Meet the Maker - The Lamp Millinery

There’s something instantly uplifting about walking into a room lit by a beautifully patterned lampshade, and nobody understands that better than Camilla, the maker behind The Lamp Millinery. Known for her joyful use of colour, playful scallop shapes and striking contrast trims, she has built a brand that celebrates bold interiors and personality-filled spaces. What began as a creative project during maternity leave has grown into a thriving handmade business, with her distinctive lampshades now brightening homes across the UK.

In this month’s Meet the Maker, we to chat to Camilla about finding creativity later in life, how she balances her legal career with motherhood and running a growing business, and why making pieces you genuinely love is the secret to creating a brand with heart. From evening making sessions at the kitchen table to exhibiting at craft fairs and exciting future plans, read on for an honest and inspiring look behind the scenes of The Lamp Millinery.

Hi there, Camilla! 

How are you today and what’s on your workbench?

I’m well and honoured to be here! I’m such a fan of this blog. 

I’m having a flurry of 40cm scallop orders this week so they have been my main focus. 

I am also going to a sale at the end of this month so I have a list of a few bestsellers I want to make up to take to that. 

How do you start the design process for your lampshades and where does you design inspiration come from? 

My process is quite instinctive. I work with fabrics that I genuinely respond to visually. If something doesn’t feel quite right for my brand, I don’t use it, even if it’s a beautiful fabric in its own right.

In general, the fabrics that pull me in will have bold or contrasting colour, pattern and a modern feel. I tend to know quite quickly whether something sits within that very specific idea I have in my mind or not.

How would you describe the design aesthetic of The Lamp Millinery?

I specialise in pattern and colour. My brand is built around the idea of joyful, patterned lampshades. I am not one for neutrals. I find colour hugely grounding and life-affirming. I really believe that interiors should be fun and I think that statement, bold lamps are such a wonderful way to inject personality, texture and interest into a room. 

When and why did you start making lampshades? 

I started making them during my first mat leave four years ago. I needed to make a lampshade for my daughter’s bedroom. I really enjoyed the process and started making a few more for the house. And after that I was hooked and things snowballed! 

What’s your favourite part of the lampshade making process? 

My favourite part is fabric sampling and sitting with my many rolls of bias binding and thinking about different colour combinations. 

When it comes to making, the roll and tuck are definitely my favourite. I particularly love that stage of candle clips. I will batch lots up onto the liners and then sit on the sofa with my trusty side table and roll and tuck in front of the tv. It almost feels like I’m having an evening off! 

We love the range of shades you make – can you tell us about the different styles and shapes on offer?

I make hard shades only. But within that, a bit of everything. Commissions come in all shapes and sizes. Aside from drums, my most popular are the daisy scallop shape, particularly in geometric block prints. I have expanded my candle clip offering lots lately. They’re my favourite to make and I think they make the sweetest mini lamps. 

In your online shop what’s your most popular selling shade? 

By far my best seller is the candy stripe range where a customer picks their choice of stripe colour and contrasting bias binding. But for the botanical fans, I also sell lots of the English Country Garden print which is gorgeously flowing and vibrant. 

What’s the mix of shades you make to sell online versus lampshade commissions, as part of your business? 

The bulk of my business is via my website and I take commissions though my website as well. I have a smaller range available on Etsy and I have recently started working with a couple of interior designers, which is hugely exciting. Also, my shades can be found in a few choice Northamptonshire small businesses. 

We couldn’t help noticing your love of a bias edged lampshade. What do you feel this brings to your lampshades? 

I absolutely love contrasting edging! I am always keen for an extra pop of colour. By offering a choice of colours, I think it’s a great way for a customer to inject some of their own personality into the shade as well. 

You are regularly a stall holder at local craft fairs. How does this help your business and what do you enjoy about selling at a fair? 

There are so many elements of a fair that I really enjoy. Meeting people in person and chatting to them is so rewarding and I always get lots of commissions from people who take my card.

It’s live market research and is always fascinating to see which shades people comment on and which ones draw people in to the table. Sometimes it’s not the ones I expect. I find designing the setup of the stall really fun as well. The pack up and recataloguing of everything back into my storage unit at the end is less so! 

My fair top tips would be to bring loads of extension cords and lightbulbs and literally light up your stall. People are so drawn to the light - especially in the winter. Another tip is not to have business cards but postcards with a big statement photo on the front. It makes your card stand out in people’s bag/pocket and on the stall itself. I have a choice of different photos on the cards for people to choose between and customers will often flick through, selecting the one that speaks to them the most. 

What has been the decision that you’ve made, that has had the most impact on your business?

My storage unit! When our second child arrived, my husband strongly ‘suggested’ I should get a storage unit. He, understandably, finally grew tired of stacks of lampshades in the corner of every room and piles of flat cardboard boxes everywhere. So now my excess stock lives in a storage barn at a nearby farm. It felt so incredibly freeing to move what had become quite an extreme amount of lampshade-related clutter from the house! 

