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Throughout the decades, the Tall Cone Lampshade has continuously resurfaced as a timeless favourite. In today's Lampshade Style Guide, we'll explore what makes this lampshade shape so enduringly popular and inspire you with handmade examples crafted by our talented professional makers, as well as sharing expert tips on how to create your own standout Tall Cone Lampshade.
A Little History…
The cone lampshade, iconic in the 1960s, reflects the era's distinct design aesthetics, which emphasised clean lines, bold shapes, and a blend of function with form that was heavily influenced by the Mid-Century Modern design movement, beginning in the mid-1940s, and continuing into the late 1960s.
Focused on simplicity, minimalism, and organic forms, the Tall Cone Lampshade fit perfectly into this aesthetic, with its streamlined shape and functional design.
Typically made from a variety of materials, including metal, plastic, fiberglass, and fabric, the latter two being new materials, designers to created lampshades that were not only durable but also available in a range of colours and finishes, including lampshades made from vibrant fabrics and natural materials such as hessian.
The 1960s was also a decade of cultural revolution, which influenced design trends. The space race, for instance, sparked a fascination with futuristic designs, including sleek and geometric forms like the cone. The shape has remained a popular design choice used in contemporary interior design styles and lighting today often paired with more organic made from wood and modern pottery, echoing styles from the 60s and 70s.
Style Description
Cone lampshades consist of two circular rings, the bottom ring being larger than the top ring. What differentiates the Tall Cone Lampshade from a Conical Lampshade is the height, which elongates the conical shape to give real impact.
Using our Lampshade Designer and Pattern Forming Tool, you can determine the height of your handmade Cone Lampshade, by creating your own cone lampshade template. If you are creating a cone lampshade for specific lampshades, take a look at our blog post, How to Choose the Perfect Sized Lampshade, which will help you decided on the dimensions of your shade.
Advantages and Uses
A Tall Cone Lampshade is perfect for using with lamp bases, suiting small, squat shapes of base and thin lamps bases, both of which accentuates the lampshade’s shape. The advantage of having height is the greater surface area this gives, therefore larger modern and retro pattern repeats work well, creating a fantastic focal point in any room.
As well as going bold with your choice of fabric, wide chunky trims, which are synonymous with the 60’s and 70’s, are perfect for tall cone lampshades, offering texture and interest to plain versions.
A Tall Cone Lampshades slender shape also means it’s perfect for small spaces, such as a porch, hallway or study, and its narrow funnel creates a subtle and directed light.
Creating a Tall Cone Lampshade
After you’ve decided the height, and top and bottom ring sizes of your Tall Cone Lampshade, input these into our Lampshade Designer and Pattern Forming Tool and either chose to create your own downloadable lampshade template, or alternatively opt to have your template cut for you using our in house cutting service.
Our Lampshade Designer and Pattern Forming Tool is also an excellent way of trying out sizes to create your desired shape if you’re unsure.
When buying your materials to make a handmade Tall Cone Lampshade, the bottom ring must be a Utility Ring, to attach to your lamp base, with the top ring being a smaller Plain Ring, to give the tapered effect.
Due to the height of the lampshade, we recommend using Seamstick Tape along the seam, which creates a stronger bond, than our Tesa Double-sided tape and prevents the seam from opening.
Tall Cone Lampshade Making Tips
In principle, making a Tall Cone Lampshade is very similar to making a Conical Lampshade, but just on a bigger scale!
Tip 1
Consider creating a Folded Seam Edge for fabric that frays, or alternatively apply Fraystop to the edges of the fabric before cutting.
Tip 2
When rolling the rings, lean these towards the top of the shade to follow the curve of the panel.
Tip 3
If adding a trim, follow our step by step guide in our 4 Easy Ways to Add Lampshade Trims blog post, which shows you how to glue a trim in place.
Tip 4
If you’ve downloaded your own template don’t forget to add a margin at the top and bottom, before cutting to tuck under the rings to create a professional finish. This is demonstrated perfectly by @bypoppy, who leaves a generous margin in her Instagram reel showing how to make a Tall Cone Lampshade
Finally, for extra tips that can be used to make a Tall Cone Lampshade, watch our Demonstrator, Sam, show you how to make a Conical Lampshade.
Tall Cone Lampshade Showcase
We couldn't finish the post without sharing some of the inspirational Tall Cone Lampshade made by our talented customers, ranging from retro fabrics to bold contemporary patterns.
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