Apartment Decorating: Accent with Antique Lamps

Antique lamps are great items to create ambiance and flair in your decorating. Fortunately, they are neither difficult to find nor particularly expensive. The key to purchasing and using an antique lamp in your décor is to remember that what you find is not always what you need to settle for. Refinishing a cheaper lamp is an easy and fast way to create just the look you want. Below are a few tips for finding antique lamps to use in your apartment decorating.

Outdoor Markets

While antique stores will doubtless offer a wide variety of antique lamps, such stores can often charge quite a bit for their goods and be unwilling to negotiate. Outdoor or farmer’s markets are great places to scrounge for the same lamps at cheaper prices. Furthermore, the sellers at such places are often very willing to negotiate on price. Do not only limit your search to stands with furniture, but check all stalls offering home-goods, as these places may have hidden gems.

Garage Sales

With the number of people moving for work and family lately, garage sales offer surprising finds. Touring a neighborhood on a Saturday or Sunday morning may result in you finding multiple lamps at very reasonable prices. Do not hesitate to dig through items, as lamps are easily tossed into bigger containers or hidden behind other for-sale belongings.

Also, do not be afraid to haggle over the cost of the lamp. At a garage sale, it is almost expected for you to negotiate; no harm can come from merely asking!

Boutique Stores

To fill up space, boutique stores often sell items not connected to the main focus of their business. Nail salons, independent clothing stores and candle stores may surprise you by selling antique lamps. Browsing through these store’s selection of items may reveal more than you imagined.

What to Look For

An antique lamp is not going to look or possibly even operate perfectly. Rust or chipped paint may adorn an otherwise-perfect lamp. When searching for a lamp, remember that it can easily be refinished and outfitted with a new shade to make it work in your room. For this reason, pay close attention to the structure and construction and not the color of the lamp.

What to Strictly Avoid

Mechanical problems, however, should not be overlooked. Exposed wires, a missing or broken bulb holder or cracked base will cost serious money to replace, reducing the benefit of purchasing an antique. Of course, if you know how to fix such issues without needing to hire a professional, by all means do so. But beware these types of problems, because not only may they reduce the functionality of the lamp, but they may also pose a fire hazard.

If there are no visible defects to the lamp, ask the seller when it was last used and by whom. Not knowing or offering incomplete answers to these questions may mean that the lamp is too old to be used or is malfunctioning.

With a little work and refinishing, antique lamps easily incorporated into many decors. Stay clear of those lamps with obvious mechanical problems, however, as they may pose serious safety risks. Keep your eyes open, as you may encounter the perfect lamp in unexpected surroundings.