The Seed Was Sown and the Beginnings of Our Blog

Recently, a customer visited us in our Olde Towne Portsmouth, Virginia showroom shopping for light fixtures to use on the exterior of her new oceanfront home. She was searching for high quality and durable lights that could withstand the sometimes inclement Atlantic weather but also be fitting for her nautically themed façade. I showed her a selection of authentic vintage cast brass fixtures once used onboard commercial and naval ships. These are by far, hands down, the finest (and most durable) cast brass fixtures ever produced with explosion proof glass covers surrounded by a thick brass cage. These fixtures are virtually non-destructible. Our customer was not accustomed to some of the ship lighting designs, so I showed her pictures demonstrating how other customers have used them in both the interior and exterior of their homes. She was delighted and selected the 90 degree passageway lights (see pictured). The heavy brass fixtures were exactly what she was looking for.

Before leaving she commented on how difficult it had been for her to find the appropriate lights and how helpful it was having the sample pictures demonstrating how others had used them on similar applications. Her final comments were “you should really publish a book about how to use all of these great ship parts in coastal homes.”
This was by no means the first time we have heard such a comment from customers, but this time the thought stuck. Why not create a book about transforming authentic antique and vintage nautical and marine furnishings and paraphernalia into suitable products for today’s nautical interiors? This is our business and we are the experts. We are the source for these exceptional products and our business is nautical interiors. So the seed was sown and we are now at the very beginning of designing this project. In the interim, we decided to launch our literary endeavor via the use of a blog!

The premise of Skipjack’s Nautical Living blog is to demonstrate how we revitalize and transform authentic nautical wares for today’s coastal interiors and eventually we will show these products in their new environment. We will also share our thoughts with you concerning the collecting and appraising of nautical antiques and any other maritime topics that you might find interesting or you may desire to share with us.

We may also recommend that you visit our web gallery often and preview our “NEW! JUST IN” section for our latest nautical acquisitions. And of course, please stop by and visit us in person at our riverfront showroom located in Olde Towne Portsmouth, Virginia.

Click here and visit Skipjack Nautical Wares & Marine Gallery on Facebook!