Keep it under your hat

Bare bulb making you mental?Lana Burke, designer of Private Quarters linens, shares how she created an instant natural sconce at her home. She says she centered an inexpensive Chinese straw hat over the bulb, hanging the top and bottom edges of the brim on long nails tapped into the wall. The farther away from the wall the hat is placed, the wider the halo of light, Burke says. Michael Zapata, a salesman at Light Bulbs Unlimited, recommends that anyone replicating this look at home should make sure there is adequate distance -- at least 1 to 2 inches -- between a low-wattage bulb and the hat to avoid scorching your new sconce. “The best thing is to use fluorescent bulbs, which do not burn hot,” he says. “And they save energy.”

-- David A. Keeps