It has been said, "One man's trash is another man's treasure."  At Out Of The Dark Antique Lighting And More, we concur.

 

Two years before opening our business, I was looking for a piece of 100-year-old glass to restore a pair of 1920 French doors.  As fate would have it, somebody contacted me because they were in the process of restoring a 1910 house that had been abandoned since the 1950's.  I was invited to tour the property to see if there was anything there that I'd like to salvage before the dumpster was filled.

 

Out of the dark, dusty, third-story attic, I picked up an old, dented pan light from the 1920's.  Part of this house's ceiling had fallen down on top of it, it had old cloth wiring, and was pretty much a hot mess.  My husband didn't see in it what I saw, but I knew the potential was there.  As my husband drove us home, I carried that light on my lap, so proud of what I knew it would become.

 

We took it home, took it apart, repaired the dents, gave it a thorough cleaning, refinished its pieces, rewired it, and gave it a lacquer finish for protection.  It now hangs proudly in our own (1920) home, good for another 100 years.

 

The passion was sparked, and my husband and I began collecting as many antique pan lights as we could find.  We've been restoring them since, but not just pan lights.  We have rescued and/or restored solid brass wall scones, antique furniture, beautiful glass door knobs, turn-of-the-century entryway doors and hardware, windows, antique radios, and more.  We called our business Out of the Dark Antique Lighting And More because that's what our very first rescue was--out of the dark, old, and abandoned attic.

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Here's a little bit about what we do:  Items that are in good enough condition to be enjoyed in their original finish are always preserved.  Sometimes, though, these items come to us very beat up, with mismatched pieces, painted, even rust-covered; in these cases, the original finish has been too badly compromised, and a full refinish is necessary.  We try our very best to restore them to their original beauty.  With rust, we take the pieces down to the bare metal, and they are primed with a rust-inhibitor before they are refinished.  We also make every effort to replicate color schemes and polychrome finishes where necessary, giving you the most original-looking piece possible.

 

Regardless of the finish, we rewire all electrical and test each item before it ever leaves our hands.  Unless otherwise stated, all fixtures receive new sockets and paper insulators.  We often use reproduction paddle switches in order to keep the finished product looking as original as possible.  Original is awesome, but safety is first.  We pride ourselves on our quality, and we hope you can enjoy our work as much as we do.

 

We welcome you to view our inventory, and we'd greatly appreciate any feedback you're willing to give.  We can be reached at 412-452-0319 or by e-mailing outofthedarkantiques@gmail.com.  Thank you for looking!

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Kathryn & Matthew Sims, Co-owners

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