before, but luckily it goes well with the darker, more dramatic decor and is what I hoped it would be. Shiny like chrome, but black. But not too black.
Iconic Lights Claudia 2 Way Modern Touch Table Lamp in Black Chrome

Oh, and in case you're thinking wow that's tidy (and for the record so am I), it's not. The majority of my make-up and other paraphernalia is in one of the top drawers and out of sight. I know where everything is, well the stuff I use regularly and I much prefer it this way, as it means I can pretend I'm tidier than I actually am!

Here's it lit up.

And the light turned on

And despite knowing it used touch technology, of course the first thing I did once it was in place was look for the switch!  Thankfully though I'm past that now and have programmed myself to touch the base three times to get it to the bright setting I like. There's low and medium too, as well as off.

I expected the base to quite quickly be full of make-upy, smeared finger prints - but it isn't, in fact it's hard to spot any, which is just brilliant!

The base of the Claudia 2 Way Modern Touch Table Lamp

I was impressed that it arrived with bulbs so I could use it straight away - and a spare bulb - how often does that happen? When I'd ordered it MOH's first question was about which bulbs it took. I had no idea - it's G9 btw - I just hoped that it would be a useful and stylish addition to the bedroom, and stop me from scrabbling around with plugs to turn the broken lamp on.

I've been using it for two weeks now and I it's definitely both stylish and useful.  The lack of fingerprints are a bonus too.

A close-up of one of the lights

And I think it looks just right in this space, don't you?

Lighting a darker corner in my bedroom

The Claudia 2 Way Modern Touch Table Lamp is available from Iconic Lights for £25 in three colour ways - black chrome as I have here, polished chrome and antique brass. And that seems very reasonable to me.

* I was sent this lamp to review as part of my role as one of Iconic Lights' approved blogging ambassadors, but all views and opinions are my own.

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Post Comment Love & the new Blogger Showcase 19-21 August 2016

Hello and welcome to another week of Post Comment Love. If you linked up last week, it was lovely to see you and if you're new here, hello and welcome!

It's been the week I started my new job and my local commute to Greenwich. This week I've done that on foot and it's been lovely so far, rain is forecast for today so hopefully that won't be too bad. I spent lunch one day in Greenwich Market completely mesmerised by this sculpture while eating what was essentially a deep-fried pizza. Very nice it was too, if not a little odd, but of course I managed!

'ENCOMPASS' AT GREENWICH MARKET BY MICHAEL SPELLER

'ENCOMPASS' AT GREENWICH MARKET BY MICHAEL SPELLER

Introducing our new Blogger Showcase

If you're a regular here then you'll know each week Morgan and I usually feature a new blogger in our Newbie Showcase section. Well now we're opening that up to any blogger and we're hoping that some of our regular linkers will be among those - and some of the first - to take part in our Blogger Showcase. 

If you're interested in taking part then get in touch with Morgan and I and we'll explain more. Although, like the Newbie Showcase you'll need to get your information to us before we schedule your date, that makes our Thursday evenings a lot less stressful.

Pink, green, blue and gold and some dancing ladies too

We've already had a look around the Jardin Potager at Cheverny and seen how they cut the grass banks and now we're having a look inside. It was the most elaborate and opulent chateau interior we'd seen to date, and the rooms were set out in rooms in much the same way as the National Trust does here. The colours were on the whole bright, and there was a lot of gold.

Each of the rooms I'm sharing here were on the first floor in the private apartments and each are said to convey the French "art de vivre" or the joy of living. And I think they've got a point there, as they're all great. I know they're from the first floor as that's when I realised that you could take pictures as long as it was without flash. Doh!

PANELLED WALLS

PANELLED WALLS

AND DOORS TOO

AND DOORS TOO

AND EVEN THE CEILING MATCHES

AND EVEN THE CEILING MATCHES

They definitely like things to match. But doesn't it work? It's a striking way to decorate rooms and clearly these are larger than our average modern day room, but wouldn't it be great to have a ceiling like that?

At first this room, potentially a music room but one with a lot of books, looks a much simpler room. But then the more you look, the more you see. 

The detail on the piano - or possibly pianoforte - is stunning and a masterpiece in its own right. The panelling on the book cases too is very detailed.

And those curtains, I could quite easily have them in our house. They'd need to be a lot shorter, but the material looks great here but would look equally good in a more modern setting, don't you think?

A DECORATED PIANO

A DECORATED PIANO

A VIOLIN AND A MUSIC SCORE

A VIOLIN AND A MUSIC SCORE

So pink and green done, both with touches of gold. Now for the blue. When I walked into this room the opulence just struck you. Not in a bad way, but there was just so much to see. I can't even begin to describe it.

Opulence everywhere you look
Opulence galore and with a harp too

Did you spot the dancing ladies, either side of the portrait? I didn't to start with, and then I was captivated by them. And wondering why the one on the left is showing quite so much leg...

At first I didn't notice them either side of the portrait

I think they're one thing though, that doesn't really translate into modern living. I can't see these working either side of the fireplace can you?!

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