Glass lamp shades come in many different designs but one of the main decisions you will be faced with is whether to choose clear or opaque glass. In many ways, this is a decision you need to make based on lamp function as well as style.
Clear glass lamp shades give out the most light and will brighten your room the most if brightness is what you are looking for. You might argue that is why you have a lamp at all but actually most of us prefer our light a little muted unless we are doing close work and frosted glass lamp shades give us that option. We get light but without glare.
Of course, there are some situations where clear glass is used for the look of the glass and that is often in contemporary lights where many small bulbs are often used rather than one large one and the bulbs become part of the display.
As for opaque glass, you can choose a minimum amount of opacity by using etched glass or glass in muted colors or you can disguise the bulb entirely by using painted or stained glass. You can get glass lamp shades painted in one color such as red or green which may look good in the right interior. You can also get shades which are made up of many different pieces of stained glass joined together to form an intricate and delicate lamp shade. The most famous example of this kind of lamp is the Tiffany lamp. Made famous in the art deco period, you can really only buy reproduction versions today unless you have a few million dollars lying around for an original (and even more for the insurance).
When choosing clear or opaque, therefore, if you are just looking for a lamp for general ambient lighting in your home, it is largely a matter of style and you need to think about what would work well with your interior – a clear glass multi-bulb contemporary lamp shade, a frosted glass lamp giving off muted light or a colored work of art which will work well with your color scheme.
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