Design Finds, One of a Kind Trash or Treasure: Put A Shade On It!

I'm not the only one who likes to use vintage lamps.  If you have not done so  and would like to give it a try you'll need to know the down side.  Finding lamp shades for odd lamps or permanent harps can be a daunting task.  Although, one can always go the expensive custom route and get the job done.

My attic once held quite a collection of old lamp shades and lamp shade wire skeletons.  However, they never seemed to fit my lamp finds or the style I was after.  I do like the way the wire skeletons are being used these days and have saved a few should there be an appropriate occasion or client.


If you are truly interested in going the vintage route you probably shouldn't pass up an opportunity to purchase nice quality new lamp shades when the price is right.  This habit along with a vintage or even new lamp find can mean the beginnings of a "One of a Kind Trash or Treasure."

And, you might want  to collect some finials as well.  Finials are often missing from vintage lamps.  New ones, or great vintage finds, in a scale to fit the lamp, plus new shade, will change the look completely.


This vintage Stiffel lamp with its strange small harp and long stem, shown below, was very outdated with the original tall drum shade and tiny finial.

I tried several new, but not such good quality, shades from the local big box stores before stumbling across this great quality lamp shade design find, shown above right.   New finials help balance the old lamps with the smaller square shades.  The more current good quality fabric shade and style makes the old lamps seem new again.   Now the lamp pair is stately, chic, and of this century.

The lamp shade design find shown right is unusually tall, a trait of vintage permanent harps.  Wouldn't you know it, though, it found a place on a lamp without a tall permanent harp.

This shade can grace a smaller lamp than one would first think of and give amazing presence to various sizes and shapes.  I love the ambient light that shines through this interesting ribbon like shade.  Once again, the finial completes the new look.

Not all vintage lamps need to be rewired.  You will need to check them over carefully though and make sure the switches are not worn out.  Most big box stores carry rewiring supplies in an inexpensive kit and turn keys for old turn switches are readily available.


Vintage lamps without harps can be updated as well.  This one, shown right, needs a glass shade.  You can buy vintage or new glass shades, just be sure to buy the kind that will securely hold your new soft shade. The ones with ridges, shown below, allow the shade frame top to sit snuggly.  You can use a screw from under the shade to hold a finial.





















The updated lamp, shown right, is probably not what you visualized when you first saw the lamp base.  Repeating a design element of the lamp in the finial often gives a good result.  This lamp has a round brass circle at the base, a green circle wreath above that, and another more detailed wreath further up.  A circle finial in a brass color works well.





















Square, rectangular,  and unusually shaped shades are popular right now.  Current style shades make instant updates.

Go ahead, give it a try.  You will love turning trash into a one of a kind  treasure.

Re-Purpose Re-Use and Green Stuff: For The Love Of Vintage Lamps

Reuse those old lamps.  They are a dime a dozen at flea markets, junk shops, and consignment stores as well as antique shops, yard sales, and online.  You can find one to fit just about any design or decorating project in any price range.

This lamp pair recently emerged from my closet making a debut in the master bedroom (an eBay find a couple of years back).  A new drum shade lifted them from their previous era and a large hand painted finial (from another vintage lamp) complemented and balanced the proportions of new shade and old lamp.  This lamp is tall, perfect for a cozy late night book reading session.


The detail is exquisite and the metal base adds texture and dimension to the bedside tables.

It was the casual carved look of this ceramic lamp pair that caught  my eye (in a Spencer, WV Antique Store) for a den project.  The den needed a lift without a major expense.  These lamps took on a very different persona once the old huge shades they came with were removed and traded for others from a previous consignment store buy.  An ivory elephant finial was a perfect topper.  One already had new wiring and the wiring on the other was in great shape.  

This old floor lamp had been in the family for years.  A new silk shade (a smaller shade than would have graced it originally) provides a soft light, without a big old heavy floor lamp statement, in an otherwise dark corner.  This old three way light can amp up to 200 watts of task lighting, if you need it, or hang out quietly using only 15 watts for a little night light atmosphere.

A $5.00 brass Stiffel lamp (a Roanoke VA flea market find) perks up with a new linen shade and new wiring.  The brass of the three-way lamp has mellowed with time befitting the gentleman who uses it next to his new not old Stickely leather chair.  A three way bulb allows for good reading light.   And, low wattage use is possible when the lamp is only needed for general room lighting.

This sweet porcelain rose bud lamp found on eBay brightens up a guest bedroom.  Although the cost was similar to lamps now found at major discount stores, the quality and craftsmanship of this lamp is superb.

