Please check out the plug in swag lighting fixtures at lampsusa.com-as they may offer the perfect solution for you.

We do not have overhead lights except in bathrooms and kitchen. We wanted it that way! I greatly dislike the look of overhead lighting. We have receptacles that are tied into wall switches. We can plug a lamp in and turn it on at the switch. I love lamps!

so when you flip a switch, do multiple lamps turn on at the same time. Or do you keep lighting low?

That was my favorite thing about having my own house -- adding a simple overhead globe to every single room. (Obviously some need more, but a bedroom with no lights at all??)

In my office at work I have three lamps all connect to one power bar. I turn on the power bar and all three lights come on.

At home I have a few lights in my living area plugged in to timers. The timers are set for times when I am home and it is dark outside. That way I have light when I want it, and I don't have to go around turning on all the lamps.

Timers are awesome. Look for those with more than one range possible, so you can have some do morning and evening stints...

Each receptacle has a " hot" and " cold" . The "hot" are on all the time...alarm clock , for example. I plug lamps into the " cold" spot so that they come on with a switch at the door. I can choose how many lamps to connect. If you have a lamp by your bed you would put that in the " hot" so that you can turn it on and off without having to go to the switch. It is a perfect set-up for me. I would never use ceiling lights.

I know this is an old post but I had a few tips to add for future seekers. Check to see if any extra light switches that seem to do nothing actually turn on a wall outlet. You can plug an always-on lamp into this outlet and operate it with the switch (this may seem really basic but I only discovered it a few years ago!). You can use a 3-or more way outlet extender to operate more than one lamp from the switch if you like.

Swag lamps are great, my extremely long, dark tube of an apartment employs several. One is hooked up to the switch-socket mentioned earlier. Since most swag lamps don't have switches, I purchased a remote control at the hardware store to operate the others easily. Play around with different shades to get the effect you like, and don't cheap out on the lumens! LED bulbs are great; they give lots of light while using a ridiculously small amount of power. They last forever and are available in dimmable versions, cool or warm light, whatever you desire. Just don't use them in an enclosed fixture; they need to breathe.

Add to this a few table and/or floor lamps and you should be good to go! If you have the wall space and "a view worth repeating," hang a biggish wall mirror. And be aware that dark furniture and rugs will darken up the space quite a bit. I just got rid of a dark green and burgandy area rug and it's amazing how much lighter the room is!

We have remote switches for lights in our family room....purchased it from Amazon but think Lowes has them also. You plug this remote thingy in your plug-in and then plug the lamp into this thingy (?) Then you have a remote control device that you can turn the lamp on and off. Just leave the lamp on and use the remote contol device to turn it off or on. Is a small remote...maybe 1-1/2 inches by 3 inches. Comes with three plug in thingies so you can have it for use in three plug ins. We do not have ceiling lights in our family room or in our living room. Works line of sight, I believe....we use it for one room with three lamps.

Yup, that's probably the same one I got. What a great invention!

Best solution I found is to use the Philips Hue lights system. You can get a remote switch and simply put it on the wall (it just glues in). In the living room I got 3 lamps hooked up like that and the bonus is they can change colours to create a different feel.