The Lampshades and Stiffel Lamps in Decorating
Most decorators and designers have a natural affinity for Stiffel lamps and lampshades. produced by the Stiffel firm, which Ted Stiffel started in Chicago, Illinois, around 1932. The Stiffel Company, which specialises in the old world antique style and charm, has long relied on the skills of its brilliant designers to drive its business. The Stiffel Company is acknowledged and regarded as a leader in the field of cutting-edge lamp designs and lighting thanks to its superior design and excellent quality standards.
During one of my many career moves, we were furnishing a new home, and that is when I first learned about the Stiffel lamps and abażury. I had only ever owned lamps from K-Mart or, if you were really spending, a furniture retailer up until this point. My wife chose lamps that I thought were incredibly pricey. Additionally, they were the heaviest lighting I had ever seen. She said, “They’re Stiffel lamps,” as an explanation.
You should keep the lighting in mind when planning to alter the style or décor of a room in your home. In any environment, changing the lighting may have a significant impact. Light may be softened to effortlessly adjust the atmosphere. Use one of the “soft white bulbs,” like those made by GE, to achieve this. This can also be done by switching out a lampshade. On either side of the bed, lamps are common in bedrooms. To maintain continuity and offer uniformity, they must to be identical bulbs.
To learn more about the various kinds of bulbs that are available, browse the internet. Sources may include advice from decorators or interior designers. Manufacturers of lamps also share details about their products. You may instantly have all the information you could ever need at your fingertips if you use the search features of one of the internet browsers, such Google or Yahoo. I’d advise you to think carefully about the design motif you have in mind for your space, whether it’s colonial, western, rural, or vintage. Do a search for each of those terms, then choose the course you want to take.
The kind of base would need to be taken into account. Are ceramic or metal more appealing to you? Do you like bronze, brass, or pewter? Each of these has a purpose. Once more, investigation can lead you to a solution. If antiques are your thing, you might choose to visit an antique mall where a wide variety of lamps, including Stiffel lamps, would be available. Where I live, in Houston, there are quite a few similar businesses.
Estate or garage sales can be another resource. Don’t let the state of the lamp or lampshade deter you too much from your search. One word of advice would be to thoroughly examine the wiring and socket. I might even recommend swapping out both. At one of your local Lowes or Home Depot stores, a kit may be obtained for a reasonable price. The material from a lampshade can be readily recovered to create a brand-new shade. On YouTube, there are a tonne of “how-to” videos that demonstrate how simple it is to do this.
The Stiffel Lamps and lampshades are regularly reproduced and passed off as genuine “Stiffel,” as is the case with anything that has widespread popularity. I would be negligent if I offered advice on how to tell whether a lamp or lampshade is genuine because, as far as I know, there is no foolproof way to accomplish this. I would consider the calibre of the components and the craftsmanship. Pick it up, flip it over, and carefully review it. Stiffel lamps are exceptionally well crafted and quite weighty. When it comes to well-made lamps, nobody beats Stiffel. Ours are almost 40 years old and nevertheless possess a distinctive quality that is difficult to match or surpass. If you are in a store, consider the reputation of the vendor. Consult with the dealer’s happy customers if at all possible. In the end, if your choice of lamp cannot be positively identified as legitimate by normal provenance and it meets your demands and intended decor, then go for it. Any purchase should be based primarily on whether it meets the need you have in mind. All that matters is whether the lamp in front of you is one you would be glad to have in your home and exhibit for friends and guests.
