Mission Style Lighting Fixtures - Timeless, Simple And Elegant

Mission style lighting fixtures are basically rather plain, they go well with Arts and Crafts style bungalows and houses, and often look stunning in any house that is similar to some of the ones designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

Most modern mission style lighting fixtures are pretty much the same as the ones produced by Gustav Stickley, Charles Limbert or perhaps by the Shop of the Crafters.  Their elegance is in the simplicity of design and functionality.  Often these mission style lighting fixtures were made from oak, or metal with very simple designs, understated I guess you would call it.

Antique Mission Style Lighting Fixtures

Anything signed by Gus Stickley is going to be extremely valuable, there are some very poor forgeries unfortunately, but you can tell genuine mission style lighting fixtures by their quality, only purchase antique mission style fixtures from a reputable dealer.

Many folks are going for the less is more look these days, they are fed up with the clutter that we have been told to surround ourselves with in our homes.  Instead of owning all this stuff, it starts slowly to control us, always needing moving, fixing, finding and cleaning. 

The Arts & Crafts movement came about at the end of the 19^th century, probably as a relief, getting away from fussy Victorian furniture with its ornate carving and heavy functionality.  Mission furniture on the other hand, although solid looking was very functional but rather plain, many of things produced around this time were the opposite of Victorian fussiness, including mission style lighting fixtures.

Of course if you are a purist and extremely wealthy you could either move into a genuine mission style house, complete with mission style lighting, furniture, pottery and rugs.  Most of us can’t do that though, we will just have to make do with purchasing some of the very nice mission style lighting fixtures that are presently on sale.

Rewiring old fixtures, especially chandeliers is a pain, so buying new mission style lighting fixtures will save you from torture and hours of trying to rewire genuine old mission style lighting fixtures.  Unfortunately if the fixture wasn’t made by someone famous like Gus Stickley or Charles Limbert, chances are it is poor quality anyway.  By 1910 everyone including Sears was producing mission furniture, some was sold via ads in newspapers and arrived flat packed, ready for dad to build himself (things don’t change much do they!)

Sadly many dads didn’t make a lot of this stuff right, and it was already poor quality to start with, made from inferior, unseasoned timber that got at out whack when it started to dry out.

Mission Style Lighting Fixtures With Your Decor

There is a blurred line between the Mission period and the Arts & Crafts movement, but generally speaking genuine Arts & Crafts furniture is better. That being said, modern reproductions of both of these styles can be very good, especially if made by decent craftsmen. 

Mission style lighting fixtures will put the finishing touch to a room that you have designed in Mission, or Arts and Crafts style, and also go well with a prairie or certain other country style décors.