This low cost Asian style consignment store find is also of very good quality.  It can handle a variety of shade styles and would work in just about any room.  Here is graces an antique chest of drawers.  However,  with a different shade it has also graced an entry hall table of a modern clean lined home.

Occasionally, at least for me, it is the lamp that catches the eye, inspires, and waits hiding in the closet until I dream up a project to surround it.  My most recent vintage lamp pair purchase from "The Designer Consigner" in Christiansburg, VA fits this category.

These are now hanging out with temporary shades in a bedroom waiting for more designer touches.  I know this lamp pair can be spectacular with the right shades and the right setting.  They were originally vases, possibly French from the late 1800 French Deco and Aesthetic style.  They were made into lamps many years ago with hand painted wooden bases and perfectly fitted metal caps with a harp.  The harps on these lamps are permanent and somewhat limiting of shade height.

I love the warm tones of the bird paintings and I am challenged by the pink deco design with black handles.  The warm painting behind and the rich wood of the dresser are already bringing this lamp back to life.  Ah, but it can have more energy and current design style than this.  I can hardly wait!  These are one of those finds that will inspire a complete room redo...

...and there are more great finds still waiting in the closet.

Design Finds One of a Kinds Trash or Treasure - Antique Lamps and Pencil Drawing

Italian Antique Lamps and a contemporary Russian Pencil 'Study' frame a Thomas O'Brien Collection Sofa in an American Colonial Style Home...Juxtapose!

Many years ago I was a guest in a private home in Loussane, Switzerland.  This was a  large modern town home with more sprays in the shower than American manufacturers have thought of to date.  But what struck me most was the juxtaposition of antiques, art, modern, and whimsy in the main living space.  Imagine museum quality historical oil paintings with Mid-Century lamps, sectional sofa, an over-sized porcelain tennis shoe, museum quality antiques, small religious paintings, and a leather love-seat in the shape of a baseball player's catcher's mitt.

The whole idea of this type of harmonious existence with such extremes in style excited me.  It made me feel alive, current yet connected to the past, serious, and at the same time ready for fun.  What a fete!  As an interior designer, I now love mixing it up and don't even blink when my clients tell me of their diverse tastes and requirements.



The common knowledge of how colors can pull things together is at work in these project photos.  The greens of the cushions, couch, and lamps are close in hue (actual color) with variance in darkness to lightness and also the intensity of the color.  So they work well together even though the greens are not an exact match. The rust color of the more traditional pattern cushion, the fringe of the brighter green cushion, and the oranges and yellows in the lamps are close to red on a color wheel which is opposite green and therefore a contrast with green.  You can often "slide" to close colors when choosing items and this will give a more complex harmony. This is not quite as simple as it sounds.  It helps to use a good color wheel or better yet have an understanding of a three dimensional color theory such as the Munsell Color System and to have a color scheme in mind.

The couch is actually similar, in light to darkness, to much of the gray in the pencil drawing and the frame itself.  This is called light to dark value and it is likeness in value that helps this clean lined couch look nice beneath the more elaborate drawing and frame.  But it is not color that relates the lamp to the drawing, it is pattern and repeated elements.  There is a busyness and luxurious fullness in pattern to both so they are alike in their forms, both within the lamp and drawing and of the lamp itself with elements in the drawing.


The couch is also a contrast in style to the drawing and lamp.  Opposites will often balance and look nice together.  The style of the end table/bookcase is the same as the couch, working the same way with the lamp and drawing.  The dark gray of these can be found in the drawing as well, again pulling color to help with the harmony.  Dark colors are very grounding and the end table/bookcase help ground everything and make all parts seem connected to the larger whole.

It is the 'unfettered' six over six colonial style windows that work with the clean lines of the sofa and couch.  Still, we see them as traditional windows fitting in style to the urn shape of the lamps and the style of drawing and frame.  The clean lines of the window, trim and mullions as well as the rectangle shapes relate to the end table/book case and the couch in shape and form.  The nubby texture of the couch is in contrast to the smooth finish of the drawing glass and the slick surface of the end table/book case but in likeness to the lamp as the holes and cutouts give the look of a pebbly texture.

As for whimsy, well, it doesn't have to shout whimsy.  Take a look at the books, Encyclopedia of Southern Culture, Ants...the small dog, an antique demitasse cup and saucer, a bright silk cushion with long fringe

It is rarely one thing that will make a space harmonious.  Sometimes there are so many elements at play that it is mind boggling.