Holtkotter Broken Lamp

It was a really lovely lamp. We found it six years ago at Alexandria Lighting. It looked like a floating cloud and had an interesting dimmer and turn off function. It was sleek and sat on the entryway table in our Capitol Hill condo. When we moved to northern Virginia three years ago, the Holtkotter lamp really didn’t have a place in the new space. So it ended up in the dining room. One of the first things I did was burn my fingers on the tiny halogen light bulb that needed to be changed the first day we moved in. From then on I never cared for that lamp. So this week the bulb went out. I found our halogen bulb replacement. When we removed the cloud glass part of the lamp - with some difficulty - the next part was to take out the lightbulb. It wasn’t easy - and another reminder of how impractical this light actually is. We finally twisted the bulb out after carefully re reading the instructions. We got the replacement bulb in quick enough, but we couldn’t lower the glass cloud over the stem. There was a small metal piece sticking out. So I got our smallest Allen wrench out and tried to screw it in so the surface was flat. Too much twisting did the trick until the ceramic piece holding the bulb shattered. So now the lamp is useless unless we can find a place to repair it. I’ve contacted two places - including the place we bought it - and no one has yet responded. In the end we decided we really don’t need a lamp in the dining room, so we won’t buy another one. I don’t think this lamp is made anymore - probably because it is so impractical. But if we can get this one repaired we will. My husband really liked this lamp. And for that reason alone it’s worth getting it fixed. 

 

Lamps Plus and Lamps Unlimited Lamp Shade

One of the few things we brought with us from the Midwest when we moved to DC twelve years ago was a very small table lamp. It used to sit on a table in the living room. Now it sits on our dining room table. But the shade was well worn and it was obvious it needed to be replaced. We searched high and low for one a couple of years back but couldn’t find anything near the size or shape of it on line or in town. So we went back to Lamps Unlimited in McLean and actually found something that would work, but needed to be brought in from another location. But the lady who helped us never called us back, which seemed very odd. So rather than give up I started another on line search and to my surprise I found something that was about the same size, but not quite the same shape from Lamps Plus. So I ordered it in eggshell, but got a message that it wouldn’t be available for a couple of weeks. So I thought we would never hear from them again. A couple of weeks passed and the credit card transaction came through so I knew the new shade would be arriving shortly. It did finally come with its own harp and fits reasonably well. It definitely is a lot cleaner. My husband washed the other shade and it looks a lot better - I thought it would just fall apart. So now we have a replacement. I’m not sure we would ever use it again -  I’ll just store the original one on a shelf in case we ever need it. 

Holtkotter Tall Viennese Table Lamp with Dimmer

It took a month to finally get our hands on it, but it finally arrived yesterday at Alexandria Lighting. First the wrong size was ordered, then it was delivered to the wrong address. When we saw the size of the box at the store we were flabbergasted! All the packing materials filled a huge garbage bag. But it arrived in once piece and all we had to do was put it together - the LED light in to the base, and add the glass cloud shade. Of course, the three prong plug that comes with a fuse to handle the dimmer mechanism created a problem because there was already something hogging up the space. So we found an extension for the meantime and tried it out. We need to get used to the extreme change from what was there - a more traditional lamp with a large decorative dark base with a broad shade. This Holtkotter lamp is sleek and clean - almost floating! The dimming function is interesting - you just push a button on the base to light it up completely, or keep pressing it and release when you hit the ambiance that works. So this ends our year long freshening up of the studio apartment. Now we are looking forward to living in it.