Retro style lamps

Retro style is great for romantic people who like things with history. True, acquiring antiquities is a costly business. Exit - to get the thing, made in this style. Retro lamps will create a special, pleasant atmosphere in the apartment.

At the turn of the XIX-XX centuries, electricity was new. Only just widespread incandescent bulbs. Having electric light in the house was fashionable. Lighting fixtures of those times took a lot from their predecessors - kerosene and oil lamps, candelabra with candles, chandeliers. The development of technology also played its role: at that time plastic and many other modern materials were not invented. Metal, glass, wood - the main materials for the manufacture of lamps of those years.

Today we call retro lighting fixtures from the first half of the 20th century. They are fanned by the spirit of modernism and change - future revolutionaries built their plans with such lamps, the underground fighters discussed operations, and the poets of the Silver Age wrote their poems.They have a special romance. To acquire them, it is not at all necessary to chase antiques, all the more so since genuine samples cost fabulous money. Today, both mass producers and fashionable interior designers produce retro-lamps, which are quite affordable for a modern metropolis resident.

In some interiors, it is advisable not only to hang the lamp, but completely do antique wiring. There are retro-wires (thick, twisted cords that do not hide in the walls, but are mounted outside), ceramic sockets and even modern Edison lamps of the corresponding forms with a glowing spiral inside. Modern retro lighting is used in cafes, bars and restaurants of the appropriate subject. It is perfect for youth clubs, "party" places. Old-fashioned lamps fit the styles of loft, country, Provence, modern. They can decorate both hallways and corridors, and living quarters.

Behind the scenes it is customary to divide the retro-style lighting devices into two categories - loft and vintage. The first ones are more utilitarian: they are not created for beauty, but primarily for convenience.As a rule, it is a lamp in the cartridge, supplemented with a simple lampshade (plafond), or completely "naked."

Vintage lamps - the choice of representatives of Bohemia. They are intricate, complex and beautiful. Lamps in the cartridges may hang from the ceiling on long cords or on chains. You can hang them dotted, for example, over a long table above each seating position, or you can group them in one place - you’ll have something like an improvised chandelier.

Another old form lamps - plate. It, by the way, is still used in kitchens. The lamp is hung on a cord or chain, and the cartridge is located, as it were, under an inverted plate. She scatters the light and directs it down into the room. The incandescent lamp can be open, or it can be closed with a glass bulb or a canopy of interlaced metal rods.

Also, from a single lamp can get a small sconce on the wall or a desk lamp on the stand. Pay attention to the cartridge - it is brass and quite massive. May have shades: black (as if forged or cast iron), bronze, "antique gold". Its discreet brilliance is perfect for creating a retro atmosphere.

Slightly more complicated option - the ceiling of metal rods or a glass flask. This can be decorated ceiling, wall and table lamps. Incandescent bulbs placed in the "ceiling", created from simple metal rods (like anti-vandal lamps in the stairwell). They can be simple shapes (oval) or slightly more intricate, resembling cages for songbirds. In any case, they look very simple, as if they were made not for beauty, but only for the safety of the lamp.

Popular type of retro-lamps - lights or lamps. These are the forms of metal and glass ceiling lamps resembling a street lamp and an old kerosene lamp. In such a style can be decorated ceiling lamps, wall sconces, floor lamps, table lamps. There are models with metal shades of various complex shapes - they resemble retro, but rather they are more of a modern loft.In particular, the spider chandelier.

Vintage lighting devices are often round. This may be a ceiling, adjacent close to the ceiling, ornate or painted, round chandelier with crystal pendants in large quantities. Metal lamps in the Oriental style also look vintage, especially if you put in them a lamp “burning candle”. From the table lamps the most beautiful in this style are lamps with a textile shade, which is decorated at the bottom with tassels or pendants made of stones or beads. Similarly, a floor lamp can be decorated.

If you want to create an atmosphere of a medieval castle (this is especially appropriate in the hallway), you can hang bras-torches on the walls. They look very original, if the body and mount to the wall are made of solid wood and complemented with a metal rim.

A good option for different styles - the lamp from the beam. Such a model looks luxurious if there are open beams on the ceiling. Oblong wooden beams can serve as a basis for built-in lamps, or lamps on long wires / chains can be wound onto it. This model will decorate the ceiling in modern loft-interiors, as well as in the "medieval" rooms.

Most of these models will combine such a detail as a lamp open to the eye.If in modern chandeliers and sconces the lamp hides in the ceiling of the original form, here it is visible. In the "old" lamps, it is desirable to install special retro lamps. They come in the following forms:

• round;
• oblong and narrow, like chemical flasks;
• in the form of a burning candle;
• pear-shaped.

Tungsten filament in them can be laid loops, herringbone or spiral. Flasks can be transparent, and can be coated with a spray of various colors. As a rule, they are made with a standard E27 base, and therefore, can be used in most modern fixtures. The main drawback of such lamps is high power consumption. In fact, this is the most common incandescent lamp, which heats up and quickly wears out. It is a fire hazard and is more expensive than usual. However, such a warm, soft light, which contributes to relaxation and ease, does not give any more lighting device.

As for outdoor wiring, beautiful twisted cords are available for purchase in any color. White, beige options, cappuccino hue, dark brown or even red - you need to select, based on the color of the walls.Components are also purchased for wires: special ceramic insulators (shaped like traffic jams on an old electric meter) and ceramic sockets. They have a vintage look, a notch under a thick twisted cord, but they “accept” modern wide plugs of electrical appliances.

Retro light will be appropriate in different interiors:

• Most popular today, of course, loft. Artists and writers decorate their homes, in this style they decorate bars and entertainment venues, they are very fond of photo studios. Many young people today are trying to recreate this style in their own apartments. Warm retro light is ideal for walls with open masonry, where bricks and all pipes are visible.

• For a classic interior perfect vintage chandelier. This is a good option for the living room or kitchen-living room. Round with dangling glass or crystal, it will give the room a touch of bohemian and chic.It would be appropriate to hang such a model in a large bedroom decorated in a luxurious classic style: carved furniture, expensive decoration, stucco on the ceiling. For a small bedroom you can pick up a small crystal chandelier. It is desirable that the place of fixing the chandelier on the ceiling in such interiors was distinguished by a special round stucco tile: this will give the ceiling a finished look.

• For rooms in Country or Provence You can choose a very interesting options for lighting. Provence will complement the white chandeliers with openwork details, neat little lights and hanging beads. It will look great copper (as an option - the color of copper) or forged heavy chandeliers with lamps, candles. A retro floor lamp or desk lamp with a wooden base and lace shade is perfect for the bedroom. If in the Provencal style the hallway is made out, the wall lamps are definitely suitable. Country-style fit lamps of various types on a forged or wooden base. A luxurious room, for example, in the spirit of a Swiss chalet, will be decorated with a wrought-iron chandelier with a large number of lamp candles.

• Vintage lighting designers often use to design rooms in american style. It is close to classic, but they use massive heavy furniture of simple geometric shapes, and the rooms are functionally zoned. Large and luxurious chandelier can be placed in the living room, but the rest of the room is best zoned with the help of light, using sconces and other small lamps.

How to pick up lamps in the style of "loft", see the following video.