New Obsession - Less is More

About a month ago, I was at a garage sale and came across a vintage lamp for $0.50. If you ask my husband, I am like a moth to a flame when it comes to lamps. We currently have 6 lamps in 3 rooms, but I actually had 5 more in the house before the home and condo renovations. So I purchased this vintage arm lamp for two whole quarters, and brought it home to live in our sun room.

It is the perfect reading lamp, but I felt like it needed a shade. After several failed trips to local hardware and lighting stores to find a shade that looks vintage and fits, I had just about given up on making it look less tacky with just a bulb. Enter the 700+ page of Restoration Hardware's newest catalog. I sat down for a whole hour scouring the pages, when what comes along? This:

These bulbs are so beautiful, and I thought, why not buy a vintage style bulb for a vintage lamp, and leave it exposed?! I had to wait a whole two weeks with this idea until I could get to our local Restoration Hardware with my husband. I made the sales associate pull out all the bulbs she had from the back so that we could plug them all into a lamp and check them out. I think my husband was a little skeptical at first, but once we saw them in person, he was on board! They really are amazing and beautiful, and one of our favorites was the Radio bulb (fourth from left above). The color of the glass is almost amber, and the filament is so cool when it is on. However, it only comes in a 30 watt bulb, and it just wasn't enough light to make ours a reading lamp.

We ended up deciding on the 40 watt Edison 1910 squirrel cage bulb, and since they are having a lighting sale, we got it for $13. Of course, that seems like a lot for one light bulb, but I have to say that it definitely adds the bit of drama to the light without making it look fussy or too modern. And considering the pieces I had previously found to retrofit a shade on the lamp, it would have cost me twice that much. I still think that a lamp for a total of $13.50 is a great deal!

When it comes to vintage pieces, sometimes less is more.

PS- This weekend, once my camera battery is charged, I will take a photo of the lamp and the new light bulb, just to prove how they were meant to be together. Update, here are some photos: