Material comes from Old-House Journal, Old-House Interiors, and Arts & Crafts Homes magazines, and includes stories by contributors and editors.
In its period precedent, material, and finish, lighting enhances the style of an interior. You can mix and match, of course, as most old houses have lighting from various periods. Many period reproductions that would have been lit with oil, kerosene, or gas were adapted for electricity. You can still buy antique and vintage fixtures and lamps.
Does anything else besides lighting so perfectly combine beauty with utility? Lighting is necessary, but at the same time its placement and design creates a mood. The fixture or lamp itself may be an object of beauty, even unlit. We may see the skill of the woodworker, the metalsmith, the potter, and the glass artist.
Lighting may just be the most visible, and affordable, way to lend style and ambiance to a room.
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Suppliers: A directory of Arts & Crafts lighting & lamp makers