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
No comments:
Post a Comment