Keter Lighting BENTO BLACK WHITE II 925 bedside lamp, 46 cm, plywood and fabric shade, black and white, 1xE27

BENTO BLACK WHITE II is a 46 cm tall table lamp made of two contrasting parts: an openwork cage of black plywood and a white fabric shade. The base occupies a 30.5 × 30.5 cm square.

The plywood cage

The body is built from cut plywood ribs, bowed outwards and tied together by horizontal rings, making a rounded lantern shape you can see straight through. This is real laminated timber rather than a wood-effect film, so the layers show at every cut edge; the black stain darkens them without hiding them.

The openwork has an optical consequence too. The shade is opaque, so light leaves it at the top and the bottom — and the downward light passes through the cage and lays a pattern of rib shadows across the surface and the wall. In the evening, with this as the only lamp lit, that is the most visible thing about the model.

Check the height of your nightstand

The manufacturer files BENTO under bedside lamps, but 46 cm is a lot for that role. On a typical 55–60 cm nightstand the top of the shade sits about a metre up — roughly the eye level of someone sitting in bed. That is a good outcome: the bulb stays out of sight. On a low 40 cm stand the lamp will loom, and on a tall chest it will shine straight into your eyes.

Measure the surface too: a 30.5 cm square takes up most of an ordinary nightstand, which usually also has to hold a book and a phone. In practice this lamp works just as well on a chest of drawers in the living room or a console in the hall.

E27, 60 W maximum — no bulb included

The socket is an ordinary E27 and the manufacturer's limit is 60 W. Since the shade hides the source, the shape of the bulb does not matter — there is no need to buy a decorative one. What matters is:

• Colour temperature — 2700 K for a bedroom, the warmest generally sold. Cooler light defeats the purpose of a bedside lamp.
• Output — 400–800 lm is ample. A 5–8 W E27 LED delivers that without going anywhere near the 60 W limit.
• Dimming — the lamp itself is not dimmable and contains no electronics; to vary the brightness you need a bulb sold as dimmable plus a matching dimmer or a switched socket.

The white fabric shade warms the light slightly and diffuses it heavily, so even a fairly bright bulb will not glare.

Build and technical data

• Frame: plywood, colour black
• Shade: lampshade fabric, colour white
• Dimensions: 30.5 × 30.5 cm, height 46 cm
• Socket 1 × E27, max 60 W, no bulb supplied
• Supply 230 V, protection IP20

IP20 means dry interiors only. Plywood and fabric also cope badly with damp, so a bathroom is out regardless of the rating.

The Bento Black series

The same black cage comes with shades in other colours: BENTO BLACK GREY II 926, BENTO BLACK GOLD 921, BENTO BLACK SILVER 922 and BENTO BLACK COOPER 923. The wider Bento family also includes smaller versions (Bento Small) and variants in natural and white plywood.

Article 925, EAN 5901087109257, manufacturer Keter Lighting (Częstochowa).