Interior designer Mary Jane Tallant Fitzgerald credits much of her current passions in life to this small vintage lamp that decorated her room as a child.While they range in style from classic to whimsical, all lamps are practical and help to brighten any space.
Local interior designer Mary Jane Tallant Fitzerald, owner of Tallanted Interiors, said a lamp from her childhood influenced her passion for design. The small, bedside lamp features a young boy and girl joyfully dancing in front of a welcoming gingerbread-like house.
"My mother did not want to part with it, [but] I have it now," Fitzgerald said. "[The lamp] had a lot to do with who I am. I believe this lamp is where the seed was planted for me to become a designer.
"The colors shaped who I've become. That's why I believe the design of a room is so important. You must be surrounded by what you love."
Fitzgerald's home is filled with decorative lamps.
One of her favorites is a lamp base with a rabbit design.
"I call it the 'I can be anything lamp' because you can change a look with the lamp," she said, explaining that the "bunny lamp" is whimsical and fun.
She has it placed on a stack of books to allow for proportion and height, she said. The lamp also helps to establish a theme of a room.
To offer a subdued light, Fitzgerald spruced up a rooster lamp.
"The rooster lamp came from Home Goods about 10 years ago," she said, noting that she added a rooster ornament she found at a local lighting store, and feathery trim to the shade. "It is sitting on books to give it height," she said. "It's a fabulous one-of-a-kind lamp."
Fitzgerald said she has a passion for lamps.
"I am always buying lamps, swapping shades, covering shades with up to four different fabrics and adding trim - that's what makes an ordinary lamp extraordinary," she said.
Devoted Tennessee and McCallie School football fans (son Walker plays football at McCallie), the Fitzgeralds have a University of Tennessee themed playroom. Included in the decor is a football lamp.
"We are extreme Vols football fans, so it lights up that collection," she said. "The shade is interesting because (it's) laser cut to show footballs when the light shines through."
Another lamp high on her list of favorites is a St. Andrew's lamp she bought in Scotland.
"It has a very special meaning to me, so I made one of our guest bedroom's have a golf theme," she said. "And my boys are golfers." The lamp sits on a stack of golf books and business books. "They are color coordinated and proportionate - very important."
An annual must-have for every home is an oriental lamp, Fitzgerald said. "It adds character and dimension," she said.
While Fitzgerald said she routinely dresses up lamp shades with fabrics and trims, she sometimes adds jewelry to the mix.
"I love giving it that little extra touch," she said. "I do it quite often with velvet ribbon and old beautiful pins. I just try different types of pins until I find what I like."
Vintage lamps add character to a home, she said.
"Tole lamps with metal shield shades are interesting," she said. "The shade is like an old fan or shield but the light is really good and comes out the bottom and top. They are great on my piano."
The cost of a lamp does not have to be a budget breaker, she said.
Fitzgerald's coral-like base lamp from Home Goods with a linen shade represents a modern design trend, she said. It cost $50.
Fitzgerald said she does not like twisted, compact fluorescent bulbs.
"Don't get me started about the new bulbs - a bulb in the lighting world is called a lamp," she said. "I hate them. The light they put out is terrible. Just give me a soft 75-watt incandescent or a three-way soft, of course, and I'm happy."