May 05, 2015
Restored antique and vintage lighting is recycling in its purest form. In the age of disposable DIY furniture, lighting and home decor, most things are not made to last. Heirloom quality lighting does not originate from China in 2015 but instead from Europe or North America in 1915.
We've always prided ourselves on our commitment to the environment by reusing, re adapting and restoring lighting from a bygone era. Saved from the trash heap, we've preserved some outstanding fixtures and given them a new home for another 100 years.
When they come into us they are in various states of disrepair and require TLC specific to each one. Nothing goes to waste in the process as all old wire is scrapped and recycled, vintage sockets saved for historic purposes and broken parts are repaired by our restoration team. In many cases, original finishes are maintained by cleaning them with soap and water and preserved with an eco friendly water based lacquer. When a light is in need of a major overhaul and covered in too many layers of pink house paint, we bring it back to the base metal using non toxic methods. From there a hand applied patina or brass based finish is matched to the fixture and preserved with either wax or water based lacquer.
The cool thing with all old lighting and new lighting that we make here is that they are made of 100% recyclable materials. Brass, copper, steel, cast iron and aluminum are valuable commodities on the scrap market with many of the parts having even more value for future restorations. In our workshop in an extensive collection of old parts reserved for stock and client restorations. That's one of the many reasons that makes us the go-to vintage and antique lighting company.
One of the most common questions we hear is if we buy back custom lighting we sold years ago.
The short answer is no.
Not because we don't want to give it a good home or because it's not valuable any more. It's just that we are still making the same lighting models and are not equipped to buy more of it back.
But we will recycle it for you.
If you have a custom wall sconce, chandelier or lamp that was made by us, and have no further use for it we would be more than happy to break it down, take it to the scrap yard and save it from the land fill.
That's just one of commitments we have to the environment and our clientele.