(NEXSTAR) — Whether you’ve lived in a house of your own or in various apartments, odds are you’ve likely come to find yourself beneath a “flush-mount dome light” — more commonly known as “boob lights” for their resemblance to human breasts. Online, you’ll find countless posts from residents across the country all looking to replace boob lights.
It’s a lighting fixture many of us have joked about for so long and many people ardently hate, so why are they so common?
Turns out, you can probably guess why they’re so ubiquitous: they’re cheap.
“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,” David Calligeros, founder of Remains Lighting Company, told House Beautiful in September.
One additional reason the lights are so popular, pointed out by Illinois interior designer Heather Mastrangeli, in conversation with the Washington Post, is that boob lights are also a quick and easy lighting solution for places with low ceilings (like lots of apartments), since they don’t take up too much vertical space.
Leaving plenty of vertical space was also a concern in days long past, when lighting ran on gas — and dangling gas flames were basically a fire waiting to happen, House Beautiful reports.
But the fixtures being a running joke isn’t the only reason many people don’t want them in their homes. One common complaint is that their glasses, which are often frosted, dim the light they provide too much — resulting in a darker-than-desired area beneath them.
Boob-light remedies
Although you can simply replace a boob light fixture — although if you’re a renter, be sure to check your lease or ask your landlord — there are dozens of ways people have remedied the unwanted lighting situation.
One fashionable and cheap option is a shade that can simply be placed over the breast fixture. Known across social media as Tulip shades, these are the brand-name shades that fit easily over the fixture and offer a variety of different colors, patterns and impressions.
While reviews for these brand-name solutions are good, the price tag (over $100 each) might steer some toward DIY solutions, or “dupes.” One creative Redditor even created their own shades out of printer paper, a toilet roll tube and scotch tape.
As far as ready-to-go solutions go, interior designer Michaela Diane, of Michaela Diana Designs, recommends swapping out the flush-mount dome light for a flush or semi-flush mount fixture, which are flatter than boob lights. Additionally, some more modern “chandelier” style fixtures also come with shorter stems, meaning they hang down only just a bit.
Only time will tell if boob lights are eventually phased out of fashion completely but for now, many of us will just have to learn to live with them. Finally, there’s one important distinction to remember about this story — and any discussion of boob lights. As one Reddit user explained in a DIY subreddit thread: “Let’s be clear, boobs are not ugly. These lights are ugly.”
