Since the miraculous advent of electricity, oil lamps have become ancient, and understandably so. It’s not particularly practical to use an antique oil lamp in your home today, not to mention a safety hazard. However, these lamps are still in high demand, but not for the reasons they once were. Antique oil lamps are collector’s items that can now be found on more eBay auctions than you might know what to do with. They make great collector’s items and can even be used throughout your home for decoration and for occasional power outages.
Most people associate vintage oil lamps with western thoughts, which is why they make such interesting accent pieces for western-oriented rooms. If you’ve resisted the modern, sterile look of a kitchen with stainless steel appliances and black marble countertops, you may want to try a farmhouse look. It can give off a much warmer feeling and is a perfect place to display the vintage oil lamps you have been collecting. Most of them have handles at the top, so all you need is a hook to screw to the wall and you’re good to go. Your antique oil lamp has gone from being a dusty artifact to a wall decoration!
Antique oil lamps can be a unique and clever way to illuminate your backyard for an evening gathering with the neighborhood. Being careful not to place them near anything too flammable, they can be placed throughout your backyard. Antique oil lamps will give your guests enough light to see each other, while keeping the light dim enough that they can still see the stars in the night sky. Antique oil lamps can also be an interesting takeoff on a tiki torch. You can find posts that go into the ground with hooks at the top to hang the lamps.
When collecting vintage oil lamps and attempting to use them in your decorating scheme, it is essential to think of safety first and protect your family from any chance of fire. If you keep oil lamps to use in case of a power outage, don’t keep them filled with oil or store the ones with oil in a different place. The last thing you want is a freak accident that somehow ignites the antique oil lamp mounted above your sink. Apart from this rare possibility, collecting and decorating with old oil lamps is a way to preserve a bit of history and use it in your daily life.