If it were me as your client, I would say that these little touches make all the more difference living in a small, modest space. I see that all the time with junior people in the design profession in NYC, whose whoms often end up on Youtube, Insta, etc. They have a few very nice things in a tiny, modest space. No one wants to feel like they are in reduced circumstance and have their "view" constantly remind them of it.

However, design is important to me and I take great pleasure in the details of my environment. If your client does not, they could be angry that you "wasted" their money. Do they care about or comment on design?

I'm in awe of people who can find expensive things at bargain prices. Since you've got a good eye, why not go to an estate sale or high end 2nd hand store? Yes, expensive finishes will be noticed...even if people don't know why they stand out. :0)

one way to tie together the disparate lamps and differentiate the white from the wood, would be with lampshades.

Nico, Not doable in vintage, not to mention lampshades do not age well and if they do, usually travel with their lamp

Assuming I could make the total budget work with all the things needed, I wouldn't hesitate to spend 15-20% on a single lampshade.

Ikea has a number of small drop-leaf and gateleg tables. I was looking at them a few weeks ago, thinking about replacing my dining room table to free up some space.

One of the only purchases will actually be lampshades, and a relatively inexpensive lamp that is a knock-off of a Robert Abbey lamp in design. The existing lamps are somewhere between semi antique and antique, and they are probably on their --third? set of lampshades. One has no shade, one has a deteriorating shade and one has a new shade that is just too small and not a good color for this place. (So everything else is essentially "estate" being that it's free furniture :-).

I would describe this client as interested in design but not very good at execution. She is a bit impulsive and sometimes buys the wrong thing for the right reason. For example in her current house she needed a dining table, so she bought one at Target that matches the finish of a couple other pieces of furniture, but other than that just isn't right. And her daughter bought a bar cart so she had to have a bar cart. Too big, not a good style for the rest. And it didn't help that she went with a friend whose only criteria for buying anything is "is it cheap?" and "can I take it with me immediately?" I have heard her apartment described by a mutual friend as a "bro" apartment, rented right out of college.

But this client does trust my process pretty much. And I am good at staying on a budget, even though it may not be apportioned the way most people would do it.

And since the majority of my clients have been friends, --a lot of friends do not understand my design process. I have had friends say that my house is a "design museum" and I could never do anything for them because it would cost way too much money. And that's not really true because most of my current furniture I either inherited or bought at very low prices. (And also bought before other people were interested).

I had a client who could not understand why I would buy her a $75 chair and then want her to spend $500 reupholstering it. It was $75 because it needed to have the springs retied and to be reupholstered, and with less than $600 in ended up with a much better chair than $600 could buy new. So it's the same with this lampshade, she has four really good lamps, and they were all free. So within budget maybe one of the shades can be too expensive.

I am all for IKEA for certain things. When they used to sell more solid pine tables I used to buy the dining tables and chop the legs down and turn them into large end or corner tables or coffee tables because so many inexpensive tables are too small and cheap. You could put a square one in the corner next to a sofa, and painted, it made a great sturdy lamp table that filled a lot of the space.

I wouldn't hesitate to spend a significant part of the budget on the items that add polish to the space. There's a good selection of second-hand furniture that can be made to work, but good quality lampshades and draperies really elevate a room and are not usually available second-hand in the sizes and colors you need.

For lampshades, I always give Home Goods a chance and have found some nice ones there, albeit sometimes it takes several stores. But I have four within 30 minutes or less from me and three more that are not terribly far. I used to like them for decorative pillows, but not anymore.

Given that you're talking about half the budget, I think there’s an obligation to start by looking for something less expensive and spending more if you absolutely cannot find something that would work.

Several of the lampshades will probably be from an online lampshade retailer, in basic white. But it's not likely that I would find something at random at a store because of size and shape because of the style and shape of the lamps. Readily available shades all kind of seem too short. These are lamps back from the drum shade era. They may not be expensive when I find them, it's more a matter of finding them.

But I agree about how large a chunk of the budget a specialty lampshade like the ones I pictured will be. Several Etsy sellers make shades that end up being much more than I will spend on the table, for example. Those are out of the question. But I may find something if I am patient. The client's current house is just getting ready to go on the market

Here's one I found on World Market for $35.00, a fraction of the shades I show above. But it's available in one size, one color. And its a little short, but it shows that they are Out there, it's just a matter of finding the right one.

And it gives the "idea" of what you are going for enough that it could work for a lot of people as opposed to say #1 or #2 above. For some people, the difference may warrant the higher price. It depends upon a lot of things.

Could you buy an inexpensive shade that is the proper size and have it covered? There are plenty of DIY videos online. It looks time consuming but not difficult. I'm not expecting that you would do it but perhaps know someone who could.

My issue is that to the casual observer it looks like a shade from Anthro. Which is totally fine but I'm not sure if the look is worth the expense.

That being said, I just spent $+++ on two grasscloth shades and very few people who come to my house will likely notice them.

Anthropologie pulled the look from them, that happens...

I would really like to find something inexpensive that was close enough. I think that's all that is needed here. I could do it myself but the issue is the fabric, that is where the expense is in a lot of these, it seems.

I think shipping costs on an Etsy shade may be an issue. From time to time HG has interesting shades, but I am def a Pooky girl. Great service too.

Right now it looks like I need a small rectangular clipped corner soft back probably not in white --pretty easily available, but not cheap even at Walmart. This is a small bronze and black metal lamp with a stepped clipped corner base and a gold egg shape held up by four black palm tree kinda things. Small, very heavy, very formal, probably originally expensive, and it has a shade like above that is almost a pagoda shade. I can't imagine any other shape on this.

2 drum or barrel shades (not too empire) for the pair of lamps that will be used separately. This may be where I want to differentiate the shade.

