Dress up Your Lamp with an Affordable Nautical Lamp Finial

Skipjack's handcrafted monkey's fist lamp finial is a wonderful choice to top off your lamp.

Lamps, Lampshades & Lighting at Skipjack Nautical Wares

Being in the nautical business, we spend a lot of time flipping through interior design magazines like Coastal Living, Architectural Digest, Better Homes & Gardens, etc. looking at rooms created by professional designers for inspiration and potentials for new products. I especially take notice of the chosen decor details. One thing that holds true for most successful interiors is a focus on scale and proportion, wall color and fabric selections, and overall floor arrangement. But so many of these designers have focused on primary design elements, but lack attention to decor details. Table lamps are a great example of this. Nautical lighting can add so much to the completion of a successful coastal home interior, and that goes for appropriate lampshades and lamp finials as well.

Custom nautical lamp made using a vintage brass anchor lantern. Light toggles
between interior ambiance light, upper room light or dual lighting selections.
Shown with our nautical chart lampshade and monkey's fist lamp finial.

Skipjack is known for its great selection of custom made nautical table lamps and re-purposed vintage light fixtures. Through the years we have supplied hundreds of homeowners with beautiful lamps and lighting for their coastal abode. Our nautical chart lampshades is a favorite and probably the best nautical lamp shade on the market today. And since you can customize it by selecting your favorite coastal navigational chart, it's a no brainer. But beyond selecting a maritime lamp or lampshade, a quality nautical designed lamp finial can add a lot of design for a very affordable price. Lamp finials can be fun, whimsical, classical or anything else you fancy. Whatever style you choose, they are an excellent way to add your own personal touch to a room. Pictured below is a selection of nautical designed lamp finials that we currently stock. Please follow the link here to Skipjack's lamp and lighting department on our web store.

Brass sailboat lamp finial. Great nautical home decor.

Polished brass fouled anchor lamp finial.

Brass antique dolphin lamp finial is a classic design for nautical interiors.

Brass carp fish lamp finial.

Finial made using a Murex seashell. We have a number of  shell finials
perfect for beach and coastal home decor.

Please visit the Skipjack Nautical Wares website for a great selection of maritime antiques, nautical furnishings and decor and just about everything nautical for your home, office and nautical lifestyle!

Skipjack Nautical Wares & Marine Gallery Celebrates 10 years in Hampton Roads and Beyond

Skupjack Nautical Wares & Marine Gallery riverfront showroom
is located in Olde towne Portsmouth, VA.

By Toi wilson
Portsmouth Virginia Department of Economic Development


Portsmouth is a seaport town where maritime history and traditions created a way of life.  Today, homeowners and boaters look to recreate the days of nautical living through home décor, art, and apparel. Customers throughout Hampton Roads, and as far away as New Zealand, have discovered authentic nautical antiques and furnishings, original marine art, and handcrafted nautical accessories at Skipjack Nautical Wares and Marine Gallery here in Olde Towne Portsmouth.

Skipjack's Chelsea Room features authentic nautical antiques and marine art.

Custom made grate table.

Skipjack Nautical Wares, celebrating 10 years in business this month, is located at One High Street in historic Downtown Portsmouth.  A decade ago, owners Alison and Joe Elder set sail on a journey to merge their passions for boating and uncovering history with their business management experience to create a specialty store that offers a range of nautical-themed merchandise.  The furniture and home décor is constructed using recycled or re-purposed materials, also known as Eco Furniture.

Nautical Chart Lampshade.

The Skipjack design studio utilizes many shipboard items that are removed from retired ships in foreign and domestic shipyards as well as natural materials, such as locally found driftwood, in addition to boards and vintage fishermen's materials to produce one-of-a-kind coastal living pieces. Artwork and handmade gifts are mostly the work of local craftsmen, such as the Salt Water Bath Co. soaps made in Hampton, Virginia and the Monkey’s Fist Rope Knot furniture knobs (an interior decorator’s favorite) produced here in Olde Towne.  The nautical lampshades are constructed in the Skipjack Design Center using only the highest quality materials, including authentic NOAA nautical charts featuring locations from the Chesapeake Bay region.


Over the past ten years, the Elders have grown their store from a local, specialty boutique into an international business.  They attribute their success to being resilient, flexible, and persistent.  Initially, Skipjack was located in an area that did not meet the needs of the business.  In 2005, the Elder’s changed course and moved to Portsmouth.  In 2008, a fire destroyed their store and their residence.  The business realigned and made headway to its current location on the Portsmouth waterfront.

Skipjack Nautical Wares High Street location,
 Olde Towne Portsmouth, VA.

A dedicated web presence (online store, blogs, social media, information sources) has supported the brick-and-mortar operation.  Joe advises that a constant web presence and marketing are essential components for running a retail business.  Allison’s advice for new entrepreneurs is to remember to have patience and be flexible to market trends.  It takes time to establish a customer base, and as markets change, businesses should be prepared to make adjustments to stay the course.

The next time you are in Portsmouth or surfing the web, be sure to visit Skipjack Nautical Wares and Marine Gallery where you can find a tribute to our seaport City’s origins and a collection of the best in coastal living.

Toi Wilson is a respresentative for the City of Portsmouth,Virginia Department of Economic Development. She writes monthly articles featuring Portsmouth's people, places and things as part of the departments Enewsletter.

Dress Up Your Nautical Interiors With a Nautical Chart Lampshade

Looking for an easy way to dress up and personalize your coastal/nautical interiors? Well here’s a style secret used by designers to create local interest to the finely-fitted nautical room. Replace your old lampshades with a custom-made nautical chart lampshade using a navigational chart from your local or favorite coastline. You can select from 1,000-plus U.S. coastal and Great Lakes nautical charts created and updated by NOAA (National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration). Nautical chart lampshade not only create a great look to your room, but also becomes a point of conversation as you study the lighted charts, similar to viewing a terrestrial globe! Visit the NOAA site by clicking on this link to find the right nautical chart for your local waters. http://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/mcd/OnLineViewer.html

Skipjack offers custom nautical lampshades constructed in our own design center located in Olde Towne Portsmouth, VA. We use only the highest quality materials including authentic NOAA navigational charts. