Since the miraculous advent of electricity, oil lamps have become something of an antique, and understandably so. It's not particularly practical to use an antique oil lamp in your home today, not to mention a safety hazard. However, these lamps are still very much in demand, but not for the reasons they once were. Antique oil lamps are collectible items now that can be found on more Ebay auctions than you could ever know what to do with. They make excellent collectors' items and can even be used throughout your home as decoration and for the occasional power outage.
Most people associate antique oil lamps with thoughts of the old west, which is why they make such interesting decorative pieces for rooms geared toward this theme. If you've bucked the modern, sterile look of a kitchen with stainless steel appliances and black marble counter tops, you may want to give the country farmhouse look a try. It can give off a much warmer feeling and is a perfect place to showcase the antique oil lamps you've been collecting. Most of them have handles on top, so all you need is a hook to screw into the wall and you're all set. Your antique oil lamp has gone from a dusty artifact to wall decoration!
Antique oil lamps can be a unique and clever way to light up the back yard for a night time get-together with the neighborhood. Being careful not to put them near anything too flammable, they can be placed throughout your back yard. The antique oil lamps will give your guest enough light to see each other, while keeping it just dim enough that they can still see the stars in the night sky. Antique oil lamps can make an interesting takeoff on a tiki torch as well. You can find poles that stick in the ground with hooks on top to hang the lamps on.
When collecting antique oil lamps and attempting to use them in your decorating scheme, it is essential to think of safety first and protect your family from any possibility of a fire. If you do keep oil lamps around for use in the event of a power outage, either don't keep them filled with oil, or keep the ones with oil in them in a different place. The last thing you want is some freak accident what somehow ignites the antique oil lamp mounted above your sink. Aside from this rare possibility, collecting and decorating with antique oil lamps is a way to preserve a little history and use it in your every day life.
