Very nice lamps and they were very well packaged. I like that the cord is fabric wrapped and you can insert the extra length into the base of the lamps. I did expect the shades to be a little more on the gray side, but they have more of a beige, ivory hue. I don't think "linen" is an appropriate description of the color, as linen is a fabric. Overall, very attractive lamps and I would recommend them.A word of caution - be careful when you remove the plastic from the part where you would screw in the bulb... the extra cord needs to be threaded into the base and mine flopped out of my hand and hit the base and could have cracked it.