Early last summer I made a concerted effort to visit as many antique and used furniture stores as Toronto had to offer. At the time I wasn't looking anything specific, but was open to anything that caught my eye in the hopes that it would give me a starting point in deciding how to decorate my condo.

I discovered Douglas Poole Antiques and Collectibles on Queen St. East just as they were closing, but the owner graciously let me poke around for a few minutes. Just as I was about to leave the store I spotted two shade less lamps sitting forlornly on the floor. I'm not sure what about them caught my eye as they certainly weren't what I would have considered 'my style', but I paused to take a closer look. They were made up of white glass speckled with green dots and gold flecks, and were really tall as only older lamps can be. Sounds rather hideous doesn't it? I was tempted, but the gold flecks coupled with the old wiring scared me off, and I put them back where I found them. As I left the store the owner gave me his card - he must have seen a look in my eye, because early the next morning I found myself pulling out the card and asking him to put them aside for me.

Here are my newly rewired lamps in place. There's quite a lot of work to do in this room (it needs some colour), so hopefully the lamps will serve as a starting point.