Mission Style Mica Accent Lamp

Picky Consumer on Fri, 13th Nov 2009 10:27 am 



I’m using it in a medium-sized dorm room. This is extremely cool mood lighting. There’s no denying its coolness, which is universally recognized by people of all ages and backgrounds.

I’m using a crystal clear (not frosted) 25w candalabra bulb (which is the size they recommend). The lamp throws a amber-orange hue around the room. Did I mention its wicked-cool? I reckon amber/orange is the way to clarify it, pretty much the color of the mica on it. It also looks spectacular even when its off, gives even a dorm room a touch of “class”.

It doesnt come with a bulb. When you go to buy one, you dont need a 3-way bulb, just place in a 25w candalabra/chandelier bulb (they’re the pointy ones, like faux candles, that they stick in chandeliers; I had to get mine at a hardware store, the community all-purpose store didnt have them). Then each time you touch the base or any part of the bulb’s metal, it cycles thru the three settings automatically.

There are also CFC chandelier bulbs available which would fit into it, but then likely the dimming feature wont work. On the other hand, you could potentially get more light out of it, since a 13w CFC bulb gives off the equivalent of a 40w regular bulb. You could technically place in a 60w equivalent that way lacking worrying about the heat (CFC’s stay pretty cool and the overall wattage would remain under the recommended 25w that way, while getting a lot more light out of it). But all that would be at the cost of the 3-way dimmer feature, assuming it worked at all.

With the regular 25w chandelier bulb:

-on lowest setting, its basically a nocturnal light. It wont be bright enough to do anything more than function as a very dim nocturnal light. Really, very dim on lowest setting. Of course sometimes thats all you want.

-middle setting: fantastic background lighting — a very light “wash” of orange around the room — for watching a movie on the computer, watching tv, or surfing the web. Since the light is so orange/amber, its a very warm feeling and a warm mood. Quite romantic if your significant other is around, or quite cozy and homey if you’re alone or with friends. Nearly like the kind of mood that a fire gives. Also, the difference between lowest and middle setting is greater than the difference between middle and peak setting.

At the middle setting you can walk around a medium sized room and just make out where the furniture is.

-peak setting: still quite dim — this is nothing more than a mood light — and just slightly brighter than the middle setting. At the peak setting, for instance, I can just barely see the letters on my keyboard’s keys, while on the middle setting I couldnt.

Its about 8 inches high and the base is about 6 inches check. As others have mentioned, the top isnt covered, so you need to locate it up on a bookshelf or something otherwise you can see the bulb. Also I imagine the inside will get real dusty after a while. I force use a CFC bulb (which dont get hot) and tape some mesh onto the top of it just to keep the dust out.

Highly recommended, a real novelty and for a lot of activities sometimes just a touch of background lighting is all you want. The light this gives off is nice and diffuse too, no bright spots, just a warm and pretty even “wash” around the room. You wont be able to read by it, or knit by it, etc, even at the brightest setting. Its a mood light, with all that that means. Nothing more. But what a mood.

Rating: 5 / 5

DJ on Fri, 13th Nov 2009 11:10 am 



I already had one touch lamp that I bought at Target several years ago, and I wanted two of these for the nightstands on each side of my bed. They are really nice lamps but a small too sensitive. My cat rubs hostile to them while I am asleep, and I wake up in the middle of the nocturnal with the lights on! Other than that, I have no complaints. I went to Walmart and bought a two-pack of 25 watt bulbs that are especially for touch lamps. I don’t remember what the bulbs cost, but they are very inexpensive.
Rating: 5 / 5

Tracey C. Jones on Fri, 13th Nov 2009 1:11 pm 



The lamp went fantastic with my mission style furniture. Of note, you touch/tap the lamp to get it to turn onto one of three light settings and to turn it off. It’s like living on the USS Enterprise!!! That makes it simple to turn off when you’re in bed and leaning over to shut it off. I’ve knocked over many a bedside lamp fumbling for the pull switch. No mas!!!!
Rating: 5 / 5

Nathan Raddin on Fri, 13th Nov 2009 2:45 pm 



The lowest setting is a lovely nightlight glow, the brightest setting bright enough to comfortably light part of a room (though not bright enough to read by). Using several of these in a room throws a gorgous, flattering mica glow. Like the touch turn on, perfect for bedsides.
Rating: 5 / 5

Ann Hirschbuehler on Fri, 13th Nov 2009 5:42 pm 



I am really impressed with this lamps beauty and functionality. I like the touch lighting. You can touch any part of the metal form and it goes to low, med, high and off. What a fantastic feature! Fantastic accent lamp.
Rating: 5 / 5

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