Tag Archives: lighting

How to Decorate Historical Homes With Vintage Lighting

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If you have bought a historical home then the best way to showcase it is with vintage light fixtures. These fixtures indirectly highlight the nooks, crannies and architectural details of your heritage style house the same way candlelight would. Remember it is only eighty years ago that most homes started to adopt electricity. Before that lamps burned wax or gas.

The lighting fixtures that might be most appropriate for a historical home are probably going to be a pendant style and the shades area going to be made of glass, metal or porcelain as this is what kept the candle flames in check. Consider getting a large fancy painted globe for the larger rooms like the living room and fit them with incandescent bulbs to mimic the warm yellow soft light of gas or candlelight. In fact, a custom painted globe was a common gift for the newlyweds at the turn of the century.

If your house’s heyday was during the time of gas lighting then you might want to choose fixtures that mimic the look of a gas lamp. These would be fixtures that extend quite a ways from the wall if they are sconces and quite far down from the ceiling if it is a chandelier. These fixtures looked like storm lamps and the shades were always sitting up right light cups. It wasn’t until the advent of the electric light bulb that the shade could be designed to point downwards. One way to date a lighting fixture in fact is to look at which way the shades are positions and if they are cups, they suit older houses, and if they point downwards, then they suit a newer home.

The invention of electricity brought a boon to home design between 1890 and 1920. This was called the Arts and Crafts movement and all kinds of glass and metal shades were invented to house the new light bulb. So if your house was built during that time then Tiffany or glass lampshades might look best.

After World War I Art Deco designs took over and the glass light bulb casing became etched and sculpted into zig zag, crescent and sunburst shapes. If your house was built in the 1920s to 1940s Art Deco light fixtures might look fantastic in it.

If you do find an antique light fixture dated before 1920 there is one very important thing to remember. You cannot use light bulbs that are stronger than 15 watts in it or you could cause a fire. If the light fixture is an antique from 1920s onward then stay safe and only use a 40-watt bulb. Lamps that could safely take a 100-watt bulb did not appear until the early sixties and even then you should check the antique fixture carefully to see if instructions about what wattage the lamp should be fitted with are written on it somewhere. Of course one way to avoid all of this fuss would be to simply buy a retro recreation of the style that you want so that you can use whatever type of light bulb that you like.

How to Decorate With Wall Sconces

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There are almost as many styles of wall lights as there are eras in history. This is because wall lights, or sconces as they are also known provide a pleasing form of reflected light that can be quite romantic and that is also easy on the eyes. Sconces are generally mounted on a plaque against a wall giving the wall surface a bit of a halo effect that many people also find attractive. Sconces are great for where you need some light but not a great deal of light.

Here is a run down of some the different styles of wall lights that are available on the market.

Storybook Style: This is a beautiful style of sconce made out of cast iron or black metal that has a yellow shade and a soft candle shaped bulb inside. It is good for more antique decors and looks especially great outside on a wall in a laneway or as a porch light. It is reminiscent of the type of lighting that you would find in a Charles Dickens tale.

Craftsman Style: The Craftsman style of wall sconce is usually made out of black cast iron and is topped by a solid opaque white globe or variegated globe that is held out from the wall plaque like a trophy. These lights are very bright and excellent for dim hallways and outdoor use.

English Tudor Style: This style of wall light features a narrow pleated fluted lampshade that points downwards from the wall like a faucet. This type of sconce usually casts a dimmer light.

Sheffield Style: This ornamental style of wall sconce looks like the antlers with a light fixture dangling from each tip. The central plaque that holds the arms of the sconce is usually of a sunray or sunburst design. The shades are usually tulip shaped with a tiny flared rim.

Colonial Style: You can always tell a Colonial style sconce because it is projected forth off the wall by an iron S shaped hook from which the glass shade is suspended like the bud of a bluebell.

Art Deco Style: These elegant wall lights usually are shaped like the back of hand mirrors and hold the light bulb inside a frosted glass cup that is also usually engraved with elegant designs.

Art Deco Porcelain: This is a very rare look that originated in Miami South Beach that is made of pure white porcelain. Watch the 1950s movie “The Fountainhead” if you want to school yourself in what white porcelain Art Deco should look like. This type of lighting is quite bright and looks best on an Art Deco, modern or neo-modern style building.

Sometimes you can find one of these types of sconces as an original antique but you will have not problem finding companies that specialize in making retro versions of any of these styles both online and in stores. Don’t be afraid to buy a reproduction as many of them not only look exactly like the real thing but they also work better and have features that save energy.