You know those crazy lighting show rooms that look really lame from the outside? They’re usually called LIGHTING EMPORIUM or LAMPS AND MORE! or some other such nonsense. The fixtures they have up front are really tacky and really, really overpriced, but if you wander to the far sides and the very back of the store, sometimes you can find serious treasures that have been passed by for who knows how long.
I wandered into one of these showrooms while I was shopping in the burbs last week and at the back of the store I stumbled on this huge lantern (it’s 20″x40″) for less than $100! The company that makes it (Nulco Lighting) has gone out of business I guess, so all their stuff is super marked down in most stores now (or so I hear from the sales guy). I’ve since poked around online, but it looks like everything is sold out. I bought the two lanterns they had in the store and asked the salesman to call around to see if he could secure a couple more for me (for which I’d gladly pay a little more). I’m supposed to use these for a client’s mudroom, but what I’m dying to do is use them in my kitchen.
They are that weird bumpy pink brass finish, so I would paint them. Black is always a good choice. White would be really pretty. And of course you know I like red!
A couple of lanterns could be pretty sensational in here, right? Cross your fingers for me that we can find a few more!
Those lanterns are fabulous. What a great find!
Great find! Love the way a lantern looks in a kitchen. I think red is the way to go. Would make them a show stopper.
xo Quinn
Quinn Cooper Style
I love over-sized lanterns in kitchens. Can't wait to see yours installed. Great find! xo Kristin
What a great find!!
I found two large lanterns on Shades of Light for under $100 a while back and can't wait to hang them in my dining room!!!
Fingers crossed for you :)
The lighting shops on the Bowery can be great for that too! If you can actually get a salesperson to help you…
Great find! I vote red. :)
Hi Jenny, I love the lantern look also. I've been on the look-out at the Goodwill stores/Craigslist for something like Emily A. Clark did : http://emilyaclark.blogspot.com/2012/02/my-habitat-restore-lantern-redo.html.
Love the lanterns!
Great score! Just shows that looking in unexpected places can really pay off! Can't wait to see what you do with them.
They will be beautiful! I found two that are huge and very similar at the Habitat ReStore. They are shiny 80's brass, though, so painting is a must. I plan to hang them over my kitchen island too…love that look and you have some great inspiration photos!
Great find! These would look fabulous, can't wait to see what you do with them. Fingers crossed you find more!
Besides the lantern, I'd like to know more about your refrigerator magnets! I collect them as souvenirs from places I travel but after all, it's getting crowded. I love how you neatly arranged small squares into a big one!
black or high gloss navy blue.
pve
I have a had a lantern fixation lately too. The one you have in the fourth photo,( HB photo I think?) I actually tracked back to Margot Austin a while ago. I emailed her & she told me she gets inquiries about it all the time. It is from Troy lighting, and outdoor fixture really & cost about $600 when she got it. I checked out Troy and indeed they still carry it, but now some 7 years after Margot used it for a client it is $900. So Jenny YOU got a deal on yours. Good luck finding more of them. I am planning a post on the lanterns I recently picked up at my local hardware store..it is not where you shop, it is how well you look! ANd Jenny u r a good looker!!
:) Kelly
Great find! Just a heads up, Nulco was bought by a larger brand "ELK Lighting". You can still find Nulco on wholesale distribution sites like NationalBuilderSupply.com and Lamps Plus but the inventory is low as it is now being incorporated into ELK.
Just stumbled upon your blog on Style Me Pretty's pinterest love it.
If you like a good red lantern, may I suggest wandering by the Remains Lighting showroom on 28th St (between 6th and 7th Ave) sometime soon?
Take a peek at the current window display; I think you'll enjoy what you see!
(hint: tomato red lantern-y pendant eye candy!)
Beautiful. I vote black, but the red is a really nice punch. Hmm… Those lighting places can actually be worth it? Who knew?
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Those are going to look so great painted black-I love how thin the metal is. So chic and dainty for something so large.
I'm currently on the hunt for a large lantern that I can paint red for our living room! What a great find!
Nice score.
Normally, I would go for black or "Charleston Green", that green that is so dark, it reads as black. Given the slight chinoiserie design of the lanterns, I think red is the ticket. If you are worried about too much red, the light cluster inside could be black, or even silver or white, and just the frame of the lantern body done in gloss red. Love the seed glass panels.
Oooh! What an amazing find! Absolutely gorgeous. Good luck finding more.
Susan
http://simplymodernhome.com/
Don't give them up! Keep them for yourself!!!
Love the lanterns! I am currently hunting for a secondhand light fixture for my front entrance. These images are very inspiring!
Vanessa xo
Thanks JTay! xo
Jenny, just so you can credit it: the third picture down (with the narrow grey island, open shelves and beadboard ceiling) is a kitchen designed by Margot Austin during her time at Style at Home magazine (but she is at Canadian House & Home now) and the photo is likely by Donna Griffith.
http://www.margotaustin.ca/blog/tweed-decorating-1.html
Thanks JTay! xo