With hindsight, it was a bit of a turning point. It gave me the physical space I needed to expand into stocking bases which has really impacted my sales. It also allowed me to build more standing stock of my most popular items, buy boxes postage boxes in bulk and prepare for sales further in advance. 

Any tips for new lampshade makers who are setting up their businesses?

The first thing I’d say is don’t be afraid to put yourself out there and just do it. I had imposter syndrome at the beginning and particularly worried that as a part-timer/side hustler, I had no business being in the business. But I’ve learnt to back myself a lot more. 

Don’t be afraid to take some time to refine the look of your brand. I feel that I only truly honed in on the the look and message of my brand last year. 

But most importantly, make the shades that you want to make and love, rather than making shades that you think people might want. You can’t design for everyone, and that’s actually a good thing. At first, I would source fabrics I didn’t really love for the range but that I thought others would. I’ve stopped doing that now and it makes the creative process so much more rewarding. I know my lampshades won’t be to everyone’s taste, but they don’t need to be and there’s a beauty in that. There are so many styles and brands in the world because everyone connects with different things. I’d much rather create pieces that some people absolutely love than pieces that everyone feels indifferent about.

How do you balance working as a solicitor, being a mum and running The Lamp Millinery? 

It’s a real juggle sometimes and I definitely don’t get it right all the time. My law career can be really full on and seep outside of my contracted hours. My girls come first to me always so sometimes my poor shades have to take third place.

During busy periods, all I can do is get the orders made and out and other parts of running and growing my business have to take a back seat. Things like photographing new products, Instagram, updating my website etc all take up lots of time too and I have to be realistic that sometimes I just don’t have time for those as much as I would like or I’m just not willing to give up precious weekend time as a family to create content. I hope my girls grow up seeing that it’s ok to push yourself and take some risks to build something you’re proud of. But equally, there has to be a balance between ambition and family. These years when they are little are going scarily fast and I don’t want to turn around in a few years and feel as though I wasn’t present enough.

When are you at your most productive? 

Definitely in the evening, after my girls are in bed. I’ve always been a bit of a night owl so my shades tend to be made then, which is great for ploughing through things in a less chaotic environment but disastrous for natural light for photos. 

And your favourite sustenance when you’re working? 

As I’m an after supper worker, my shade making is fuelled by gallons of mint tea, or if I’m feeling fancy, a hot chocolate from my beloved Velvetiser machine. 

Could you let us take a peek at your workspace, and can you tell us a little more about it?

My workspace is my kitchen table. I have a one and four year old so before any shade is made, there is an aggressive scrub down process to remove the debris field from the latest mealtime. Then the shade making materials emerge from their various hiding places in the house and have to be squirrelled away again at the end. 

Where would you like to be in 5 years’ time?

The plan is to keep going, growing and thriving! This last year has been brilliant for growth but I’m starting to reach a cap in terms of what I can viably do myself while not being an absentee wife and mother and an exhausted employee! I love running my business but I have to be realistic that if it’s going to be here, it needs to financially wash its face and I have to actually enjoy doing it. I don’t have any plans for toning down my legal career so if I’m lucky enough to maintain this level of growth in my business, I plan to explore getting some freelance help with some of the work. I can’t say I’m upset by the idea of possibly contracting out some of the ironing! But I would definitely need to tread carefully to ensure that the personal touch is still central to the brand. 

What have you learned that’s been invaluable to your creative process?

Learning and appreciating that I actually am creative! I never did anything arty or creative growing up. I was disastrous in all those sorts of things at school and am a bit of a nerd and always wanted to do stuff like Latin and history instead! It’s only really since I’ve hit my thirties and have been able to decorate my home that I’ve learnt I actually am fairly creative when it comes to interiors and have an eye for curating colour. It was such a shock that it took me a while to truly embrace this side of me and have confidence in my choices. I feel very lucky to be able to have this creative expression while still being able to balance the corporate career I’ve worked for. 

Any future plans for The Lamp Millinery you’d like to share?

There’s lots on the horizon for this year. I am going to embrace a bit of a summer lull in orders to launch some new block prints in the scallop shape. I have a load sitting in my fabric drawer just waiting for their moment. I need to update my bias binding page on my website after yet again having a shopping binge after sitting with the colour chart too long. I’m also dusting off the roof rack at the end of this month to drive a bit further afield for a sale in Olney that I haven’t been to before. 

I want to keep expanding my lamp base offering in particular. After a seemingly endless search, I have just found the perfect mini bases to pair with my candle clips. They will launch just as soon as I sort myself out and photograph them and get them on the website.

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Browse Camilla's range of striking, patterned lampshades and pick from her handcrafted hard lampshade shapes at www.thelampmillinery.com

Why not give her a friendly follow on Instagram too!

Website: www.thelampmillinery.com

Instagram: @thelampmillinery

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