I was recently poring over the work of Billy Haines, the 1920’s matinee idol who reinvented himself to become one of America’s foremost interior designers. From the 1930’s to the 1970’s, Haines almost single-handedly promoted a “California design style” that combined Hollywood glamour, modernist chic, oriental flavor, and outdoor living with a unique American vision that departed radically from the more European leaning designers who ruled the Eastern seaboard and Midwest. His popularity has more recently risen due to current fascination with Mid-century modern and his witty designs have truly struck a familiar and pleasant chord. Along with his streamlined biscuit tufted sofas, his use of wrought iron and his imaginative drapery designs, he cleverly adapted numerous objects to lamps.
In this Montana log Guest cabin that we recently completed, a pair of bedside lamps are made of repurposed iron grates that once surrounded young tree trunks on a sidewalk or in a park. They are slightly modern, slightly industrial and totally wonderful in the room.
Haines was the first to convert oriental vases, Chinese Buddhas and figurines of all sorts to lamps. Lamps no longer simply provided task lighting, but for Haines they also brought sculpture and statuary to the home, dramatically downlit by an Edison bulb above and topped with a shapely, befringed confection of a lampshade. Although Haines may have destroyed many a good Chinese vase and pierced many an ancient Buddha, we can draw inspiration from his concepts and run with them.
Take for instance, Jonathan Adler lamps. His stoic horse lamp and attenuated giraffe lamp are the whacked out grandchildren of Haines’ statuary lamps. Graphic in their pottery whiteness, Adler’s lamps hint at the fun possibilities we all might have if we put an electric chord, a light bulb and a found object together.
In this fire Island beach Living Room that we installed two summers ago, the pair of lamps is made from Victorian-era newel posts from a Brooklyn townhouse, and the single lamp is a vintage glass jar filled with sand and shells.
Last summer, while scouring the fabulous Bridgehampton Historical Society’s antique show, I spotted creativity unsurpassed: two wire minnow traps stitched together, crowned by a translucent drum shade. Call me and four other decorators crazy, but this airy construction, graceful in line and proportion and graphic in its humble origin, drove us all into a bidding war. Lamps constructed of a large thin slice of translucent swirling onyx, lamps with curvaceous glass beakers filled with layers of colored sand and charred seashells, and lamps with incredible assemblages of vintage popsicle sticks all had “sold” signs on them. All perfect for vacation houses, these creative lamp solutions certainly give a room that individual flair we all search for.
This is a very chic Fifth Avenue home that we just recently completed. The Entry Hall lamps are early 19th century bronze d’ore candlesticks, wired for electricity.
Pottery Barn, Crate & Barrel and West Elm all certainly sport lamps of tasteful, careful design at a reasonable price point. But how much more fun would it be this Summer to locate that spectacular object at a yard sale and create your own masterpiece of illumination?
Consider using vintage toys, newel posts, garden urns, antique tools or candelabras. Why not use unusual glass vases, old piano legs, musical instruments or architectural fragments? Perhaps you might spy unusual shells, driftwood, or blocks of Plexiglas. Look for a pleasing silhouette, interesting patina, or a sleek stance. If you harbor doubts about your choice of item for lamp conversion and you’re suddenly feeling unsure of your design vision, ask a trusted friend if you’re nuts (surely he or she will be honest). Unless you are a die-hard do-it-yourselfer, you should always entrust a local lamp shop for sound advice on how to best wire your newfound treasure.
So, this weekend when you’re browsing through your local flea market or antique fair, keep your eyes open for that perfect discovery to convert into a lighting fixture. In the end you’ll have a very special one-of-a-kind piece for your home that you can proudly say you designed. My advice, though: get there early, or you’ll be competing for that minnow basket lamp!
