Shedding Light: Designing Lamps Just for You

– By Allen Clark –

Time was when a family needed a new lamp, mom went to the department store, where she could choose from a dozen or so offerings that looked pretty much like the ones in her neighbors' homes. Those days are over. Now, finding a new lamp is an adventure — the good kind.

Today, shops like Victoria Lighting and Design on Purchase Street are creating one-of-a-kind lamps and other lighting fixtures that reflect the personal tastes and interests of the customer, often using unique bases that the customer brings in.

Practically any item can be transformed into a lamp, ranging from the more traditional jars, vases or candlesticks to the unusual, like musical instruments, leather goods or sculpture. There are technical issues, such as drilling and balance, but those can usually be handled, says Tori Holland, Victoria Lighting's proprietor. The more interesting issue is creativity.

Take musical instruments. One company in Vermont (Brinkerhoff Lamps & Shades) started creating personalized lamps 20 years ago, topping each with hand-painted, musically annotated shades. At first, customers brought them old horns or reed instruments to be converted into table lamps. Then, requests started coming in for all sizes of instruments, including a trombone and a tuba to be made into floor lamps. A particularly graceful example is a 24-inch table lamp made from a silver-plated clarinet, which echoes the owner's musical interests while providing a strong source of light.

Converting old wooden pieces into table lamps is a particularly nice way to add warmth and individuality to a room. Old finials from Victorian porches and columns are easily adapted. Primitive sculptural pieces make eye-catching lamps, as do old tin and other metal containers.

Old glass or ceramic apothecary jars and other items, often found in flea markets, antique sales or restoration salvage centers, make perfect one-of-a-kind lamps that work well with both traditional and modern decors. The choice is yours — something you like or have personal memories of, done how you like and placed in your individual setting.

For those hobbyists who want to make their own lamps, kits are available at most hardware stores. But having an expert put your idea together is not that expensive. Most lamps of this type run between $65 and $125 (not counting the shade), says Holland, who offers both custom and off-the-shelf unusual lamps, including some made from birdcages, which can sit as table lamps or be hung.

Some of the more individual pieces she has worked on are a fireman's helmet (made into a lamp for a retirement present), a 4-foot tailor's bust/mannequin and, the “creepiest”, the bottom half of a goat's leg with hoof. She is currently searching for an old wagon wheel to make into a lighting fixture for a customer's family room.

There are issues with antiques, Holland says, but they are not problems. Where the material is fragile, for example, the cord can be attached at the top via what is called a French socket, rather than exiting through a hole drilled at the bottom. Using a transparent wire that runs down behind the lamp, the cord becomes almost unnoticeable.

There really are unending variations on design, shape and size. As one decorator, said, “The possibilities are limited only by your imagination.” And, with some flair and unique choices, the end result can be extremely striking and a nice reflection of you.