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Swag lamps bring to mind bell-bottomed pants, disco collars and Bee Gees music. But these oh-so-1970s lamps actually fit amazingly well into even the most modern homes. If you picture swag lamps in gold and green glass with macramé around the chain, then you need to catch up with modern lighting designs. You can buy the most retro lamps you can imagine, but modern swags can also bear little resemblance to the funky designs that were popular a few decades ago.
What are Swag Lamps?
It can help to understand the difference between a swag lamp, a pendant light and a chandelier. These terms are often used interchangeably even though each light is actually very distinctive.
A chandelier hangs from the ceiling, typically on a cord or chain, just as pendant lights and swag lamps do. But a chandelier has branches with lights at the end and often even two or more tiers of these branches. A pendant light is typically just one bulb or a small group of bulbs at the end of the cord or chain, so it’s easy to distinguish between these two types of fixtures.
A swag lamp is closer to a pendant light than a chandelier, in that usually there’s one bulb or a tiny group of bulbs together at the end of the cord. The difference, and this makes it easy to distinguish a swag lamp from a pendant, is the cord or chain that holds the lamp. Instead of coming straight down from the ceiling like with a pendant light, the cord of a swag lamp hangs from a hook or a loop. It trails across the ceiling to the nearest wall and hangs down there. The cord or chain that drapes from the hook or loop to the wall is known as the swag.
Benefits of Swag Lamps
Why would someone want a lamp with all that cord or chain instead of just hanging a pendant light? There are a few reasons. First of all, that swag look was very much in fashion in the 1970s and part of the easygoing décor. Many people still enjoy that casual look today. The second reason, and the main reason people use them, is that they can really be used anywhere. You don’t have to have a light fixture or hook up in the ceiling; you only need to be able to screw in a sturdy hook or loop from which to hang the lamp.
It’s convenient to be able to plug it into an outlet where the cord hangs down the nearest wall. That makes swag lamps an easy way to hang an overhead light without having to do wiring or cut into your ceiling.
Today’s Hanging Swag Lamp
Today’s lamps range from those that would have looked at home in a 1970′s den to those that look futuristic with metals, glass and intricate designs. If you want the convenience of hanging a lamp almost anywhere in your home and the elegance of a hanging light fixture, then spend some time looking at modern swag lamp designs.
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