Lighting fixtures above dining tables are almost a necessity. After all, you need ample lighting to enjoy your food, especially with other people. These often long tables, however, sometimes serve purposes other than dining, especially in the past years when people found themselves stuck at home and having no suitable place to set up their office or school work. That, however, can be a bit inconvenient when you need to plug some devices or tools in and wall sockets are too far away. To adjust to the changing landscapes in homes, a few furniture and appliances have started taking on multiple roles, like this circular pendant lamp that offers not only light but also power for your laptop and other electronic equipment.

Designer: Studio Natural

This is one of those ideas that sound so natural after hearing it that you almost wonder why no one or few have ever done it before. After all, lamps already connect to a power source, usually on the same line as other appliances. There are even power outlet accessories that screw into bulb sockets, turning those unused sockets into an additional source of power for other appliances.

The Avro pendant lamp uses that very same concept and implements it in an attractive and convenient manner, turning any table into a multifunctional piece of furniture, depending on what’s hanging down from the lamp. In normal circumstances, the lamp simply hangs by itself, providing light that can be dimmed or brightened depending on the activity happening below it. A softer light, for example, might perfectly set the mood for a relaxing dinner, but something brighter might be needed for games and work.

Things take an interesting turn when you realize there’s a power socket right below the lamp’s diffuser. You can easily plug in a laptop charger if that’s all you need, or perhaps a stylish extension cord to share the power around. Granted, it might look a bit weird with a cable dangling off a lamp, and the lamp itself needs to be at a height you can easily reach while standing up. It’s still a more convenient and more accessible way to get power, though, at least compared to scrambling for a distant wall socket or tripping over extension cords snaking across the floor.

The lamp itself is an attractive decor hanging over your table. Although supposedly named after an aircraft, Avro looks more like a stereotypical UFO, especially with bright light emitting from its bottom. Its aluminum surface, available in bright orange, blue, and white colors, makes it also look like a toy, like a spinning top that reflects light to the point of being a source of light as well. Whichever way you see it, it definitely brings a bit of life to a space while also indirectly bringing additional functionality to any table beneath it.

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