Six of the Best: Designer floor lamps

Accent lighting can make or break a room. Here are our favourite ways to do it well.

Cancan, Dh11,000, Roche Bobois, Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai, 04 399 0393, www.rochebobois.com.

"Accent lighting is an essential aspect of any interior as it combines function with aesthetic value, creating a mood while enhancing the visual dynamic of the space," says the Dubai interior designer Alfred Johnson. "If a space is minimalistic and contemporary, an appropriate light with a bit of colour will bring a healthy ambience and strong artistic accents. If an interior is busy, then highlighting one section will moderate the remainder of the room."

1 Light Boxing

The Spanish designer Jordi Mila specialises in innovative products that are quirky, detailed and highly crafted. Light Boxing mixes the playfulness of a tumbler toy with a lampshade that mimics flower petals. Its weighted base and neck are made of carbon fibre - push as hard as you like but it will always bounce back. Price on request, Caspaiou, Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai, Dubai, 04 447 3973, www.caspaiou.com

2 Flowers 45

The Flowers 45 lamp by F+M Fos is extravagant but stunning. The mesh flowers are made from gold leaf and the fixture is fully customisable, with anything from one to 45 flowers. Dh74,450, F+M Fos at B5 The Art of Living, Shop G10, Sidra Tower (Fraser Suites), Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai, 04 447 3973, www.b5living.com

3 Cancan

Why have one lampshade when you can have eight? The circular dimensions of the Cancan, part of Roche Bobois's Les Contemporaines collection, offer an interesting contrast to the verticality of most floor lamps and we love its sense of whimsy. Dh11,000, Roche Bobois, Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai, 04 399 0393, www.rochebobois.com

4 Coral Reef Light

Graceful and serene, the Coral Reef Light is the recipient of a Best of the Best Red Dot design award for 2011. Made by Taiwan's Q is Design, it consists of three elements that can be swivelled around and dimmed and brightened simply by movement. Dh8,815, Sound and Design Dubai, Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai, 04 343 1441, www.sdesignme.com

5 Luxiole

Another stunning creation from the French company Design Heure, the wall/floor lamp combines a lampshade in calico fabric with feet in laminated beechwood and a base in cast aluminium. This is complemented by a colourful woven cord that winds its way up the lamp, elegantly concealing the electrical cable. Dh5,425, www.designheure.com

6 Studio

Lambert's creation is modelled on the large studio lamps used in the film and photo studios of the 1930s, when aluminium was a popular metal for lamp construction because it was light yet indestructible. These qualities are resurrected in the metal of the large, shallow lampshades and offset by the darker cast aluminium stand. Available in one- and two-lamp models. From Dh7,400, Lambert at B5 The Art of Living, Dubai