Shade Swap
Last weekend Andrew and I hit up an estate sale in Glencoe. Our mood was very, estate sales have been sucking lately and this will be the same. Well just like your mother always said, when you stop looking is when it happens. We didn't come away with much except a couple of books and a lamp, but oh what a lamp it is. Now the real dilemma begins... to refurb or not to refurb.
So first things first, the lamp is ridiculously perfect and the shade is new (we swapped it out when we got home):
In fact, was it even possible to purchase a pure white shade pre-1970? Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, out there is amber. And it's not just yellowing with age. We're talking straight up tea-stained shadesville.
So the shade issue was a no-brainer, but now comes the real dilemma: To polish, or not to polish. Don't get me wrong, Andrew and I both love the faded-glory look we've got going on here. There's something incredibly sobering about a really glamorous shape with a little bit of tarnish.
But this piece is in such good condition, how could you not take it to the next level? Enter Simichrome:
In case you're not familiar, Simichrome is German, highly toxic and will bring absolutely anything back from the dead. This lamp doesn't need a resuscitation so much as a little facelift. And not even a face lift... more like botox.
And what of the original shade? Despite my aversion to vintage shades, I do recognize a good thing when I see it. Since it was in absolutely perfect condition we swapped it out with the eagle lamp. You remember him...
'memba me?
We think the striation and glow this gives off is much more suited to eagle eyes. In a word, serendipity.
Of course, this doesn't explain why Apartment Therapy chose to feature the eagle lamp over the orb lamp in Monday's Scavenger Roundup. - oh yeah, they're both for sale. I'm not trying to look a gift horse in the mouth, but I'm just so in love with the orb lamp that I don't get it at all.
In any case, which ever persona you're putting on for the day, we've got a lamp for you:
Aging Hollywood Starlet: Click here
Landed Colonial Gentry: Click here
