Traditional Barley Knot Twist 2 Light Sconce Wall Light Lamp, Lighting Cream

Love these wall lights.

I had spent weeks researching wall lights and ceiling lights. We have had our existing lounge/diner wall lights since we moved into our house in 1973. We really liked our wall lights - they were wooden and rustic-looking, but it was no longer possible to buy the bulbs for them. Also, the little cream satin shades with tassles would gradually become very dirty and discoloured, the material became scorched, and if you even lightly touched them your finger would go right through. We replaced them twice, but now it is impossible to find the shades. Reluctantly, we agreed that we would have to update these wall lamp fittings. We were wanting to buy wall lights which had a matching ceiling light to have a coordinated look which we did not have before. Having recently redecorated, we finally decided on these wall lights. We thought it would solve the deteriorating lampshade problem if we bought candle-type light fittings which needed no shades. (Two or three bought locally did not go with the paint colour when tried in-situ). These go really well with the paint, and have a matching ceiling light for when we want more brightness, but we cannot get used to bulbs with no shades. I cannot even look at the bulbs as they are so bright. We fitted dimmer switches, but even when turned to the lowest setting the effect is still far too bright and very 'unhomely'. It feels clinical, whereas before it looked cosy and warm and welcoming. It is now a 'white' light as opposed to a warm yellow glowing light. I realise the choice of bulbs affects the overall effect, but we chose the warmest sounding bulbs (ie not the clear ones where you can see the element - they have a coating which we hoped would have a dimming effect). On the positive side, we can now see to read if we put on the wall light behind the settee, although we have to have them all on or all off as there is no individual little cord to pull as there was on our old ones. I am just hoping that if we purchase shades it will overcome the problem of the glaring effect of the naked bulbs. But then we are back to square one regarding deteriorating shades. We have the same problem with the matching ceiling lights which we also bought. We love the look of the wall lights and the ceiling lights in the daytime - it is just when they are switched on that there is a problem. Perhaps there are some more robust shades which will produce the desired cosy look but will last longer than our old ones? Or perhaps there are some more cosy bulbs which will not look glaring? Our local B&Q etc. were not very helpful. I've never seen so many bulbs to sort through - how do you decide? I will update if successful. I love the light fittings, just not the glaring light they give out.