Push Button Light Switches: Making the Switch
If you read this blog, you've probably figured out by now that I have a love or rather need to incorporate old things into the decor of our home. I love to go to antique stores and try to find items that I can incorporate into our house. Something that I've been looking for in my antique jaunts is an old fashioned push button light switch.
My brother-in-law recently sold his beautiful 1910 turn-of-the-century home and it was still equipped with these switches throughout the house. Before the popularity of today's toggle switches,
...push button switches were the natural selection. Why they ever went away....I don't know.
Yes, I could find a reproduction, but if you've ever had the pleasure of using one of these, there's nothing like the old clicking action sound when you turn a light on or off. What, I ask, would go better with our Edison (filament) light bulb fixtures, than a vintage push button switch?
Items from HouseofAntiqueHardware.com
I've yet to convince my husband that we should do this, but they are fun to research and search for. I think adding just one to the powder room would make it an interesting conversation piece for discussions with friends.
If this is an inspiration at all to you and you're lucky enough to find original switches, do know that you can have them rewired and incorporate them into your new home.
The originals had mother-of-pearl inlay and were made of black bakelite (an early plastic). Of course, the light covers could be pretty impressive. There's something out there to fit everyone's decorating needs.
From Victorian,
To Contemporary,
To Arts and Crafts
To fitting Contemporary needs.
Transitional Spaces by Los Angeles Architects & Building Designers Tim Barber LTD Architecture & Interior Design
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