Display Ideas for 100+ Lamps

[Kelly Flaskerud]

So, I've seen everyone's pics of how they display a large number of lamps, but if you could do anything to showcase your lamps, what would it be?  My DH has set aside a full third of the basement to be the Lava Lounge.  He's setting aside 220 amp service for the area, so power will not be an issue.  He's willing (and able) to build whatever shelving I want.  I'm thinking that all of the Grandes should be together, Safari Series, Psychedelics, etc.  (There are only a few lamps that I don't have at least one of...)

So, what would you do if you could do anything at all?  Display with LED strip lighting to light the bases?  Individual "boxes" for each lamp?  -  We've already discussed having a trim piece that covers the electrical cords and power strips, but haven't really discussed any other details...

[bob]

Hi , 100 lamps that so cool . I seen. A video maybe here or Reddit, each lamp was in its own cubbyhole, so like each lamp was in own square . Maybe something like that and some shelf’s also . I have  a bunch of lamps also , and my cord management is terrible, so that’s one thing I’d like to fix . 

in a perfect world you can have all the lamps lined up and not see any messy wires , maybe  long power strips , or hide the wires in the wall . I can’t wait to see how this turns out . 

[Lamp Addict]

By chance have you checked out LampHead's wall display that he built? It's probably the best I've seen so far. He is awesome and can probably answer questions you have. 

[Keith]

You can't watch them all at once.  My unit that has three shelves and 12 lamps I can't watch them all.  Oh sure I can look at the whole thing but the eye is drawn to one shelf or just a couple of lamps at a time.  A cubby-hole system would be cool but I'm thinking that could be a small part of the whole display.  As a matter of fact as I think about this I would have different vignettes of lamp series, with some intermixing.  Safari's here; swirls there; wizards over yonder.  A group tucked over in a corner of red/clear lamps, one of each size that I have (or white/blue, or any combo you wish).

Look at how others have done theirs and take your favorites and meld them into what you want!

[andy ross]

one thing to consider is that glitter lamps generally work well as a combined display, whereas lava by its very nature flows differently in each execution 

I've arranged several displays here of 15-20 glitter lamps that work quite well together, and interspersed with fibre-optics, but have never succeeded in getting a really good multiple lava lamp display without using individual boxes

wiring is crucial, and I've found I always need to add a lamp or two to any display, so allow at least 50% excess power and socket capacity from the get-go, saves a lot of anguish later!

one final thought, which I don't think is as silly as it may seem - is it the bases or the fills (or both) that are your central focus in each display?

[Kelly Flaskerud]

I have and I love it!  I was just looking for other creative ideas too.

Lamp Addict said:

By chance have you checked out LampHead's wall display that he built? It's probably the best I've seen so far. He is awesome and can probably answer questions you have. 

[Kelly Flaskerud]

At the moment, I’m thinking of grouping the lamps by type - all the Midnights together, all the Centuries, both Icon series, etc.  I might separate the glitter Midnights from the lava Midnights, but then again, maybe not.  All of the Mathmos lamps will be upstairs in their own separate room.  I’m sure I’ll still have random displays in other rooms too (e.g., another set of the Halloween Icons on permanent display in my Halloween room, random lamps in the bedroom, etc.).  I’ve got at least one of almost every lamp through the 90’s...  And if I can convince Claude to mix me up some glitter globes and find a clear/chocolate to buy, I’ll have every color combination made.  (I was a SINK until my 40’s, so spent a lot of money on eBay!)

And hubby’s already figured out the load and the wiring.  I’ll have my own breaker boxes.  Plural!  Lol

andy ross said:

one thing to consider is that glitter lamps generally work well as a combined display, whereas lava by its very nature flows differently in each execution 

I've arranged several displays here of 15-20 glitter lamps that work quite well together, and interspersed with fibre-optics, but have never succeeded in getting a really good multiple lava lamp display without using individual boxes

wiring is crucial, and I've found I always need to add a lamp or two to any display, so allow at least 50% excess power and socket capacity from the get-go, saves a lot of anguish later!

one final thought, which I don't think is as silly as it may seem - is it the bases or the fills (or both) that are your central focus in each display?

[Autumn]

If you are like me you won't be running all of these at once and you won't turn them on at convenient times to be able to view them. My solution to that was wifi smart plugs. Each of my lamps is on a smart plug and I have a random number of them scheduled to come on once a week. The only downside is this is a fairly expensive route to take. I bought 26 of them and it cost me about $170.

[Kelly Flaskerud]

I bought four not too long ago for $24 or so from Amazon.  I like them, but we don’t have the WiFi capacity to support more than a few.  (We live so far out in the boonies that our internet is from a hot spot...  That’s the only thing that sucks about living in the bottom of a holler!)

Autumn said:

If you are like me you won't be running all of these at once and you won't turn them on at convenient times to be able to view them. My solution to that was wifi smart plugs. Each of my lamps is on a smart plug and I have a random number of them scheduled to come on once a week. The only downside is this is a fairly expensive route to take. I bought 26 of them and it cost me about $170.

[MonsoonStorm]

You can get plugs that don't require an internet connection and just need a wifi network (even if it isn't connected to the internet).  Check out Zigbee systems.  They are generally systems with a hub.  Smartthings and hue are examples - the lightbubs continue to work even if your internet goes down because it's on its own system that just piggybacks on your network.

Basically you'd want plugs that specify "zigbee"

Kelly said:

I bought four not too long ago for $24 or so from Amazon.  I like them, but we don’t have the WiFi capacity to support more than a few.  (We live so far out in the boonies that our internet is from a hot spot...  That’s the only thing that sucks about living in the bottom of a holler!)

Autumn said:

If you are like me you won't be running all of these at once and you won't turn them on at convenient times to be able to view them. My solution to that was wifi smart plugs. Each of my lamps is on a smart plug and I have a random number of them scheduled to come on once a week. The only downside is this is a fairly expensive route to take. I bought 26 of them and it cost me about $170.

[Kelly Flaskerud]

Now that just might work!

MonsoonStorm said:

You can get plugs that don't require an internet connection and just need a wifi network (even if it isn't connected to the internet).  Check out Zigbee systems.  They are generally systems with a hub.  Smartthings and hue are examples - the lightbubs continue to work even if your internet goes down because it's on its own system that just piggybacks on your network.

Basically you'd want plugs that specify "zigbee"

Kelly said:

I bought four not too long ago for $24 or so from Amazon.  I like them, but we don’t have the WiFi capacity to support more than a few.  (We live so far out in the boonies that our internet is from a hot spot...  That’s the only thing that sucks about living in the bottom of a holler!)

Autumn said:

If you are like me you won't be running all of these at once and you won't turn them on at convenient times to be able to view them. My solution to that was wifi smart plugs. Each of my lamps is on a smart plug and I have a random number of them scheduled to come on once a week. The only downside is this is a fairly expensive route to take. I bought 26 of them and it cost me about $170.

[MonsoonStorm]

Yup, basically I have lamps in two places, so each group is plugged into an extension cable, and that extension cable is plugged into a smart plug.  That way the plug controls the extension, so a set of lamps.

I can then also control it through alexa/google too (that does require internet, but only enough to send the command to their servers and get a response)

If there's no internet you can either use an app on your phone, or get some zigbee switches that you can stick somewhere handy.

Kelly said:

Now that just might work!

[LampHead]

 I vote for individual boxes for each if possible. Having lamps on top of each other causes hot spots and definitely color bleed from the neighboring lamps. Individual dimmers would be an awesome addition because EVERY lamp has its own perfect running temperature. Think every step through twice !

  Cant wait to see completed pics !