I have been restoring vintage lights since I was a teenager in the mid-1970s. An Interstate highway was being rammed through the city where I lived, and I ran (steps ahead of the bulldozers, and with my shag haircut flying) from one incredible building to another, and from one incredible house to another, and salvaged everything I could.
My poor, bewildered parents. Their garage was soon chock-a-block with what I thought were treasures beyond compare. But which they thought was just useless flotsam. I did though once overhear my mom say: “Well, at least he’s not out doing drugs.”
However, when all their boring lights were systematically replaced with the most stunning lights they had ever seen – and all for free, rewired, and restored – they soon had second thoughts about the flotsam. (I paid for new parts by mowing lawns!)
Fast forward many decades.
One day I realized I had a pile of old lights rusting away in my basement. I hauled a few out, restored them (bringing back many old memories), and listed them on eBay.
At the time I had no idea, not a clue, that I had just radically changed my life.
Within months my life was unrecognizable, and I was working full time restoring vintage lighting and selling the fixtures across America.
My new e-commerce website is now online. Whoee! Please feel free to shop and purchase here:
My blog post are below.
A Thrice of Sheridons
My online vintage lighting store. My online vintage lighting store.
Continue ReadingA Curvaceous Reminder
My online vintage lighting store. My online vintage lighting store.
Continue ReadingA Continuing Niche PLAN
I have been writing abut the niche in the stairhall. As previously noted, the niche is small but, per square inch, packs more architectural wallop than any other space in the house. In but an area about 3-feet deep by 6-feet wide, there are two columns, an arch, two doors, and three arched stained-glass windows….
Continue ReadingA Continuing Niche…Dreaded
Doing this corner was hard because it requires that I bend a lot, and am forced to squat and sit. And my sixty-one-year-old body protests mightily. It is the kind of work that I would have not given a thought to at, say, forty. But sixty-one? Ouch. After sitting on the floor…
Continue ReadingA Continuing Niche
Several readers have asked about how I do this. NOTE: My method will only work if the old finish is shellac. I pour denatured alcohol into a bowl. I use a cheap, small brush. Liberally apply to wood. Over and over and over. Rub the brush against the wood. The old shellac will dissolve…
Continue ReadingBefore. After.
My online vintage lighting store. For all these years I had assumed that the fixture was gold and the silver base was a later bad spray job. But it developed that most…
Continue ReadingEnjoying the Self-Selected Hunt
In 2014, when I began to paint the exterior of the 1894 Cross House, I had self-selected criteria: I did NOT want a “painted lady” effect. This is a look created by hippies in the 1960s when they took “gloomy” old Victorians and painted them in many many many colors (normally fueled by LSD). The…
Continue ReadingA Moe-Bridges Set
My online vintage lighting store. My online vintage lighting store.
Continue ReadingThe Niche…Revisted
A few months ago I began restoring the stairhall niche. This little space is, per square inch, the most architecturally jammed-packed in the entire house. In an area about 3-feet wide x 5-feet there are two paneled doors with elaborate trim, three arched stained-glass windows with elaborate trim, and two carved oak columns supporting a…
Continue ReadingA Petite Visitor
This morning, I showered, and then reached for the towel to dry myself. Then I placed the towel back on its hook. It was then that I saw a spider at the edge of the tub. I like spiders. So, I wished it no harm and turned away. A moment later I moved to the…
Continue ReadingParlor 4.0
As I have previously written, my worry was that, if I did not get the parlor right, then I would get every other room in the house wrong. The parlor was also a steep learning curve: WHAT would work in an 1894…
Continue ReadingFun with Furniture. NOT!
I am no longer having fun with furniture. My two previous posts detailed the criteria I have set for selecting antiques for the 1894 Cross House: That each piece be period-correct to the house. So, early 1890s. That each piece complement the house, in terms of quality and style. This all seems innocuous enough but…
Continue ReadingComparisons
This is a political post. If you don’t like politics, don’t scroll down. Trump spent eight years claiming that the economy under Obama was terrible. This, like almost everything Trump says, is a lie. Trump has…
Continue ReadingColorful Moes
My online vintage lighting store. The fixture was created by Moe Light in the late 1930s and was sold through to the 1950s. The shades came in five colors. I particularly like the distinctive ceiling mounts. Only recently did I purchase the mounts, which I did because I had the four shades in…
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