Aluminum Wall Lantern

Buying Period Lighting For Your Home

Are you looking to add elegant period outdoor lighting to your home? There are so many lighting reproductions available today that are not just style-friendly but style-specific in ways that add architectural richness and detail to your home. Although Early American fixtures have been popular since the early 1920s, today's best reproductions display the quirky imperfections that make the increasingly rare period pieces so desirable.

Almost any design can be rated for outdoor use on the porch, around an entry or alongside a backyard path. Owners of Early and some Colonial Revival homes can choose rectangular lanterns with or without guards. Also available are onion and globe lamps with decorative carry straps for wall, ceiling or post mount. Best of all, these replications are made with authentic materials: tin, terne, iron and copper. So if you own an older home, you can rest assured that there is something out there just for you.

Gaslight Fixtures

If your home dates to the mid to late 19th century, there are options available for real gaslight in fixtures closely modeled after the flared, multi-paned, lantern, globe and acorn shades of that period. If you're considering both gas and electric options, Charleston Gaslight is a wonderful store that offers both in a variety of 19th century and Early American styles. These types of lights will give your home a feeling of authenticity that mimics the original fixtures that would been found in the home.

Mission-style Lighting

With the popularity of Mission Craftsman style and Arts & Crafts furniture homeowners find themselves trying to match their lighting with this wonderful style. These days it's easy to find a variety of options in Arts and Crafts and Mission-era lighting. If you're looking for a traditional reproduction, at least a dozen manufacturers base their pieces on true period examples. But for those who are ready to ride the next wave of Arts and Crafts design, others offer sophisticated interpretations of classic pieces in materials like copper and bronze. Many modern versions of reproductions are tailored for specific uses beyond the traditional entry light and lamp post. For example, you can find Arts & Crafts and Mission-inspired bronze footlights at places like Coe Studios. In addition, Brass Light Gallery offers versatile designs that easily morph from entries and porches to column mounts and garden path lights.

Electric-Era Lights

After the 19th century, electronic-era lighting influences almost every style in the home. These styles include everything from Colonial Revival facsimiles and reproductions of "medieval" designs originally found on Tudor and Spanish Colonial Revival homes, to those bare-bulb over-the-garage industrial lights and Atomic Age fixtures re-created from the grooviest lights that ever graced a sixties porch. These are all obviously electric fixtures, but most will also accept GU24 bulbs as well. Available in a variety of metals, from sturdy cast iron to aluminum to elegant bronze, these designs often boast inventive finishes such as black enamel and unlacquered bronze, capturing the authentic look of those beautiful era and period pieces.

About the Author

Sandra McNulty writes for
RemodNewYork.com
and is currently remodeling her turn of the century brownstone. To learn more about home improvement and
interior design
in general you can visit her blog at http://www.RemodNewYork.com

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