Making it Lovely

Tag: lamps

  • Pleated Lamp Shades

    Pleated Lamp Shades

    I ordered a few different styles and brands of black chandelier shades for our new sconces.

    Brass Sconces with Black Chandelier Shades | Making it Lovely

    We can talk a bit more about those once they’ve been installed. (Soon!) As far as the shades go though, I ordered a bunch to gauge quality (Royal Designs ftw), and among the options were black pleated shades. I loved them! Brandon hated them! Friends gently suggested that they looked dated, and Brandon said they belonged in a hotel. Since nobody liked the dated hotel look (except me — I forever and always love granny details), I went with sleek paper shades. They look fine. They look great, actually. But I’m still longing for a pleated shade.

    There’s a whole lot to love about this room designed by Miles Redd, but that pink pleated shade is particularly lovely.

    Miles Redd - Pink Gallery Wall

    More pink pleats from Miles Redd.

    Miles Redd - Red Lacquer Walls

    And Summer Thornton delivers too.

    Pink Pleated Lamp Shade - Summer Thornton Design

    I noticed when I was browsing table lamps for this post that I passed right by the one below on the left, but instantly gravitated toward the one on the right. It’s a smidge more traditional than I would typically go for, but oh, the difference a shade can make.

    Bradburn Gallery Lamps

    Yep. I’ve got to get some pleats in my home. I’ll leave you with a couple of vignettes from a room designed by Hamish Bowles to further make the case for granny details.

    Details from Hamish Bowles

  • Cloche Lamps

    Cloche Lamps

    They’re a thing. And they’re not exactly a new thing, but suddenly I’m entranced by them in a way that I wasn’t before — especially the clustered Edison bulb old-timey vaguely steampunky/sciencey versions. (That’s a technical term.)

    Restoration Hardware Chemistry Cloche Lamps
    Covered Cloche Edison Light Bulb Lamps

    1. Glass Cloche with String Lights, Target

    2. Edison Glass Cloche Table Lamp, World Market

    3. Royce Large Cloche, Arteriors

    4. Chemistry Cloche – Medium, Restoration Hardware (also shown above)

    5. Cloche Table Lamp, CB2

    6. Ketty Industrial Style Edison Bulb Glass Cloche Table Lamp, Homary

    So functional! You know, rather than displaying, say, a collection of vintage doll forms. (Which I’m also very much entranced by, yes.)

  • Changes in the Living Room

    Changes in the Living Room

    I had written earlier this year about how the living room had stayed fairly consistent over the last five years. I still like the room, but I had been feeling the need to shake things up a bit. So I’ve been making some changes.

    I got my hipster Chia pets. (Local friends, Carriage Flower Shop here in Oak Park has them.)

    I sold the orange chair (fare thee well, sweet orange chair!), and I have the floral chair floor sample that I repaired in its place. I was able to almost pay for the new chair with the old, and the chair paired with a floor lamp makes a nice reading corner.

    You may recognize the pillows in the room from yesterday’s post. I should point out that August gave me that red/orange pillow for my birthday last week. Didn’t he do a great job picking it out? I suspect Brandon helped him, but good job all around.

    The rocking chair is upstairs (because I am lazy sometimes and don’t like to cart it upstairs and back down for August’s monthly photo), so we brought back the other Eames chair and the elephant. It is possible that I have too much of an affinity for Eames furniture, but they’re classic investment pieces that I don’t tire of. Plus they’re sentimental for us. We got the LCW when we were married, the rocking chair when we were expecting, and the elephant for our first Christmas as new parents.

    There are still some things I’d like to do in the living room. I took down the silhouette quilt above the sofa. It was funny to have that many heads in one space now that the busts are on the side tables! So we need some different art. Or a mirror? Not sure.

    I’d also like to switch out the side table next to the floral chair. It’s cute, but the spindle doesn’t play well with the floor lamp behind it and something chunkier would look better. Oh, and I keep putting it off but I need to paint the trim white. I’m always too busy, but I don’t think there will be a time when I’m not busy, so I really should just force myself to tackle it.

    What else? Maybe one more pillow. Maybe different curtains (maybe). Not much… the room if feeling pretty good now.

  • In Search of a Brass Floor Lamp

    In Search of a Brass Floor Lamp

    I’ve turned my attention to this corner of the living room. It needs a little something-something.

    The previous chair had been great, but the crazy multi-colored floral is where my taste lies these days. I still plan to paint the trim white, it’s probably time to switch out the art, and the chair needs a pillow too. I’ve moved the dress form down to the basement, so I need something else with some height there. The living room doesn’t get enough light for a house plant (thanks to the front porch and a large tree out front), but it’s an ideal spot to add another lamp to the room. The only problem is that there is no outlet there. I think we can run a cord along the trim, maybe along the other side so it’s less noticeable, and it will be fine.

    I’m thinking brass might be the way to go.


    1, 2, 3

    That second one above would be perfect, but it’s expensive. I’ve not had any luck in vintage/thrifted yet, and I haven’t seen anything else in the stores that’s terribly exciting. I’m kind of into this one too, but it’s still pricey. Maybe by the time I get around to finishing the trim, the right lamp will have come along? Maybe.

    p.s. Interested in the orange Astrid chair from Anthropologie? It’s in great shape and it’s for sale. Email me. Sold!

  • Rabbit and Squirrel Lamps

    Rabbit and Squirrel Lamps

    What could make little forest creatures even more adorable? If they were made of white ceramic. And lit up.

    • Squirreled Away Lamp
    • Hippity-Hop Lamp

  • Office Lamp Mock-ups

    Office Lamp Mock-ups

    I tried out a few lamps with Photoshop to see which one I liked best, but I’m still not sure.

    Here’s the office with the new lamp:

    Office Lamp

    Here’s the same lamp, but with a white shade:

    office-lamps-2lg.jpg
    (more…)