Product & technical questions

You can, yes! This is really easy and can either done by yourself or your electrician. Please note that we are not able to accept returns back for items that have been modified in any way. We can do plug changes in our warehouse for Europe, this would be an additional charge of £5 per plug so if you would like us to do that for you please do place your order online then drop our team an email on hello@pooky.com so we can take the extra payment and ensure that is changed for you.

We know how overwhelming all the options are and it can be difficult to know where to begin when trying to find the right lampshade. We do our best to advise what we would recommend and we have put together a handy buying guide for you here. This will help you filter down the right shape and colour, plus clarify some details about how to match and what our shades come with. Of course, if you need any further help you can always get in touch with us on hello@pooky.com or call 0207 351 3003 and the team can answer any questions you have.

Bulbs, bulbs, bulbs! The options are only getting vaster so we have tried to help you decipher what lumens means, which fitting type you need and when you need a pearl bulb instead of a filament. Check our our guide here. 

We would always recommend a qualified electrician installing our products, but shortening the flex on many of our pendants/chandeliers is quite an easy task. More information can be found on the specific product pages, or if you are unsure then please do contact our Customer Service team who will be happy to advise further. Please note that we are not able to accept returns back for items that have been modified in any way.  

Our lampshade measurement shown under the main product name are representative of the base diameter of the shade - the height and top diameter can be found under the ‘Dimensions & Details’ tab on the specific product page.

The height of our table lamps is measured to where the shade sits on the bulb holder, which means you can add the height of the shade on, taking away 4cm which takes into account where the fitting sits within the shade. 

We measure the widest part of our table lamps, chandeliers and pendants to state the product width.

The heights shown for our pendants will be for the "shade" element of the pendant. The chain and ceiling plate would be on top of that and most of our chain's and flex can be shortened to your required drop very easily. 

Once you have picked your chosen combination, then both heights can be seen under the ‘Dimensions & Details’ tab- just add the heights together and take away 4cm, which takes into account where the fitting sits within the shade.

The majority of our lampshades are, currently, only suitable to be used with table lamps or standing lamps. We do have a small selection that have a reversible gimbal and can therefore be used as ceiling pendants- these can be found here. If you only need the shade you can add them to your basket and then remove the ceiling fitting element before you checkout.  We are working on expanding this range, so please do continue to check back with us. Alternatively, if there was a specific shade you would like to know about then please do contact our Customer Service team on hello@pooky.com or 0207 351 3003.

We do, yes! Please get in touch with us on hello@pooky.com, with the list of fabrics that you would like and your delivery address and we can have these posted to you.

Unfortunately, at the moment we are not able to offer individual bespoke shades. We may be able to help for larger bulk orders, however, so please do get in touch with us on hello@pooky.com, and we will be able to advise further.

We do not hold stock in our showrooms, as these are purely for display purposes only. All of our orders are fulfilled from our Warehouse in Gloucestershire. Please do come and visit us to see our range and we can always help you with an order when you are in the showroom.

We have lots of items on display in our showrooms, and all will be current products in production. Please do check with the members of staff within the showrooms and they will be able to check stock levels, and current lead times of any items. For items no longer on our website these may well just be temporarily out of stock so do get in touch and we can advise on restocking dates. 

All our lights are suitable for use in bathroom settings, it is just a question of where you want to put them! We have a range of IP rated bathroom lights which can be fitted within Zone 2 in a bathroom. IP ratings are an indication of a lights ability to withstand water and dust. We get lots of questions about whether our lights are suitable for use in a bathroom. According to the regulations, as long as a light is situated at least 60cm away from and no lower than the tap, then it is fine to use it in a bathroom. 

There are lots of examples on the internet of what the regulations are. Click here for more details. Some electricians have their own rules, perhaps governed by their liability insurance, and refuse to fit anything without an IP rating in a bathroom. That is of course their choice but it is not what the regulations require. So you can hang pendants that are not IP rated and you can also have wall lights (subject to the restrictions above) that are not IP rated. However, if the bathroom is very small, unventilated and prone to high levels of condensation, we would not advise using un-rated products.

We do offer a range of outdoor lights, both IP44 and IP65 rated. You can see these products, as well as more details on what rating you need here.