One large shade but plain for a wood turned baluster lamp that is pretty tall.

And then I found this, the least expensive (and it is inexpensive) large, Robert Abbey-ish red lamp. I think the room needs this because there is a large wood framed chair and ottoman in a red painted finish upholstered in red Bosporus fabric. It's also why a feel a light blue or light green shade in the right sort of fabric could look good on one of the existing lamps

pretty

This is Pooky, it might work

The last time I was looking for a shade, I ended up buying a whole lamp from Home Sense even though I didn't need the lamp part itself. There were very few shades for sale and LOTS of lamps.

Similarly, a picture I bought at one of the TJ Maxx family of stores fell off the wall, and the frame broke. When the framer quoted a cost of 10 times what I paid to reframe it, I ended up buying another piece and used that frame. The picture is tucked away in case I find a place for it.

Yes, frames more expensive than entire pictures and shades more expensive than entire lamps seems to be pretty common--partly to do with economies of scale.

Seems like that may be a question for your client, not me, since it's not my money.

Have you looked @ Target too? A quick check shows one that looks like the World Market one above for just $20 - it's 12.5" at the bottom, but I'm not sure what size you need...? They do have a pretty good selection of styles...

Target has several nice options. The issue with the Studio McGee shade, as with some other brands is that they are made for Target type lamps. so they have Uno type fitters. (on the bottom) that fit down on the outside of the socket.

These lamps are vintage, so they are either center post or have harp and need a spider. They do have some Springcrest in print and a couple other soft shades that are nice, and have a spider. The price goes up considerably but is much more reasonable than the really pricey handmades.

Seems like that may be a question for your client This project is a little unusual in that there is almost nothing to be purchased except a small table, and some textile type things and the lampshades. It is a rental although there is no restriction on hanging pictures. So it's more a matter of I have a budget for those things in total but no max price for any particular item. So I could potentially spend $900 on the table and get 5 lampshades for $20 each or spend the $200 for the lampshade if everything else is $800. but I get your point. I am not likely to spend $299 on the table and get 4 cheap lampshades and spend $500 on the shade. But the issue is you could easily spend $500 on some of these shades which is what I found surprising.

Do you have a local "lamp shade" store?

I had a local store in LA and have one in FL too. (I call it local if it is less than a 45 minute drive)

Their products usually aren't cheap, but it is a great way to bring in the lamp and try out different shade sizes, colors and styles.

I might do this shade on one of the white lamps. Free shipping and 15% off.

Believe it or not, no, we do not have a local lampshade store. Since 2000 we have gone from a completely custom shop within walking distance, another place in the city with a wide selection of all shapes and sizes and at least one place to get decent plain inexpensive shades that were still made with a spider instead of some weird fitting, to nothing at all.

I sent a 30+yo shade to be recovered to LampShadeConnection. The interior lining was deteriorating. I use it in my room/guest room at DD's house, but might bring it home next visit. The lamp itself is bronze and extremely heavy. The process was easy, and not inexpensive due to silk fabric and design. I had her match material color to the original. Their shades are beautiful. and a more simple design and less costly fabric it might be doable?

The little bronze lamp currently has a shade like the one pictured, in a size that's available of the shelf. It's not expensive-expensive, but even at the lampshade manufacture whose main outlet seems to be places like Walmart online, they are around $65

Luckily, two of the lamps should be able to take inexpensive hardback shades in standard sizes. I am not putting anything good on the lamp next to the bed because somehow the client seems to bang those up (?)

As for the shades I showed in the original post, after thinking about it, I decided that a shade like that would make it into the room to meet mydesign sensibilities, and she would be fine with the World Market one at $35 if I could have found one in the right size and colors. Or all plain white for that matter. But I think within context, the job of designing for someone else is to give them something more than they would do themselves, thus this kind of obsessive search.

But I think within context, the job of designing for someone else is to give them something more than they would do themselves

That is exactly what I do when shopping for or redecorating for my sister. The finished rooms/homes look nice... until she starts adding all her finds, but they are her homes. I then help arrange or move to a location (or suggest better in other house) that makes more sense. She did not inherit any genes relating to interior design or decorating.

I find that bedside lampshades at our rental take a beating. I don't get it either!

I am changing my mind about this one: I think it could work:

I am planning the better/more delicate shades for lamps that are farther out of reach.

When I was growing up the kids bedrooms had the shades that were painted bristol board or cardboard and they were essentially indestructable.

The buyers of my dad's house wanted my entire bedroom, so the lamp stayed as well. It had the same shade for 45 years, and while it had been repainted, it was fine, even though I know that lamp had been knocked over.

My living room lampshades, which were custom because they are huge, are actually hardback with a linen texture that is washable because it's a material made for the commercial market. I felt like they had a vaguely plasticky appearance at first, but I got used to it. And with LED bulbs they should last forever. That's what used to destroy lampshades, the heat from the light bulbs.

I am pretty sure that since this unit is small most surfaces will be covered with various bits and pieces of stuff. I get it. The desk area around this computer just has things piled around it including the floor 90+ percent of the time.

Fwiw, I like that one, and the price point is on target. World Market has some unique finds, if not a huge variety. While I understand why lamp shades are so expensive, I've never come across one and thought, "Yes--this is definitely worth $600."

Yes, well for some people $700 is like, $70 or $7 to us.

One other aspect to anyone still following is that neither of the buildings have ANY lighting in the ceiling in the main room. (They have one in the hall, then bathroom and kitchen)

That's fine with me, I do not like ceiling lighting in living spaces. But that's also why we are talking about 5 lamps in one room. I would rather have the potential to overlight the room when needed, instead of not having enough.

I think bedside lamps get knocked over more than one next to a chair or sofa might...?