6 min readThe typical rental apartment “landlord special” tends to come with a familiar set of design details: doorknobs layered with paint, uneven wall patches, and the infamous flush-mount ceiling fixture better known as the “boob light.” Anyone who has spent time in a rental has probably seen one—they’re often installed in nearly every room. From my college apartment in Iowa to my current Manhattan apartment, these fixtures have been a recurring part of my living spaces. After years of looking up at those glass domes, I finally decided it was time to do something about them.
From a design standpoint, these lights leave a lot to be desired. Their shape feels clunky and cartoonish, yet they rarely provide the kind of illumination a room actually needs. Many have frosted glass shades meant to soften bright light, but instead, they often make spaces feel dim and dull. When the glass isn’t frosted, the opposite problem happens—the light can feel overly harsh. And renters aren’t the only ones dealing with them. A quick scroll through Zillow listings shows that many new-build homesstill include these fixtures. Despite their widespread revulsion, landlords and house flippers continue installing them largely because they’ve traditionally been cheap to manufacture.
If you’re trying to disguise your boob lights—or at least make them a little easier on the eyes—we asked designers to share their favorite ideas for concealing or replacing these all-too-common fixtures.
What Is a Boob Light?
Although there isn't an exact date for when the boob light was created, the shape may have become the standard because of its extremely simple design.
“It can be easily replicated in solid or frosted glass, or it can be added to with any kind of additional decoration or coloration,” says Emily Orr, associate curator and acting head of product design and decorative arts at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. The simple dome shape can be cast by the hundreds, allowing it to ship out faster than a light fixture with more ornamentation.
(Note: Sources did not comment on whether or not the shape's similarity to the female anatomy played any part in its growing popularity, but it clearly didn't hurt.)
Where Did the Boob Light Come From?
Before the rise of electricity in residential spaces from the late 19th century to the early 20th century, homeowners couldn't risk placing a gas fixture so close to the ceiling or a wall for fear of the entire room catching on fire.
“There was this challenge of the light bulb emitting so much heat, so for that reason, it couldn't be encased in a glass bulb against a ceiling safely. It wasn't until lighting technology developed further that the bulb became able to run cooler, so that a shade covering it was actually a safe and efficient way to proceed with lighting,” Orr says.
Suddenly, flush-mount light fixtures opened entirely new doors for designers to play with the focus and experience of a room because the shadows they were used to (that came from candlelight) were no longer an issue.
“When you have either a candle or a gas fixture, the flame, for the most part, is being emitted upwards, creating a beaming effect of the shadow below on any kind of table surface. All of a sudden, if you have the addition of a light bulb and you can mount it to the ceiling or walls and set it behind a piece of glass, it will emit this beautiful diffused glow without any shadow,” Orr says. “Suddenly, a designer has the agency to be able to create a fixture that can shift the direction of the beam.”
Why Are Boob Lights Used Everywhere?
And as the saying goes: If it ain't broke, don't fix it. The boob light was created for the same reasons it is still so commonly found today. “I think it's just the cheapest possible solution for a landlord to stick a light on the ceiling. I'd be surprised if one in your apartment costs $19,” says David Calligeros, founder of Remains Lighting Company. “There are a few really good ones, and there are a lot of ubiquitous, ugly ones.”
Jason Saft, founder of home staging company Staged to Sell, agrees: “I think a lot of people overlook lighting and make the assumption that someone else will come in and change it. Where it gets complicated is that there's so much rental housing being built, and instead of doing something interesting and compelling that works, people are just using the cheapest, most readily available thing.”
Although it's annoying that boob lights persist despite mass disapproval, we're lucky enough to live in a time where replacing these less-than-titillating light fixtures is relatively easy and can be done without touching the wiring at all.
How Can I Replace My Boob Light?
Before swapping out your boob light for a more attractive fixture, there are a few things to keep in mind—ceiling height being a fairly important one.
“If you've got the ceiling height, then you don't want a flush mount. You want a hanging pendant or chandelier or something that drops into the space deeper and is more expansive,” Calligeros says. However, for a shorter ceiling, Saft suggests “a drum shade or something on a smaller scale that is not coming down from the ceiling.”
The purpose of the room is important to keep in mind, too. Even if you have tall ceilings in your bedroom, you likely wouldn't want to install a huge, metal pendant light. “For the bedroom, I'll move away from glass shades. I usually like to look for something that has fabric and has a softness and warmth to it, and obviously going a little bit closer to the ceiling depending upon the walk space and flow of the room,” Saft explains. It's in the dining room or entryway that he suggests using a fixture that's more dramatic and has multiple arms coming from it.
Both Saft and Calligeros, however, believe the bedroom should always have light coming from different directions and would suggest floor lamps and table lamps to complete your lighting situation.
For renters or anyone who doesn't want to make a drastic rewiring change to their overhead lighting, there's good news. Tulip Shades is a brand that offers aesthetically pleasing shades that fit right on top of your existing boob lights. The ceiling mount is attached with tape, and the shade connects with magnets, making switching out your shades a quick and easy task.
“Lighting is, in my opinion, the most important thing you can change in a space to really make a difference,” says Lori Smyth, the founder of Tulip Shades. “We don't want to be haters of the boob lights: There are times and there are places that they are completely appropriate and they work. But there are other areas that, for example, in a bedroom or a living room, where the lighting is just too harsh. It doesn't really help your mood; it doesn't help you feel better.”
Is Replacing Your Boob Light in a Rental Space Worth It?
If you plan to be in your space for a few years, replacing the boob lights in your rental is definitely a worthy upgrade. Using a Tulip Shade is completely renter-friendly, but completely replacing your boob light is one of the least obtrusive changes you can make in your home.
“Without reference to whatever God-awful wiring might be in one's ceiling, a light fixture is pretty easy to change,” Calligeros says. “They're usually mounted with either two screws directly to the junction box, and three minutes after you're up on the ladder, the fixture is down and in the recycling. Then the sky's the limit.”
