Historical Reasearch Library at VintageLights.com

I was reading another vintage style home magazine the other day while waiting at the grocery store and I came across an article which suggested ways to research your vintage home. The article suggested 4 books from Amazon to start with. People, we have 2 of the 4 available to view for free in our "Old Catalogue" section of our website. We have the scanned original catalogs, not the reproductions Amazon is selling. In addition to the old home catalogues, there are Interior Design Catalogues, Lawn and Garden Catalogues, and a Paint Color Catalogue by Sherwin Williams, just to name a few of the gems you will find. We continually search for additonal vintage catalogues to add to the collection. Some of the upcoming catalogues include a 1914 Construction Details magazine and a 1900 hardware catalogue from Paris.

Our main focus is vintage and antique lighting but our interest and passion includes all aspects of the home building trade of the early 1900s.

Listen to Your Eyes. PB

www.VintageLights.com

Good news for Vintage Lighting

Yesterday one of our regulars dropped by as he was making his sales rounds across the Southwest.  Although his territory includes a couple of the hardest hit areas of the country, Las Vegas and Phoenix, as well as one of the weakest industries, add-ons to new truck sales, he reported signs of a slowly improving economy.  The seasonal uptick in sales is returning, he reports.  Good news.
As summer get into full swing, the sunshine brings a subtle yet noticeable optimism and overall feeling of well being.  There is no substitute to being outdoors and in the sunshine.  And studies have shown the full spectrum light from the sun is responsible for this effect.  Recent advances in lighting technology have produced full spectrum fluorescent bulbs, which are now widely available.  Now you can get the positive effects of full spectrum lighting along with an energy efficient light bulb in your vintage and antique lighting.  Good news.
Oh yeah, he did pick up another vintage sconce as his remodeling of his Spanish Revival home continues.  Good news.

Listen to Your Eyes.  PB

http://www.vintagelights.com/

Spanish Revival style vintage lighting

One of the most popular design styles of vintage lighting we see at VintageLights.com continues to be Spanish Revival style and its cousins, Mediterranean, Spanish Colonial, Storybook, and Mission, just to name a few.  The style was made popular by the 1915 Panama-California Exposition in San Diego.  This style was most popular in the United States from 1915 through the 30s and had been a comfortable living design for decades in Latin America and the Iberian Peninsula. 

In vintage lighting, hand wrought iron or cast metal designed to look like wrought iron are hallmarks of this style, as are the flowing intricate filigree of shade covers and backplates.  Heavy looking, in either iron or aluminum, hanging on a chain or wall mounted, these fixtures can have a masculine, solid presence.  Animal figures and / or heads also adorn these fixtures, with dragons a popular motif.

They are also a welcomed sight in many bungalows, especially bungalows with plaster or stucco exterior walls.

The storybook style is the most fanciful and whimsical of them all.  Charming to no end.   

That's the end.

Listen to Your Eyes.  PB

VintageLights.com

Listen to your Mother

Yesterday we received this question via twitter from a member at VandM.com. They referenced a NY Times article of 6/7

Are vintage light bulbs on the way out? I'm a fan but I seem to see them everywhere. http//www.nytimes.com/2010/06/08/nyregion/08bulb.html
Yesterday at 12:52pm via twitterfeed.

We answered: We have certainly noticed a drop in popularity of these exposed, energy guzzling, filament bulbs. They seem to be going the way of the Hummer. With the introduction of full-spectrum CFLs, most of the complaints about color distortion from fluorescent bulbs have faded.
What has increased in popularity are the vintage light fixtures with "slip shades". With these antique light fixtures since the bulb is covered, one can use CFLs and still get that nostalgic sense (that only authentic vintage fixtures provide) along with energy savings.

Listen to Your Eyes (and your mother, Earth)

http://VintageLights.com

The Bomb of Vintage Lighting

Wow, I can't top that last post. Thanks Linda!

One of my favorite things to harp on (its ok, I've had my coffee) is someone, usually designers or editors saying with an air of authority, that this type or that type of antique light fixture is the only one which looks appropriate in a certain style of home and all other vintage light fixtures will look out of place. I would not have a problem with them if they said these are guidelines, but they are usually stated as rules.

