17 Best Desk Lamps 2023

The best desk lamp overall is the Anglepoise Type 75 desk lamp, according to our home writer, who also reviewed other portable, adjustable, and dimmable options.
“At my desk, I’m staring at a row of L-1 Luxo table lamps — the classic workhorse lamp found in many architectural offices for over 50 years now. But my desk lamp is different: I have a Tolomeo Table Lamp designed by Michele de Lucchi, for Artemide Lighting, in 1989. It’s a wonderful blend of clean lines, circular hinges, and exposed cabling. The stainless arm meets the aluminum shade and has a unique ‘paperclip’ handle for 360-degree adjustments. The Luxo sits at the pinnacle of mid-century design; the Tolomeo at the cusp of the technology boom. Best of all, my lamp still provides the warm glow of a 40-watt incandescent bulb.” —Jane Greenwood, principal at Kostow Greenwood Architects, New York
“I’m afraid my choice of desk lamp was made for practicality, for my fast-growing studio. My lamp is from Ikea, called Forså; I bought a lot of them for my office, so they’re everywhere. The design is generic, I like that they are not fastened to the desk, and the price is good. I can always buy more of them, and it keeps the studio less chaotic to have the same desk lamp on all the desks.” —Páll Hjaltason, owner and founder of PlusArkitektar, Reykjavik
“Over the years, I have owned many desk lamps. My first was the classic Luxo lamp. My current desk lamp is manufactured by Louis Poulsen, which updates the Luxo approach with a more elegant design, as well as mounting flexibility, and it provides beautiful diffused light. The purchase was serendipitous: A proactive sales person from Poulsen wandered into our design office last year and brought the beautiful and simple new lamp with her. We bought 25 of them. It has multiple brightness levels, with warm LED light. It also has a small footprint, and accommodates a variety of mounting options. The shade stays cool to the touch, and allows easy adjustment. We have been using the lights for nearly a year. We haven’t had any repair issues; we will buy more when we expand.” —Clifford Selbert, founding partner of Selbert Perkins Design, Los Angeles
“I’ve used these lamps for years, as I can buy them cheaply at my local hardware store, Mazzone Hardware Store in Carroll Gardens, for about $6 apiece. Their utilitarian style works well with my used, industrial shelving. I position the lamps such that I can bounce light off of the walls and ceiling, helping to provide even lighting on my desk, which is an Eames Aluminum Group conference table.” —Peter Dumbadze, designer at vonDALWIG, New York
“When I would often take work home, I got to draw on paper, and I often did it at the dining table under a skylight that we put lights in. This created a diffuse and indirect light. However, I bought a version of this halogen model 30-plus years ago — and lo and behold, it is still around. This was bought as a bedside light, and it followed me from Phoenix to Boston to San Francisco to Los Angeles to Seoul and to Brooklyn, until finally busting a couple of years ago. It became my go-to lamp as it left the bedside and became my apartment drawing lamp when I was in grad school, doing design competitions.” —Scott Oliver, partner at Noroof Architects, New York
“The Pixo has a friendly, playful silhouette that blends high-tech LED and USB charging capability, and is surprisingly warm in lighting temperature. I’ve had it for 18 months. I like this design because it’s not what an architect may typically choose to put on his or her desk. The designers really thought about modern behavioral tics by incorporating an elegant concave base platform that can hold various tchotchkes or electronics, instead of being a formalistic dust collector. The USB charging port hidden under the lip on the base is brilliant.” —Angie Lee, principal at FXCollaborative, New York