Monday, September 14, 2009

My Lighting Dilemma

Okay, I love the green revolution that we are having. I have the reusable bags. I recycle diligently. I save and reuse the plastic forks I get at fast food joints. I even have a granny grocery getter tricycle. I love the earth and believe in sustainability, but from a lighting perspective I hate being green. Don't get me wrong, I use the compact florescents, but I hate them. They look awful in my antique and reproduction Victorian chandeliers.

There will soon be a time when I will no longer be able to buy the lovely clear glass incandescent light bulbs. It makes me crazy because I am all about aesthetics. I have threatened many a time, that I am going to stock pile my attic full of these pretty bulbs so that I don't have to diminish the loveliness of my fixtures.

So now I am looking for antique and reproduction lighting for the family room project. I have been agonizing over what to buy. Between the family room and the adjacent hallways, I need at least 2 chandeliers, 2 sconces and a pendant. I think that I am going to purchase reproduction fixtures in nickel (a girl has gotta have some bling). I would like to find antique shades, but so many of the ones I like would look awful with spirally florescent bulbs.

So I keep trolling eBay for elegant shades and fixtures. Mostly window shopping but not buying. I guess you could say I have cold feet. These pics show some of the things I've liked. I love love the beautiful etched clear to yellow shade. I sold for like $400 which I couldn't afford anyway, so I guess it doesn't matter how it would look with a modern bulb.

There are antique shades that would work with these new fangled bulbs, I just don't like them as much. They are less transparent, so they provide a little less twinkle. I pondered on this cutie, but decided it was slightly too green a yellow.

I like this fixture a whole lot, but I would have to have it nickel plated to keep it in my color scheme. I like the egg and dart theme. There is a little of that in the house, mainly on the front door, and I have repeated the theme in the new mantel. This would look great in the hallway.






Any thoughts on fixtures, shades and bulbs? Anyone else out there crazy like me?

1 comment:

  1. So, there are LED bulbs in "warm white" that mimic incandescents, but they are expensive. I personally dislike the "end-of-life" feature on flourescents. Up until recently, there were no standards on "end of life" safety. When some of our older bulbs went, they exploded in a poof of acrid smoke and sparks. And in rare instances---like if they had been installed in a lamp with a fabric lined shade---they can catch fire. So if you DO ever go with flourescents, make sure they were manufactured post November 2009.

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