Entryway Refresh

I did a little entryway refresh.  I say entryway but it really is full on in the living room.  Our little vestibule doesn't have room for anything other than a small statue in the corner.   So we placed our library table, which has been our entryway table since we first moved in together back in 1980, just to the left of the entryway.  I've mentioned this table before – it has been mine since I was about ten years old.  

When will electricity be wireless?  Get on that Elon Musk.  I did tidy up the cords to my new (old) lamps so it isn't as unsightly as it was previously.   To refresh your memory here is the before:

I never felt like the scale of the old mirror was right.  The mirror itself is too big and the frame a little skimpy for the size.  We are going to re-purpose it in our bathroom.  This corner of the living room is really dim in the evenings so we need both lamps on the table.  I wanted a matching pair so I started looking online for some vintage alabaster options and I started seeing Alacite lamps coming up in my searches and was intrigued.

Alacite is a glass that was developed in the late 30's that was meant to resemble alabaster (or at least that is what I have read).  My pair is "old formula" meaning it contains Uranium oxide.  It was banned in the 40's and any Alacite lamps made after 1942 no longer contain it.  The way you can tell is the glass glows green under a black light.  

I found a pair of Alladin style Alacite lamps on Etsy for a reasonable price and jumped on them.  Right off the bat I had issues with the seller.  I got an angry Etsy message from her saying she had emailed me a dozen times and if I didn't respond she was going to cancel the order.  I never received a single email from her and I checked all the obvious places (spam/junk folders).  Lord only knows who she was emailing.  Her message was that when she was packing the lamps the harp snapped off of one and chipped the top of the lamp where it screws on.  I had her send me a picture and figured it would be hidden when I rewired the lamps.  She deducted $10 off the price and shipped them in two separate boxes. 

When the first one arrived it was completely smashed to pieces.  It was so poorly packaged there was no way it would survive shipping.  Of course it wasn't the previously damaged one.  When I contacted the seller her curt reply was "It's insured.  You deal with it."

The second one arrived with just the previously mentioned damage.  So great – now I have one lamp when I need a pair.  I scoured Etsy and eBay for weeks until finally another matching one came up for sale.   I rewired both of them and bought lampshades for them.  Not 100% thrilled with the shades but they'll do for now until I find ones that are just perfect.  

I liked the idea of putting a round mirror above the library table because there are so many square and rectangle things in this room.  I bought the very inexpensive Target version you see all over the place but at 28" in diameter it was too small.  Then Wayfair had their big sale a couple of weeks ago and I jumped on a 36" mirror (currently out of stock but they'll be getting more in) and it is perfect.  The mirror itself is a much better quality than the Target version.

I'm really pleased with how it all came together.  Sometimes just a few small changes make such a big difference.