Updated July 2020: Here are a few ceiling light shades that look like they have been around for decades — and it’s still made new today, in two sizes, 13″ and 15″ in diameter.
Thanks for this tip from reader Casey, who wrote:
We got so many ideas from your website, we wanted to help other people with the same thing. I discovered while searching for vintage round light shades for semi flush mount fixtures, SATCO still makes a vintage shade brand new in 13 and 15 inch, with a 7/16 center hole. There are a couple of retailers that offer them, but if you search for SATCO round glass shade they should come up.
Love your site, Casey
Note: If you are looking for etched shades like these, I often see them at the ReStore too. And remember, if you’re buying the entire fixtures, it’s wise to have the old wiring checked by a pro first.
Thanks, Casey! Like I said: I will be these have been around a long long time!
Where to buy decorative starburst glass shades (and see other sections of their site for other retro lighting parts):
- Satco ceiling light glass — but note, they are a manufacturer, head to their dealer locator to find a local retailer.
- AND, see the diffusers also available at Lamp Parts Plus.
Note, the original 2019 version of this story showed other shades available, including a yummy gold starburst print. Referring back to this story to help with another reader question, I discovered them now gone, so edited this story accordingly.
linoleummy says
They describe the Starburst design as gold but in the pictures it mostly looks like painted yellow… I’ve got a vintage one with the Starburst design painted in transparent gold that the light coming through enhances. I wonder if this is like mine but they colorized the picture to try to show that. I sure hope so, I love that about mine. Their literature gives no clues.
Eartha Kitsch says
In person, the design is more gold. It does read really yellow in photos! We put ours up today and it’s definitely more reserved than that that photo shows.
Daisy04 says
My parents had the original shades in every room of their 1950s Colonial when we sold it. Some were starbursts, some floral, some just pretty etchings. The realtor told us to leave them as they went with the style of the house. A young couple bought the house and tossed them all out but a neighbor did retrieve them for Restore. Still makes me sad but I hope someone is enjoying them now!
Mary Elizabeth says
You can bet they are! I replaced a shade in my hall light fixture with a Restore find. Kudos to your old neighbor who had the foresight to dish them out of the trash bin!
Barbara Helwig says
Reminds me of the one I grew up with. Was was interesting about that one is that the light could be raised and lowered depending on what type of lighting you needed.
Jason says
This is great, where can we buy the fixture for them to go on?
Mary Elizabeth says
Jason, you can go to any lighting store or big box hardware store and buy a fixture that comes with a plain curved glass shade that attaches with a single screw and nut. Then just change out the plain shade for your mid-mod find. If you have any doubt, bring the shade with you and ask a salesperson to find the right fixture.
judy h. says
Thank you! I’ve been searching for a square shade exactly like the first one pictured above. Yay!!
Allison says
Also the 13″ round floral shade.
https://www.amazon.com/Satco-Glassware-White-Floral-Pattern/dp/B001PIKOHU/ref=sr_1_fkmrnull_6?keywords=satco+13“+shade&qid=1558383415&s=gateway&sr=8-6-fkmrnull
Allison says
The 15″ starburst shade is available on Amazon
Jamie says
Has anyone tried using one of these shades on a ceiling fan? I don’t want to give up my ceiling fan — it’s a necessity in Southern California on hot summer nights. But I would love to have something cooler looking than the bell-shaped marble-y glass fixture which my daughter calls by a rude name.
Mary Elizabeth says
Yes, and we know what that rude name is! 🙂 I had seven of them in different places in my house, and after I had breast surgery I got rid of all of them because they seemed like bad karma to me. I now have a variety of fixtures, one of which had a SATCO shade until I found a cooler one at Goodwill.
Jamie says
I hope you are enjoying better karma now. I’m thinking of just buying one of these and seeing it it works. If it doesn’t, I could bless Restore with it.
Jay says
Wow! The last diffuser, the square one with the curlicues; I actually bought the entire fixture new at Sears in the early nineties for a bedroom in my last house. In my current kitchen I went the other way. Changed out a massive heavy bell shaped diffuser on a new fixture with a vintage round diffuser I found at the Restore. Glad to see they are still available.
Ms. Vel-Vida says
I love love love the starburst pattern! It’s super cute. If I didn’t already have matching diffusers for the two lights I’m going to install in my kitchen, I’d definitely be looking into the starburst shades. My second diffuser was actually rescued minutes before it went into the garbage after a rummage sale. I’ve seen some pretty cool glass shades through the years.