Table Lamps

Since we're living aboard and spending a lot of our time down below we wanted to make the boat feel less like a boat and more like a home.  We placed some silk plants in the main salon and added a few other features to make La Vida Dulce feel more like "our" boat, different from all the others.  We hit on the idea of adding a few table lamps to provide some additional reading light and to introduce some character.  My brother-in-law, Jack Hebner (the Surfin' Swami), had given us a really gorgeous brass anchor light but for the main salon we wanted something less nautical.  We went to Annapolis Lighting (link to their web site) and roamed around the store.  At first we thought we wanted some small Tiffany style lamps and we actually picked out two that we liked, planning to come back when we had some spare dinero.   As we were leaving we found several small brass and glass lamps that really fit what we had in mind.

There were actually 4 or 5 styles that were all very similar.  They were all small which is perfect for on a boat.  They all had brass stands and etched glass globes.  Several were made by Waterford (cha-ching!).  The one we chose was almost identical to the Waterford but, being made in China, about 1/3 the price.  We ordered two of the same style.

We had some ideas about these lamps that we wanted to incorporate to make them fit in better on the boat.  We didn't want to have to stow them away every time we were going to leave the slip and we didn't want the wire to show.  We also added some touches to really personalize them.

We chose several spots in the salon where they could be mounted permanently and not be in the way.  The cabinetry has one section with sliding doors and we centered the lamp so you can easily get access to the cabinet from either side.  We drilled into the cabinet under the lamp stand and fed the power cord through, attaching it at the closest junction box.  We wrapped copper bailing wire around the legs and fed that through the hole in the cabinet to several screws inside to hold the lamp firmly in place.  The copper bailing wire virtually disappears against the brass legs.

Cheri wanted to fill the glass globe with small sea shells her sister had collected in Puerto Rico.  This required disassembling the lamp and I felt this was the perfect time to make one more modification.  The lamps came with thumb wheel switches that were placed in the cord about 12" from the base.  Since we wanted to hide the cord we needed a better way to turn the lamp on and off.  With the lamp taken apart I replaced the light bulb socket with one that uses a pull chain, found at the local hardware store.  I chose this style because I thought it had a nice "old time" look to it.  It was also the only one they had with a two-way switch (on /off).  Putting the lamp back together we filled the globe with shells and tied the base down with the bailing wire.  It holds securely in place while we're underway and adds a unique touch of "home" to the boat.