FAQ

Choosing fixtures is mostly a matter of personal taste - and what looks good to you.

As informed advisors, we blithely tread into dangerous territory, otherwise known as your home. We hope that with our help and gentle prodding, the fixtures you select will appear as though they were installed when your house was built.

Some useful tips on choosing period-appropriate fixtures:

• First things first - dig through this website or read our catalogue! We've included plenty of hints and helpful information. But despite the grouping by collections, remember that not all are pure examples of an architectural style, and some were popular for many years.

• Search your home for traces of original fixtures. Even one lonely light can offer clues on style, shades, and metal finishes. Walls and ceilings may reveal old wallpaper outlines or paint shadows from earlier installations.

• Match the level of quality in the rest of your home. If materials and craftsmanship were modest in the first place, a fancy fixture may "put on airs." Likewise, if you are wedded to a highbrow house, don't sell it short.

• Get thyself in thy neighbor's similar old house. Most of us are hopelessly attached to our money pits and shamelessly eager to show them off - often the only reward for our hard work. If you are shy, take a walk at twilight. In Portland, where few seem to use curtains, a leisurely evening stroll illuminates many fine originals.

• Crack open a book or surf the Web. Focus on period and style rather than just lighting. And give your house a subscription to Old-House Journal and Old-House Interiors.

• View your fixtures as part of the house - not the furnishings. If the room were empty of all possessions, your fixtures should still feel right at home, in comfortable "conversation" with the doors, windows, mouldings, hardware, etc. (By the way, we know that lots of folks create extraordinary interiors by totally ignoring this advice.)

• Try some Lighting Advice for help selecting fixtures by style, room, age, etc.

• Don't lose sleep (or your spouse) over period perfection. Relatively few old homes were "architecturally pure." Fixtures in a Craftsman home might have been Colonial Revival in the living room, Sheffield in the dining room, and Mission in the entry. Surprises and exceptions abound. Besides, lighting changes are reversible - and leave a house's historic fabric intact!

Old houses have been around longer than most of us; they have a special way of teaching values that are lost in today's technology-driven culture. Balancing personal taste with period integrity is a great way to hear and respect what your home may be trying to say to you.

But - and most importantly - choose fixtures that you like. After all, you'll be sharing your home with them, not with us.