Coolest readily available budget lamp thread  

Recycle
Anonymous vintage lamps. They are readily available, I see them all the time in thrift stores, second hand shops and antique malls. I see things that range from the commonplace to the sublime and almost all reasonably priced in my opinion. If you buy one at a thrift and find one a month later that you like better, you can always re-donate the first one so someone else can enjoy it. Seems better to me than using more new materials and resources to create brand new products that may not last very long anyway.

Yeah that's the spirit
reuse is alsways a good thing! I've got several oldies. One muct have been used by a dentist or a jeweler of something. It's got a gooseneck and a very reflective metal shade. Makes for an awesome task light.