Tuesday, February 14, 2012

let there be...

About a hundred years ago I was an actor. Well, more like a struggling one. I'll never forget being in a make-up trailer waiting my turn at the chair. The actress who was getting her make-up done had pretty much had enough with the process and the amount of time it was taking getting her look "just so." She was not a fan on sitting around to get "perfected" as the studio wanted. Finally, after unsuccessfully trying to be patient, she ripped off her bib and proclaimed, "Sweetie, it doesn't matter how much you fuss with my face. If the lighting guy doesn't know how to light me, I'm going to look like a troll, but if he does--I'll look stunning even without a dab of make-up. Hell, I'll look gorgeous even on a troll day, if he lights the f*** out of me."

How do you follow that? I didn't.

The same could be said about a room. You can spend a ton of dough, time and design effort only to have it all fade away, or not be highlighted properly with bad lighting.

I'm a big fan of lighting. Big fan. I also like the vessel that light comes in. Lamps, sconces, chandeliers, all of it. The more unique, vintage, odd, whimsical, classic, daring, the better. This is one area where you don't necessarily have to spend a lot of money. You just have to be creative.

Thrift store, yard sale, flea market finds make for spectacular lighting statements. Some of the best deals can be found there. If you have a good electrician/lamp repair person, even more reason to scour for lighting treasures at your local flea market. Sometimes a brand new shade is all that's needed. The lamp to the left of my big bald noggin, in the header pic with Baxter, is such a find. A yard sale marble base with a new shade from Restoration Hardware. The shade cost more.

Then, there's this place--Rejuvenation. It has new lighting, restored antiques, shades, hardware, bulbs, oh the mind reels. It's worth looking at their site, even if it's for inspiration alone. 

She who shall not be named (the impatient make-up trailer actress) would be very pleased. -angelo


Beth said...

I have a bit of a compulsion where lamps are concerned. I love them. I keep a Design folder of bookmarks in my browser and the Lamps subfolder has the most links, by far.

I just need a bigger house to accommodate all of the ones I want to buy.

Bromeliad said...

Great story.

Bromeliad said...

p.s. the new blogger word verification stinks. you moderate anyway so you probably don't need it.
