Nesting Place, one of my favorite decorating/inspiration blogs, is throwing an impromptu party about all-things-lighting-and-lamps. A lampapalooza, if you will. Since lamps are pretty much my favorite thing ever to scatter all over my house (that and clocks), I figured I’d participate. I don’t have any handmade, craft-embellished, or salvaged and redone masterpieces to showcase, but I do have a wide assortment of lamps, each holding a story and memory all its own. I also have a couple of lighting dilemmas, so I’m hoping I can gain some advice on those, as well! C’mon. This will be fun.
First of all, I guess you could say that my overall style is classic and antiqued in feel. My favorite lamp bases are antiqued, distressed, and romantic. We prefer lamps to overhead lights in all times of day. Our personal lighting philosophy is to only use overhead lights ONLY when 1) we’re trying to locate a lost toy for one of the kids, 2) we are dealing with a very messy round of diaper duty, or 3) we are mopping the floor (so we can see spots we missed). That’s about it.
“The Great Lampshade Mishap of ’06″ forced me to buy all new shades. (When moving, we somehow completely lost the huge box containing all of our lamps’ shades. We never found them. Still an open mystery. It ended up being more of a blessing than a curse, though, since I was able to buy shades that complimented each other better.) Almost every new shade I bought has a golden, sheer (organza?) covering. I love the way the light filters through.
I get even more romantic in style when it comes to lamps in my daughter’s room. If only I could put curtains on every window that cascade like the fabric on this shade:
Though I only have one (beside my husband’s side of the bed), I love, love black taffeta shades with gold paper liners:
My dilemmas lie in two rooms: The kitchen and dining room.
We currently have a kitchen counter upheaval and replacement planned, but the cost of under-cabinet lighting was too steep to include in “stage one.” Does anyone have any other creative ideas other than placing lamps on the countertop for incandescent workspace lighting?
In the dining room, we have a wrought iron chandelier that I love…but the shades came with the unit, and they’re speckled ivory paper…and they’re starting to crack (after only 3 years). I’d love to be a little bolder — perhaps red beaded shades? Gold mesh like all my others? Black with gold foil? Don’t want to overdress the arms of the fixture.
Thanks, thanks, thanks for stopping by my little spot! Have fun exploring the other submissions to Nesting Place‘s lampapalooza! I hope to gain a lot of inspiration about one of my favorite aspects of making a house a home!
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The Nester (2 years ago)
What about rope lighting hidden underneath the cabs? Or edie from Life in Grace got clip lights from ikea and clipped them to the top of her cabs–I showed a photo in the painted cab post I just did and linked to her blog.
suzanne (2 years ago)
I think you could go a little decorative with your dining room shade since it’s so simple….could you use the frames of the shades and just recover them? Love your other lamps.
Suzanne
June (2 years ago)
Your lamps look great! What about pretty a pretty trim on your dining room shades?
Gina @ The Shabby Chic Cottage (2 years ago)
Such pretty lighting! I love the gathered one, its dreamy!
Vivienne (2 years ago)
I love your daughter’s lamp. Beautiful!
I like your fixture – I re-did my chandelier shades with scrapbook paper and beaded trim….
Jennifer @ Blogging God And Me (2 years ago)
I love your lamps!! Very stylish.
Mrs. Petrie (2 years ago)
How funny that all your lamp shades were lost! The lamp shade in your daughter’s room is so artistic.
Cathy @ The Stylish House (2 years ago)
Hi,
You have a collection of some very pretty lamps. I love unusual ones, because they add have so much character!
~Cathy~
Amanda@ImperfectlyBeautiful (2 years ago)
Beautiful lighting! I especially LOVE that drapey one in your daughter’s room.
~Amanda
Kelly W. (2 years ago)
You could buy the little round battery powered LED lights. They work like tap lights and have double stick tape so you can attach them under the cabinets.
http://thehouseofwhimsy.blogspot.com/ (2 years ago)
Such lovely lamps…every single one!