A floor-standing lamp purchased from the Kingston branch of John Lewis “completely changes” the Hennessy family’s living room, female family members agree.

The lamp, costing £189.95, was placed in the north-east corner of the room, beside the hi-fi system, late on Saturday afternoon, following a prolonged shopping trip in difficult conditions.

“The town centre was really busy,” reported Janine Hennessy, 39. “People must be starting their Christmas shopping early this year. You could hardly move in the Bentall Centre, it was so rammed.”

Janine, accompanied by daughter Kerry, 11, visited a total of four shops in order to locate the “just right” lamp, including the Bentall department store and a specialist lighting shop the name of which cannot be remembered, but which is just by that other shop, you know, the one where they sell the camping stuff as well.

“We actually went to John Lewis first, but we had to go and check the other shops just in case,” said Janine, explaining how on earth it can take an entire day to purchase a single lamp. “After all, nearly two hundred pounds is a lot of money.”

“But it does completely change the room, doesn’t it?” she added.

Husband Geoff remains unconvinced as to the room changing properties of the lamp. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s very nice, but when it comes right down to it, it’s just a light,” he commented. “It’s behind the sofa anyway, so it’s not even as if we’re going to spend much time looking at it.”

Janine insists that the lamp was actually a bargain, since it had been marked down from it’s former price of £209.95 as part of a stock clearance.

“They don’t make them any more, even,” she told a neighbour. “We’ve got one of the last ones. Who knows, maybe one day Kerry will be taking it along to the Antiques Roadshow, in like the year 2050, and it’ll be worth thousands of pounds.”

“You never know,” agreed the neighbour (who asked to remain anonymous), before making her excuses and leaving.

Observers report that Geoff Hennessy was in favour of purchasing a cheaper lamp from the B&Q Warehouse, but was forced to withdraw from negotiations for “a quiet life”.

“Mum and Dad had this huge argument about it,” grins son Louis, 14. “Dad was all ‘We can’t afford to waste money on lamps,’ but Mum just did that guilt trip thing until he gave in, like he always does.”

Louis refused to comment as to whether the lamp does indeed change the whole room, citing an prior engagement with an episode of Buffy The Vampire Slayer as making further discussion impossible.

Final say on the ability of the lamp to transform the living room has been delayed, pending the visit on Wednesday of family friends the Carpenters. Mrs Carpenter is an expert on interior design, and once met Lawrence off Changing Rooms in a bookshop in Covent Garden. She is expected to appreciate the lamp, even if Geoff Hennessy does not.