Lighting sources for your mid century home
These globe pendants in our kitchen are from Practical Props. We also have a sconce on the beam to the left. LED strip uplighting on top of the cabinets is controlled by a Switcheroo remote control.
Mid Century Modern Lighting
While we love our Carter Sparks designed, Streng built home, we do wish that the interior was a bit brighter like the models with atriums and skylights. The clerestory windows help as do the mid century lighting we have found.
Here are a few of our favorite sources for lighting up your mid century home.
Local mid century shops are a great place to start your hunt for lighting. We found two lamps from Scout Living that echo the Frank Lloyd Wright and Asian influences in Carter Sparks designed homes as well as the Gunnar Lindh light fixtures frequently favored by Sparks in his custom designed homes.
West Elm has a good selection of mid century finds although their delivery dates can be a moving target.
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George Nelson saucer pendant lamp from Herman Miller. Also strip LED lighting on the floor behind the plants.
We are big fans of the light fixtures designed by George Nelson. Our floor lamps are more than twenty years old and with the exception of replacing the floor switch, still work and look great. We more recently purchased a Nelson saucer lamp for the dining area.
DWR (owned by Herman Miller) has an annual Nelson lighting sale so that is a good opportunity for some savings on these lights.
Pixo Plus table lamp and floor lamp both from Pablo Designs. Nightstand is a vintage George Nelson.
We have owned several of designer Pablo Pardo’s of Pablo Designs light fixtures for more than a decade. We particularly like the Pixo Plus table lights for our nightstands. These LED lights are adjustable and have a handy USB port plus come in a variety of fun colors. Also worth noting that their customer service through the years has been top notch.
Mid Century Light Fixtures
Pinhole sconce from Practical Props.
Practical Props, located in Southern California, has a range of exterior and interior mid century lighting options. We have their table lamps in several rooms in eye popping colors. We were tempted by their sputnik light but went with their classic 14-inch globe light to illuminate the previously dark pathway to our front door. Our new garage door looks period specific with their hourglass pinhole sconce lights. And their customer service was extremely helpful when we ran into difficulties installing the globe light.
Making The Most of Switches Outlets for Lighting
A quirk of many older homes is that the switched outlet in almost every room is often located in the most inconvenient spot. Instead of running ugly extension cords or hiring an electrician to relocate the outlets, we found several simple solutions.
The first solution is from a company with the very jaunty name of Switcheroo. Plug a Switcheroo box into a switched outlet and the another one into as many outlets as you want to turn off and on with the wall switch. Set them to the same channel, and that’s it. We wished they looked a bit sleeker, but this is an easy and affordable way to have all the lights in one room operated by one switch.
This Nelson floor lamp and our now playing lighted record stand are both switched using out Switcheroo controllers connected to our switched outlet.
Another fix for our inconvenient wall outlets is not a new one but a very mid century one. Swag lamps! A swag lamp attaches to the ceiling and has a cord that plugs into an outlet. Such an easy and good looking way to improve poor lighting without having to install a ceiling fixture or take up floor space.
If you find a vintage swag lamp that needs a new chain those are inexpensive and easy to find at most hardware stores. And if you find a pendant light you love you can convert it to a swag light without having to be an electrician.
This Swag Lamp over the tiki bar is conrolled. by the Switcheroo controller inside the house.
