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.
Before/After
My online vintage lighting store. The sconces are quite large and would be ideal for a home theater, three to each side. Fabulous! My online vintage lighting store.
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My online vintage lighting store. My online vintage lighting store.
Continue ReadingBefore. After.
My online vintage lighting store. My online vintage lighting store.
Continue ReadingBefore. After.
My online vintage lighting store. When I purchased this 1920s pan-stye fixture is was caked with paint. In the following image I had already started working on it, having removed its sockets and other parts: My online vintage lighting store.
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My online vintage lighting store. My online vintage lighting store.
Continue ReadingRestoring Dignity
My online vintage lighting store. I purchased a 1920s pan-style fixture. It had been redone about a decade ago. New turn-key sockets were installed with cheap plastic keys. The wiring was plastic. And the thin chain was from Home Depot. The fixture has also been polished bright and lacquered. Oh, the horror. The fixture…
Continue ReadingA Great Beauty
My online vintage lighting store. My online vintage lighting store.
Continue ReadingA Rare Illumination
My online vintage lighting store. For a number of years I had an incredibly rare newel post lamp in storage. I was not sure it had all its parts. It also need a lot of work. Yesterday, I took pity on the poor dear. It was too special to be regulated to storage…
Continue ReadingBefore. After.
My online vintage lighting store. My online vintage lighting store.
Continue ReadingBefore. After.
My online vintage lighting store. My online vintage lighting store.
Continue ReadingBefore. After.
My online vintage lighting store. My online vintage lighting store.
Continue ReadingBefore. After.
My online vintage lighting store. My online vintage lighting store.
Continue ReadingBefore. After. Redux.
My online vintage lighting store. My online vintage lighting store.
Continue ReadingBefore. After.
My online vintage lighting store. My online vintage lighting store.
Continue ReadingBefore. After.
My online vintage lighting store. As I began working on it I realized: It had been renovated. It had been turned upside-down. A 1970s wood stem had been inserted. Other parts were not original. It originally held crystals. It had been badly overpainted. So, I waved my magic wand over it three times…
Continue ReadingAn Unexpected Beauty
My online vintage lighting store. So, y’all know how much Kenny enjoys scouring Facebook Marketplace. He’s good at finding things not just for the Cross House, but vintage lights as well. I always pay him a finder’s fee. Recently, he forwarded a late 1950s brass chandelier. Such chandeliers were wildly popular in the 1950s, 1960s,…
Continue ReadingAn Art Deco Pillow
My online vintage lighting store. My online vintage lighting store.
Continue ReadingBefore. After.
My online vintage lighting store. My online vintage lighting store.
Continue ReadingBefore. After.
My online vintage lighting store. My online vintage lighting store.
Continue ReadingBefore. After.
My online vintage lighting store. My online vintage lighting store.
Continue Reading