A timeless Accordion Lampshade, Liner Repair.
Restored Lampshade with new styrene liner
Saving our lighting heritage one shade at a time | Sunday, 22 December 2024 - 12:23 |
A timeless Accordion Lampshade, Liner Repair.
Restored Lampshade with new styrene liner
It is a NEW YEAR and my NEW YEARS RESOLUTION is to post more repairs! The shades I repair are all so different. I should not keep them as well guarded secrets! This year I am going to try and post more so you can see the amazing transforamtions!
Most recent repair, this week, is a black styrene sheer lampshade. When I got the shade the top spider wire was detached from the circle spider wire making it impossible to use. I did not even really get to see how pretty this shade is until I completed the repair
This lampshade is brand new! The shade is one of a pair. The other shade was not damaged. I do not know how it even came to be for sale!
After I removed the circle wire from the shade, repaired the top two wires, and then re-attached the entire wire to the shade, did I know how very pretty this shade is!
The jar that was turned into a lamp has markings on the bottom 1890 and 1915. The lampshade was created in 1920 for the jar.
The original shade was a deep coral shantung silk, lined with white silk. The original shade was completely hand sewn as well as the restored shade.
One of the most challenging shades I have restored! The wire frame, including the chimney top was all attached. Typically the crown is separate and the shade is done in two parts.
The lighting is stunning!
The original sconce shades have been in storage for quite some time. The sconces were stored and replaced with replacement shades until they got to the actual restoration project.
The Sconce and Lighting fixtures in Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens are gorgeous!
Original Sconce Shades. The original sconce shades are simple in design. Some were oval and others round.
There are 22 sconce shades in Victoria’s Bedroom.
The original shades are restored with soft rose pink sheer china silk. The sconces are trimmed with a gold scroll, similar to the original trim.
Restoration of Victoria’s Bedroom is complete. The next four pictures are of Victoria’s Bedroom.
What a beautiful room! The restored original sconce shades look like roses around the room.
It is of great honor to be a part of preserving our lighting heritage!
This is what is on the table now!
Stiffel Accordion Shade! Liner repair.
Shallow but wide a-frame in the back ground (2). Complete restores.
The Stan Hywet Music Room candlelight / sconce shades have been restored and delivered (several months ago)! What a beautiful room! The restored shades with original color fabric and trim bring ambiance to the room.
The following pics are of:
Lampshade Workshop Photos
Stan Hywet Music Room Sconce Shades
Stan Hywet Chandelier Candlelight Shades
Do not miss out on “Stan Hywet Holiday Magic!” Akron, Ohio
The Stan Hywet Project! The following is the fabric information for the sconce / candlelight lampshades being restored for the Music Room.
The fabric and color has been decided upon with help from a team of professionals in the industry. It is impossible to get an exact match to historic fabric, color and pleat but we have duplicated as close as humanly possible! The original cover color was an old gold, believe it or not! The only way we could tell the actual color was the fabric under the trim where the fabric was not exposed to light or heat. I gently washed multiple shade covers to get the best possible original color.
The cover fabric is silk broadcloth. The silk broadcloth has the grain identical to the original fabric. The silk broadcloth was also the correct weight and texture for pleating. However, the fabric only came in white or ivory.
The many yards of fabric, along with samples of the original covers, was sent to be dyed. The old gold color is a perfect match! The gold fabric will be warm soft lighting.
Now that the silk broadcloth was the correct color, the fabric needed to be pleated. The pleating company miraculously matched the pleating of the original historic covers. Not an easy task as the pleats needed to be very small and a little inconsistent. Keep in mind these tiny shades, at the tallest point on the sconces, is 5 inches.
The ivory silk broadcloth is also being used for the liner.
Cameras and computers have their own color image!
Thank you for your interest!
My client found this lamp stored in a basement. The Capodimonte Lamp and Victorian Crown shade were in remarkable condition considering the storage location.
It must have been a dry basement as there was no rust damage to the wire frame. The shade had something spilled on it. It looks like rust, but it is not.
The original shade trim was sewn. NO adhesive. This plays a big factor in preserving the original trims. Some of the trim had the orange stain. I used strips of the new silk fabric and weaved it through, replacing the damaged trim. It worked out great.
This Victorian Crown shade is one of the largest crown shades I have restored. The shade is completely hand sewn, including the trim.
Estate sconce / candlelight historic lampshade restoration project for the Stan Hywet Estate. This is an ongoing blog in real time of the restoration project. Currently, I am restoring the wire frames for the sconce / candlelight shades. There has been a lot of work going on. Dismantling the fabric from the lampshade wires has been a messy job!
The original pleated shade covers were pretty much intact. Due to coal heat back in the 1930’s – 1950’s, the lampshades had a coating of soot. These sconce / candlelight shades are the original wires shown in the historic pictures of the Music Room!
The wires needed their fair share of attention. Most of the 66 sconce shades needed weld repairs. The 36 candlelight shade wires were a of “hook” construction, with a spot weld. The wires swayed quite a bit, but were not broke apart. The candlelight wires did not require weld repairs and tightened up after being cleaned and waxed.
All the wires have been cleaned with steel wool and have two coats of sealant wax to protect them from corrosion or rust.
Next step: twill wrapping all the wires!
To view the project in its entirety to this point, please visit
As I am dismantling these historic shades, I realized I did not have a visual of what the chandelier and sconce lamp pieces actually looked like.
Upon request, Stan Hywet curators sent pictures of the the lighting fixtures. The following are pictures of the room in its’ entirety and a picture of the lighting fixture.
I feel so honored!