How it works
Tulip shades arrive in what looks like a pizza box. Mine had a QR code printed on the bottom, and scanning it brought me to a how-to video. Another tester received a printed page of instructions on the same sheet as her invoice.
The steps are clear and easy to follow. Clean the ceiling and ring mount with rubbing alcohol, peel and stick the included 3M Command Strips inside the ring, and then press the ring onto your ceiling so that it encircles your current light. For it to fit, the existing fixture can’t be larger than 15 inches in diameter.
Expand the shade, fit it inside the ring, where magnets grasp the top wire, and you’re done. From beginning to end, the process took less than 10 minutes for each of us.
Tulip’s mounting kit also comes with screws in case you have a textured ceiling that the adhesive strips don’t cling to. One of our testers, deputy director of newsletters Sofia Sokolove, has a pre-war apartment that has been painted over many times, but she was unclear as to whether the ceiling’s slightly uneven surface counted as textured. “I’m considering it an experiment,” she says. “We’ll see how it holds up.”
If you’re a renter, and mounting a Tulip shade would require drilling into the ceiling, we encourage you to look into swapping out the fixture instead. We suspect that many landlords would prefer a new light to patching holes when your lease is up. In a lot of cases, you can just store the old fixture and then put it back up again when you’re moving out—but always ask for permission, especially when you’re fiddling with wiring.
How it looks
Tulip currently offers three designs—Drum, Gem, and Lamp—each made of cotton canvas sewn around metal wires. Different colors are available, but stock can fluctuate, and some are limited editions. The cost ranges from $110 to $145.
Both the Drum and Lamp models are enclosed, their bases covered with taut canvas that hides the existing ceiling fixture. The Gem has an open bottom, so you can still see your fixture if you’re standing directly beneath it. But with all three, the coverage filters and softens overhead light.
Of the three models, we found the Gem the most striking. Its oversize, geometric shape immediately draws the eye, but the design is just neutral enough to blend in with a variety of aesthetics, from mid-century modern to eclectic boutique hotel.
Our Gem tester, Sofia, hung the shade in her living room to cover a classic boob light that came with her rental. The ubiquitous fixture is a target even in Tulip’s own marketing, but as Sofia points out, “You need to have an honest conversation with yourself. Did it always bother you? Or is it bothering you because somebody told you it should?”
Sofia isn’t sure if she really minded her original light, but she likes the Gem shade enough to plan on leaving it up. On her high ceilings, the light-filtering effect isn’t too noticeable, but she says the softer tint makes the light “less overhead-y, in a good way.”
I went with Tulip’s smallest offering, the Drum, because the hallway in my house is fairly narrow, and I didn’t want anything visually overwhelming.
Unfortunately, I didn’t register just how much the Drum design looked like an actual musical instrument until after I hung it. Instead of looking like a lighting fixture, the shade more resembles a ghostly drum emerging from our attic.
I plan on taking it down, not only because I’m unhappy with the look but also due to several construction issues I’ll detail shortly. I also disliked how the low ceiling in our hallway made the Drum’s natural yellow tint so overwhelming.
Supervising editor Daniela Gorny installed the Lamp, in terracotta, over a flush mount in a work studio/office at her house. “The existing ceiling light didn’t really bother me, so for me it was more about diffusing the overhead light than it was about covering up an ugly fixture,” she says.
Before adding the shade, she mainly relied on floor and table lamps, almost never using the overhead light. “I like that the shade attaches magnetically, so if I ever need a lot of light—for cleaning or working—I can quickly pull off the shade and then reattach it when I want a dimmer, more relaxed vibe, which is most of the time.”
She says that she doesn’t particularly love the suctioned-on upside-down cup look, but until she finds a better option, she plans to keep the shade up.
How it looks, up close
Tulip shades arrive flat, and the company’s site states: “When unboxed they will appear wrinkled like a paper lantern, a look we love. If a crisper look is desired, use a garment hand steamer to eliminate wrinkles.”
But after 20 minutes of steaming the Drum, I found that the shade still looked extremely wrinkled. A closer examination revealed that the seam had been sewn unevenly along its curves, creating scrunched-up waves in the fabric that were impossible to steam out.
A slightly rumpled look would have been fine, but the creases were too significant for my taste. I too like the look of a crinkly paper lantern, but that wasn’t the look I was going for—or expecting—based on the photography on Tulip’s site. Those pictures do show some wrinkles, but nowhere near the amount on the shade I received. Daniela’s terracotta shade also had some substantial wrinkles, which she says she’d also prefer to steam out.
Tulip accepts returns within 30 days, but only of unmounted shades in their original condition, so sending mine back was no longer an option.
Two other issues with the Drum plagued me. The thick hem on the inside of the shade stuck up in places, creating uneven shadows along what should have been a smooth, curved line of the cloth surface. I tried to steam them flat without any luck.
The Drum also has small, unsightly semi-transparent plastic tubes that hold the wire rings in place on one side. I was able to position the shade so that the fasteners were mostly out of view unless I was looking for them, but such exposed pieces seem slapdash for how much the shade costs.
The Lamp and Gem models have the same exposed fasteners, but they’re slightly better camouflaged in those designs, in that the plastic tubes are the same color as the material or they’re placed in a less visible spot.
Tulip shades require only minimal upkeep. As with most ceiling fixtures, small flying insects that are attracted to light, such as mosquitoes or moths, can get trapped inside. But at least Tulip shades are easy to detach and shake out.
A quick pass with a lint roller should clean off any dust accumulated on the outside. Per the instructions, these shades should only be spot-cleaned.
Sofia and Daniela are happy enough with their shades to leave them up for now, but I’ve removed the Drum and plan to pass it on to someone else. Thankfully, no ceiling paint came off with the adhesive strips, and despite my overall disappointment with the Tulip shade, I consider the experiment a win—I’m finally motivated enough to swap out the existing fixture.
This article was edited by Daniela Gorny and Catherine Kast.
