apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

We've been eyeing West Elm's Globe Pendants ( http://www.westelm.com/products/a563/?pkey=cpendant-lamps-chandeliers ) for over our dining table, but I'm a bit concerned that the light they produce will be too harsh. There's a reason for light shades (besides concealing the bulb), right? Like most people, I like soft, diffused light.

Well you can't use the lights with exposed bulbs as a direct source of light. Just use a low wattage bulb for the decorative glow in fixtures like these.

When William Randolph Hearst built his castle in San Simeon, he made sure all the lighting fixtures exposed the bulbs… electricity in homes was still fairly new, and he was enchanted by the miracle of the bulb :)

"Showing the functionality of materials […]" - like lampshades that diffuse (not) harsh light of the lightbulb?

I actually owned the "garland" shade on pic 7. I had it in black...It is beautiful ethereal "shade" If you can call it that.. But it does bring some crudeness to the mix... and maybe not in a good way... I intended it for my bedside hanging lamp.. but the expose bult is not gracious at all... I even tried with frosted, large candle light shape... It did look better but didn't quite cut it for me still. Besides, the cord it is intended to come attached to is plain white..... You get the picture....

I ended up wrapping the shade around one of the Ikea Beryl 4 spot lights i have in my livingroom...... It looked amazing... beautiful.... like it actually belonged there.... and the soft flower shadows it casted around it were warm and beautiful as well.

I've been in love with that niche modern pendant for awhile, it's the perfect un-affordable solution. So what's an affordable solution?

I'm absolutely obsessed with Edison bulbs. CB2 has a more affordable variety as does a Jeanpelle's etsy shop.
http://thewifeofanartist.blogspot.com/2009/07/light-my-fire.html

I would love to see a pic of what you did, manu_pty.
I've been wanting to get the same garland in black as you for my bedroom, but don't want it to look harsh..

Back when electricity was still new, the bulbs didn't output much light like they do today so shades were not used as they DO reduce the output of a given bulb so when you see homes that were built up through the very early 1900's and lesser homes a bit later, exposed bulbs were often the norm, and with stamped painted metal fixtures.

That said, many homes did have glass shades but left the bottom open for bulb access and to let the light shine un hindered so exposed bulbs are nothing new and not even a new thing during the MCM era.

However, flame tipped bulbs have also been around for years and years as well and add to that the round globe bulbs often found in vanity lighting or the larger ones simply in a ceramic socket are nice modern decorating tactic, I once lived in a 20's era studio with original fixtures and the entry area's fixture had a missing shade so I put the larger frosted globe in there and it looked great, just wished it was more the clear or half mirrored instead. Oh well.

My parents had a modern-ish 6 light chandelier w/ globe shades in smoke but took a clear, standard bulb, very 70's but the problem was that the globes were not colored glass, but had a film on them that came off with repeated washings.

I like this aspect and especially when paired with a dimmer, can look quite nice and clear flame bulbs behind crystals creates a sparkle that I like - especially when the metal's finish is bright brass - I know some of that looks cheap but even when on higher quality fixtures still looks nice and creates a shimmering effect in a room.

I love this look! Clear, incandescent bulbs exposed, then dimmed, so the filament shows as an orange winding thread.
Now replace that with CFLs.....
Just visited the beautiful Esterhazy palace near Sopron, Hungary. Gorgeous old crystal chandeliers in the ballrooms - all cheerfully sporting clunky compact fluorescent lamps!
Guys, there is a place for everything and I'm all for saving the planet, but this looked so incredibly out of place and ugly!!!
Maybe people feel the same way when they went from candles to incandescents.

Some CFLs are whimsically like Edison bulbs, especially the dimmable cold-cathodes (here's a random example from Flickr):

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ngawangchodron/3597663660/

I have a beautiful handblown art glass shade lit by one, and it doesn't offend my sensibilities at all.

The Contemporist just posted pics of these amazing lamps at the Ubuntu Restaurant in Napa.

http://tinyurl.com/n7mcud

Very interesting details — in particular, the showcase lights, they are used around the TV hall. I love this look! The way globe light bulbs are displayed and exposed. They are perfect.

Hey TWOHEADEDBOY... i got pictures of the garland-ikea mix, but i don't have a site to post them in.... is there some other way i can send them to you....?