Flush Mount Light Help!

[Virginia Kobylarz]

Hi! It would be great if I can get some help with this! Our home is 97 yrs young (we've only been here a little over a year). We have plans to reasonably restore (I hate the word remodel because we're trying to keep in close proximity to the age of the house. Well, with some art deco touches as that's my favorite era!). 

When I took off the ugly modern shade to replace a light bulb, this is what I found. I've tried to find something (anything!) to get an idea of what type vintage shade I need for it. I'm guessing it should have some kind of finial? The screw also screws into the part of the fixture that is still in the ceiling. I couldn't find any marks on either piece (unless it's on the part still on the ceiling, which I can't see!). We have low ceilings upstairs (bungalow!) and I would love to reuse this fixture as we add an upstairs bathroom!

Thanks for any help!

[Jeremy Woodoff]

This looks to me more like a 1950s or 60s fixture, not something original to a 100-year-old house.  I think you can still get glassware for them at a hardware or lighting store, probably much like the shade you removed. If the room this is in has a low ceiling, probably the original fixture would have had a flush-mount base, either stamped or cast metal, possibly decorated with paint colors, and bare light bulbs. You can probably find lots of pictures on line of period fixtures from the 1920s, and they are readily available for purchase. If you don't like the look of standard bare bulbs, there are various types of decorative light bulbs, and if not too bright, or with a dimmer, they don't look bad.

[Eileen White]

I am an oil lamp person but in this case, I'd try to find a whole fixture that you like in the style that would suit your home. Sizes of old shades are not necessarily the same as what your frame is so an electrician could easily removed the old housing, put in the whole  new replica fixture and use the old one in your bath if that is your wish. You probably could get some great ideas on your computer by googling some key words about what you are looking for. There are several companies that make replica fixtures that have catalogs online.

[tomsantiquesetcetera]

I'd rather see a pic of the house and know what room your fixture is in.  If your house is Arts and Craft, Cottage Style, Edwardian, Nova-Victorian, then just because you like Art Deco means that you are remodeling it, not restoring it.

If your fixture is in a bathroom or closet explosion proof lights are required by law. You need to check your electrical codes or electrical inspector to make sure.  If you don't and your poor wiring causes a fire...

Personally I love the OH lamps  from the early 1900s. I buy them at yard sales whenever I see them. They are great additions to old houses.  I remodeled/restored a 1903 Chalet. It was totally gutted when I bought it so I had no clue what it looked like. It was on the National Register of Historic Homes. Unfortunately it re-sold around 2010 and the buyer tore it down and built a $3mil dollar mansion. Such is life.