One of my main reasons to disagree with this type of generalization is first and foremost it is just an opinion. Everybody is unique with a different sense of style and nostalgia. And this is what is important surrounding decisions concerning ones home environment. Yes I know this is an opinion as well and I make the effort to let that be known.

Yet another reason I disagree with them is that back in the day of vintage lighting styles did not change overnight. It took years for the transition of Art Nouveau to Arts & Crafts to Art Deco to occur. And there was certainly an overlap of styles when the styles were changing. This is evident in the vintage lighting catalogs we have one our website for everyone to see, free. Heck there was even a time when gas and electric was combined in the same antique light fixture. And I am sure there were designers back then saying these fire hazards were the explosive new style.



Listen to Your Eyes. PB



http://vintagelights.com/

Us

I'm so pleased to be a guest blogger here at VintageLights.com blog!

Patrick is the creative expert behind this business, and since I can't add anything about the beautiful vintage fixtures he restores and sells, I'll talk about the man himself.

A typical day: Patrick is at the computer by 5:30 AM, checking emails and updating the web site, blog, and facebook accounts. At 6:45 we go to Yoga class, and then it's back home to change, maybe do some gardening (the poppies and cannas are amazing this year!) or work on accounting, and then he heads off to the shop...

From mid-morning 'til 6:30 PM it's a mix of packing and shipping orders out, emailing and taking phone calls from customers and other dealers, and of course, working on fixtures: sandblasting, painting, rewiring, and putting all the parts together. He may stop by Keystone Antiques on Cortez St., where approximately 100 of his ceiling and wall fixtures are displayed, to meet with a customer, answer questions, or chat with interested visitors, or he may schedule an appointment with a customer at the shop. Folks who stop by the shop are always stunned by the sheer number of fixtures, in various stages of readiness, on shelves or hanging from the rafters!

Patrick doesn't consider any of this work - it's absolutely what he loves doing and wants to be doing.

We regularly schedule road trips, too, to check out antique shops, to visit other dealers across the country, and sometimes just to hang out at the beach! Last summer we combined a trip to Block Island (Rhode Island) with a stop at the famous Brimfield Antique & Flea Market Show in Brimfield, MA - what an incredible experience, and yes, Patrick did find some treasures to ship home. This fall we'll again be at the Pasadena annual Craftsman Weekend, October 15 - 17 - stop by to say hello!

What else? Besides growing the business, Patrick's priority is growing our lives together, and making sure we have time together to share the pleasures and problems of our day. And, yes, even with his seemingly full schedule, we have a wonderful home life, too - we hike Thumb Butte, shop the Farmers' Market, have friends over for a barbeque dinner, hang out on the Courthouse Square in the evening, go dancing, and sip martinis on the deck... I have the best life, with the most wonderful man!

Vintage kitchen lighting

The previous blog (vintage bathroom tiles) prompted these thoughts on vintage kitchen light fixtures from one who had been there. The above image is a kitchen in a 1908 Craftsman we remodeled in 2006. It was a rectangle shaped room, boxed in on one side by the outside wall and on the other by the stairway. It was part of a complete first floor remodel, from the studs out. What you cannot see in the image is the left wall, a full bank of cabinets above the counter.

The main concern was how to get enough light to all the work areas without using can lights or under counter lights. Both, I believe, are completely out of place in any vintage home kitchen. There are so many other solutions using vintage lighting to get enough light where it is needed.

The shape of this room and playing with different options dictated the use of the 5 vintage lights shown. Three in the main area, one in the pantry at the rear and one over the sink. We chose the vintage milk glass shades for their unique shape and for the look of the light they emit. The light from the 3 main flush mount fixtures is diffuse enough so there are virtually no shadows in the work areas, except in the sink. Dropping a shade over the sink resolved this problem. Another benefit of using these vintage fixtures was the matching smaller vintage shade we used over the sink. Several styles of vintage shades had this smaller shade just for this purpose. All in all a very comfortable vintage kitchen to work in and one which retains the vintage feel about it.

The curved kitchen entry matched the curve of the doors on the other side of the living room. You can just barely see the kitchen opening in the far right of the image below.

Listen to Your Eyes. PB



http://VintageLights.com