the base is a night light. I love the turquoise color which can be hard to find.  The only thing that I am not really happy with is that it has a roller switch about 18 inches down the cord that has to be turned on to turn any of the bulbs on.  Sometimes inconvenient to lean down to get the cord and find switch.  I like the fact that it has two bulbs on each side.  Uses regular large base bulbs.  My daughter and son in law loved it.