Project: Remote Control Lamps

As I have mentioned before, we don't have ceiling lights in every room of the apartment except the bathroom and kitchen. When we enter the apartment at night, it's completely black, assuming we haven't left any lights on. As of right now, we are using one of my photography lamps with a 100-watt CFL bulb, but I reeeeeally don't like it, even if it's temporary. The idea was to have a lamp on a side table to turn on as soon as we walk in, but the closest socket is 15' away--I just discovered the socket on the same wall as the table has been sealed shut. Plus, a lamp by the front door isn't that central, so it wouldn't illuminate the room as much as it would need to.

Here's what I'd like to try, if it's possible: get two lamps for the mantle (maybe find a partner to our silver vintage ball lamp), and have them attached to a remote control that would stay by the front door. We could walk in, press a button, and turn on lamps with the same ease as flipping a switch.

Except, I'm not sure how this would work....off to investigate.