There are many ways to maintain the original gleam of any of our lights. For the most part a little spit and polish should do the trick but for a more detailed description we have put together a care guide for the various materials for you here: Care Guide

A gallery is an integral part of many of our shades- they make sure that the fitting and shade are secure. Many of our glass and ceramic shades are handmade, and will differ in sizes. A gallery fits on the opening of these, and is therefore adjustable to ensure a secure fit. If you remove this element from your basket then your lights will not be complete and you will need to contact us so we can arrange for the right parts to be sent to you. For the most part these elements would not affect an electrician installing and can be added after wiring has been done. 

Some of our glass shades require a metal washer that takes the opening down to a bayonet (B22) fitting, and will then work with our Classic pendant kits, and wall fittings. If these have been missed from your delivery, then get in touch with our Customer Service team on hello@pooky.com, or 0207 351 3003 and we can arrange for these to be sent out for you.

All of our lampshades are made so they will work with a British (B22) or European (E27) bulbholder. They come with a reducer ring which can easily be pushed out if your lamp is fitted with the larger European bulbholder. Please see here for a handy instruction video!

The shade ring sits 4cm up from the base of the shade. Unless specifically mentioned on the product page, our shades have fixed gimbals. In other words, they do not pivot up or down to allow shades to either "sit" or "hang".

Firstly, we are so sorry if you are experiencing an issue with your light. We hope we can help solve this for you nice and quickly. If you can see an obvious cause for this then please do take a photograph and email that to our team on hello@pooky.com. Please also note the suggestions below that could help resolve an issue without having to contact us:

• Wonky bulbholder - A large majority of our products are designed to sit on a ball joint bulbholder. This allows for some movement during transit but avoids breakage. If your bulbholder appears to be wonky then this may not be a fault, but you may be able to correct that by straightening the bulbholder on the ball joint. You can watch a video on this here.

• Table or floor lamp not switching on - Our first suggestion would be to test this using 2 different bulbs, checking that the bulbs do work on another light first. If the bulb is working on another light but not in yours then it could be a blown fuse. This is rare but on occasion something can cause the fuse to stop working so our next step would be to change the fuse within the plug. You can watch a handy “How to video” here. We are always happy to supply a new fuse if this is case. Another cause for a lightbulb to not work in your base is if the contacts of the bulb are not lining up with the prongs within the bulbholder (B22/Bayonet bulbholders only). If you are happy to try it you can re-align your bulbholder to ensure these are meeting properly. Check out a video here that shows you how to do this. 

• My pendant is wonky - Again, there are a couple of easy fixes that could resolve this for you. Step 1 is to check that the bulholder isn’t on a ball joint, as detailed in the point above. If it is and the bulbholder is at an angle then that can make the whole pendant look off centre.  You can move the ball joint back again to straighten this. The second cause can be if the hook at the top of the pendant is sitting in the wrong position on the ridges hook connected to the chain. This element allows for any imbalance caused by the handblown glass to be corrected, by simply adjusting the hook to a different point on the ridge until it hangs straight.  

• My lightbulb/s are flickering - The LED bulbs that we supply are dimmable but you will need to ensure that the dimmer system you use is compatible for use with LED bulbs. If your existing dimmer circuit is not suitable for LED bulbs this can lead to buzzing or flickering when you try to dim your lights. We would always advise asking a qualified electrician to confirm what you can or cannot use on your own circuit but we can confirm that our fittings support dimming and our LED bulbs are dimmable, so long as they are used on the appropriate system. Customers in the past have confirmed that the Varilight V-Pro range has worked for them.

Of course there may be a more serious issue with your light if none of the above suggestions apply so please do get in touch with our team on hello@pooky.com, with images if possible, and we can get back to you nice and quickly to help.

We work with manufacturers all around the world to ensure that we can offer a wide range of well-made and beautiful lamps at a price that we think you will like. They all conform to strict standards of quality and safety and we work closely with the Lighting Industry Association (LIA) to ensure that this is carefully monitored.

Unless it states otherwise, all of our light fittings will work within a dimmable circuit – as long as you use a dimmable bulb. However, do bear in mind that different dimmable bulbs can require different dimmers. The LED bulbs that we supply are dimmable but you will need to ensure that the dimmer system you use is compatible for use with LED bulbs. We would always advise asking a qualified electrician to confirm what you can or cannot use on your own circuit. Customers in the past have confirmed that the Varilight V-Pro range has worked for them.