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The boob light: the familiar — yet often unwelcome — lighting fixture adorning countless rented homes and apartments. The name refers to the common ceiling light covers with round shapes and a pointed center that resemble, well, a boob. And while I had truthfully never given much thought to them in many years of apartment renting , when I heard about the existence of Tulip Shades, they were suddenly something to reconsider.

"It doesn't have to be this way," I thought while seeing a TikTok of someone installing their Tulip light shade. Tulip was founded by interior designer Lori Smyth in 2021 as a renter-friendly solution to traditional (read: boring) ceiling lights. The shades fit around existing light fixtures so there's no need for a complicated deinstall-to-reinstall process.



(In most cases, hardware isn't even needed at all, but more on that later.) What's more, the shades' soft, linen-like textiles help warm up the typically harsh glow of overhead lighting. As a renter, I often feel like I have little agency over an apartment's aesthetic: gray floors, popcorn ceilings, and boob lights are all preselected for me.

And while it can be nice not having to make all those design decisions, I appreciate the ability to make my home feel more me without jeopardizing my security deposit. With all that in mind, I ordered the Tulip Drum Shade ($135) and hoped it would give me the modicum of creative control I sought. Here's my review.

What's the Criteria For a Good Ceiling Light .

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