Lighting Up


I finally had to let go of the Eames/Danish Modern/Retro/Vintage/Funky lamp dream. I got tired of having all my lamps snaked out from under me. I did not start out to be a table lamp coolness avatar but there you go. If I was bidding on it you can bet that some hipster was just waiting to pounce on it. I decided to leave those to the fashion victims that had the deeper pockets. I had no idea that kitsch was so highly sought after. They were spending huge amounts on these things that to be totally honest, were not the most attractive things in the world and won't be the most attractive thing in there living room even. I will mock them in my very kitsch rayon Hawaiian print shirts.

These were fifty-year-old lamps for Gawd Sake! Most of them if you read the fine print had rather dark things to say about the wiring. They all suggested getting the lamp rewired prior to use, that this was a minimal cost. How do you get a lamp rewired? Call up your Lamp Man and have him take care of it? Not a clue. They were very pretty though, if you like that kind of thing and I do.

There was another problem with the lamps. Shipping. One that I really wanted for a while there thought I was going to get and of course got out bid on, was going to cost $60! That was in the very, very small print, even smaller then the "get it rewired or it will burn your house down" small print. $60 was twice what I would have paid for the damn thing. The seller said they were having it "professionally wrapped", and then what buy it a seat in first class?

Oh but Wahhhhh! One of them was really pretty and would have rawked my living room! It was so Mod and fifties and my house wants Mod and Fifties. My house is Mod and fifties! I was watching House Hunters the other night and one of the places they showed the guy was full of fabulous Eames lightage. There was a $300 Sputnik hanging lamp in the breakfast nook! The guy didn't even have a clue!

But I have moved on.

I am now about Antler lamps. All. About. Antler. Lamps . They are much closer to my outdoorsy. rustic, lodge-y theme I want for upstairs anyway. I got significantly off topic there for a while. I must remind myself, Upstairs! Knotty Pine! Lodge-y! Hipster cool would be nice too, if I could find it but most Lodge-y themed stuff is very, very unhip, and not in a cool, tragically unhip, ironic way either. In a lame, broken hip way.

So I went back to the auction board. I found some, and wow! Cheaper too! Chip Hipster isn't feeling Antler lamps right now. Well, I did bid on one so Chip will be nosing around sooner or later. Screw Chip! He got my Atomic Retro Lamp all ready! He doesn't need any more table lamps.

The Antler lamps are all cheaper but most of them don't come with shades. The shades are what makes them all lodge-y… but I did find one with a shade and it's not a great shade, it's all right and I think I could live with it. But. I have to win the little bastard first and that has been my waterloo. I can't win a damn thing. I thought you were supposed to be able to get fantastic deals on Ebay. All the stories are about people getting these amazing deals and so far? No amazing deals for me. Amazing escalating prices but no deals.