I love this little gadget I picked up at Ikea last year.  All you do is plug it into the wall and then plug your lamp into and use the thingy on the end to choose the setting–it’s a sliding dimmer on a cord so you can change any lamp into a dimmer.

We have a wall sconce that plugs into the wall behind our sofa but there’s no on or off switch for it.  Enter the dimmer cord, just plug it in, and plug the light into it and instant light switch with a dimmer.

The little end thingy doesn’t get hot or anything so I’ve felt fine about letting it sit on the window sill right behind the sofa or if I know we might use it, I’ll drape it over for the day.