When Rejuvenation hosted a facility tour for Jane (above) and me in March, we got a first-hand view of the gazillions of vintage lighting fixtures that they had in stock at their warehouse. They use this stock for reference when considering new reproduction designs… They are all just light-lovers and pack-rats like the rest of us, so can’t resist buying them… And, they actually restore them for sale locally and on their website.  I really like their online catalog of restored antique lighting because it shows a good selection of the true diversity of lighting that was available in the 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s. So much of the interior design media today only focuses on the iconic (so far) mid-century *modern* lighting, that it’s easy to forget there were many other really beautiful styles out there, too.

When Jane and I toured, there 10 or more of these beauties on hand — seemingly ready for the set designer at Mad Men to snap them right up for Sterling & Draper’s offices.

For those of you who live in Portland, there’s a big selection of antique lighting for sale in their main store, and if you have particular needs, I bet they will let you see the stock in warehouse.

Tim Wetzel, who works in product design, and Bo Sullivan, historian, took Jane and me on the tour. That's all vintage stock behind them, and then there are rows and rows more to the left beyond.

The rest of us can keep an eye on the website, where they post a selection of restored lights for sale. Here are some of my favorites right now — encompassing the 1930s, 40s, 50s and 60s:

This circa-1940 chandelier has a wonderful, all-American sweetness to it. I like that Rejuvenation always seems to give some good historical detail: “The streamlined “slip-shade” or “cup-shade” type of fixtures became popular after 1935. This classic example features subtle Colonial Revival decorative details that help it fit comfortably in both traditional and modern interior settings.”

They have two of these unusual gold-finish pendants. The housing is 18″ tall, so the pair has the potential to make quite a decorative statement.

This circa-1945 pendant is very pretty and glamorous.

A very pretty colonial revival hall lamp — available as a pair.

A circa-1935 “tiny lantern” for the hall. I could definitely be happy in a sweet, pre-war colonial revival home.

1955 Scandinavian Modern ceiling fixture — to me, this is bridge between streamline and moderne.

This one was in the warehouse, it’s not on their website. I’m calling it 60s mediterranean, but now looking at it, it could be way earlier — a historic romantic revival. It’s so amazing how the period revivals just keep getting reinterpreted — and that means even today, don’t kid yourself.

Tha tha tha that’s all, folks. A 1935 exit sign – the EXIT printed on both sides. Now couldn’t you have some fun with this?

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If you own a 20s, 30s or 40s home with deco or streamline style and also have lots of dough re mi, this bathroom suite from Lefroy Brooks would be fun to consider. The faucet style is called “1950 Belair,” but I say it’s is “streamlined” style, which is defined by the period when products were designed to look like fast-moving objects, like steam-engine trains. To be sure, this streamline style blurred over into the 50s. But this faucet is so distinctive, it looks like it is preparing for take off. The Lefroy Brooks sinks are also beautiful. And you can get the entire suite – sink, tub, toilet - in Vespa Pink. Heaven, simply heaven!  Lefroy Brooks site.

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DOGGIE BLOGGERS JAKE AND BARCLAY — that’s Jake at left, he’s an Eames/Saarinen fan — have a fun blog called The (dog) House. [update: now seems to be offline] Their reader-owners recently added acrylic inserts to their “great wall of yellow” vintage kitchen cabinets, even more so if you have jigsaw and know how to use it. This is a low-cost, high-impact update for any kitchen.  They also added a dose of pistachio color, and check out the checkerboard Armstrong VCT floor…. Nicely done “grandma’s redux,” as they call it. But read on, this house is very interesting for at least two more reasons.

First of all, I think a lot of readers will identify with Jake and Barclay’s owners’ sense of style. It’s not “dogmatic” tee hee:

…We decided that mid-century, in our house, would mean anything from the 1930’s through the late 1960’s. We don’t want to be dogmatic about style, even mid-century style. So, while the major design theme for the house is generally mid-century, we add plenty of eclectic and oddball contemporary touches too. Ironic? Sure! Earnest, geeky, obsessive….even middle class? Sure; bring it on! (Read more on the blog’s About page, and cruise through the different rooms via their Categories.)

So, cruise around the site and you’ll see a lot of inspirational ideas not necessarily pigeon-holed into a single narrow collecting decade. Hey – “real” houses are like this, aren’t they? A mix of stuff you find yourself… and which came with the significant other…or from mom or grandma or Uncle Bill or… from the dumpster, even. It’s all a big, expressive, artistic life’s collage.

Second, I think that this house is really interesting because it was built during wartime, in 1943, as defense housing. From what I’ve researched so far, pretty much the only homes being built during the war were for defense workers. This was due to widespread materials shortages. Jake & Barclay’s house is in Richmond, California — the home base of the Kaiser shipyards. So, what a history! Relatedly, it was WWII itself that really catapulted the west coast in desirability as a place to live. I guess I’d stop short of saying it was a “backwater” til then, but maybe…just for farmer’s and movie people? Think “Grapes of Wrath.” But during WWII, there was massive industrial buildup with the defense industry, which needed to stage aircraft, ships, submarines and troops to fight in the Pacific theater. After the war, people stayed because there were jobs as industry converted from wartime to consumer production. The west coast has boomed ever since. And we got everlasting legacies like ranch houses and casual style living.

Jake and Barclay’s house is  2 bedrooms, 1 bath. Defense housing was, of course, quite basic. In terms of design, their  owners call the home a transitional “ranch bungalow.” Sounds right to me — forging a path between the old and the new.  Thank you,  Jake, Barclay, Rick and Sanh!

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