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?
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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