Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Camera! Action! Lights!

I stressed about the lights in the study all week. Then, I walked into ReSource, a local salvage and used building supply purveyor on my way home from picking up the pillars.

I saw these shades and bases:

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Three of each, to be exact. They aren't from the same light... in fact, they probably aren't even from the same decade, though I am bad at that (anyone have any guesses for the true age of either?). They look really cute together, though!

Can't beat the price: $5 for each complete light fixture
Can't beat the environmental impact: Three light fixtures reused

Here's what it looks like on the ceiling:

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I took the light from the study and moved it into the living room; quite an improvement over the nipple lamp.

I discovered some scary looking wiring in the lightbox of my study:
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Here are some before and after shots, including a picture of the never before seen "smallest room in the house" (it's 8'x10' minus a closet, and my studio).

Front Study (my husband's)

Before: (with huge light)

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After:

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Back Study (Mine)

(This room is the only one with those neat windows, and this is the ONLY shot I can get of the room and the light at the same time, since it's so small)

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Living Room

Before:

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After:

(Complete with two sleeping puppies)

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I would love any ideas you have about the scariness of the electrical wires in my ceiling or the age of the light fixtures!

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't know much about these things, but that shade screams late-50s to me.

However, I can say that I love the light in the living room, *and* those sure are some curly dogs! How cute :)

Fred said...

Nothing looks particularly scary to me in that electrical box. I'm no electrician, but it doesn't look like anything is terribly out of code. I think I could explain how the light is wired from looking at the picture, if that's what you're asking...

I like both lights...but have no idea the age.

Joanne said...

The new lights are adorable, and the one formerly in the study looks much better in the living room. Now what are you going to do with the nipple light? :-)

Amalie said...

Love Love Love!

That HD one looks much better in the living room.

We recently salvaged the shades from some 1950s (I assume) fixtures. The house they were in was definitely a mid-century one, and they really are just versions of our cheapo apartment style lights on steroids, but I love them.

Yay for light!

(And yay for the doods-- they're cute!)

The Martineaus said...

Darling lights Jennifer. I would guess 50s era on the shades too. Cute puppies!

Anonymous said...

Great find on those lights.

I agree with Fred, the wiring in that picture doesn't look too scary, as long as the insulation is intact and not brittle, it should be okay.

Those architectural salvage places are a great resource. I could spend all day poking around and finding things. Unfortunately, the closest one for me is 80 miles away in Albany.

Sarah said...

LOVE the puppies!!!