Robin Rains recently returned from France with a floor lamp crafted from old oyster cultivating rods.

“It had a really interesting design because you could see where the oyster actually lived,” she said.

Rains, a local interior designer and the owner of Old Hillsboro Antiques, said such original and out-of-the-box pieces sell as fast as she can get them rewired, a fact that points to a hot new trend in home decoration: antique and vintage lighting.

Experts say antique and vintage lighting comes in two forms: original lighting fixtures like chandeliers, sconces and lamps salvaged from pre-existing buildings, houses, churches and factories or any antique material such as wrought iron, pottery or stone or wood artifacts transformed into a lighting fixture. The term “antique” refers to anything a century or more old while “vintage” is used to denote age, though not quite 100 years.

“Antique lighting has always been popular among designers but now more stores are offering it,” Rains said. “So when people see it they are drawn to it because often it is more individual, more unusual and it looks of better quality.
“Antique lighting, over new lighting, is also being used as pieces of art and accent pieces,” Rains added. “And, it’s eclectic but you can use the lights in traditional or contemporary settings. Depending on the lamp shade, you can use a drum shape to make it more contemporary, or a beautiful pleated silk shade to be more traditional.”

Randy Farmer, the owner of Artifacts Antiques, credits the popularity of antique lighting to its novelty factor.

“A lot of people are looking for one-of-a-kind things. They don’t want to go into someone else’s home and see chandeliers they have in their home as well,” Farmer said.

Most of the antique lighting — whether an original piece or something turned into a lighting fixture — available in local antique stores is bought in Europe or the Northeast and shipped here.

“There’s no really one good source for finding antique lighting,” said Keith Merry, the owner of Garden Park Antiques. “It comes by accident most of the time. It is very difficult to find antique lighting fixtures south of the Mason Dixon Line because we have so few old buildings. But go into the Northeast and they have a whole lot of old structures that have fixtures in them. So, if they are tearing down old homes, that is the time those pieces will usually come out. Factories and churches are a good source for light fixtures — typically a lot of lanterns or sconces hang in churches. You might find lighting done in wrought iron, bronze. You’ll even find aluminum and copper.”

Reconfigured factory fixtures are popular among people living in downtown lofts, where the raw, industrial look of the pieces matches the feel of the lofts, Merry said. For example, Merry will remove the baluster from an old wood railing, drill a hole through the center, add a shade and wire it to create a desk lamp.

“They are very cool, very unusual. Limestone fragments, old oil cans, old terracotta bricks — it’s amazing what we’ve been able to turn into a lamp,” Merry said.

Rains counts an old iron gate, shell and coral fragments, a brass horse head bust and iron candle holders as some of the most unusual materials she has used to reinvent into a lamp.

Farmer, meanwhile, specializes in “bringing the outside in” by using old lanterns originally hung on commercial buildings in a hallway or over an island in a kitchen.

“I think that makes it interesting especially with an old copper or bronze lantern that has developed a wonderful, dark, dull patina and you can bring that patina into the house,” Farmer said.

These reincarnated pieces as well as original antique lighting must be rewired. Most electricians will require the pieces be Underwriters Laboratories-approved, which means it passes safety requirements, Merry said. Original wiring in antique lighting used cloth, so older pieces must be updated with modern technology.

Hanging lighting such as a chandelier can be tricky, Rains said, but a good rule to follow is to hang the piece 36 inches above the height of the table. If you have a large room and a large dining table, Rains recommends a good-sized fixture since a smaller one would appear out of scale. She also suggests a larger fixture for taller ceilings and smaller ones for lower ceilings.

“Over-sized pieces usually make a better statement, so if you are in doubt, go larger than smaller,” Rains said.

source : www.nashvillecitypaper.com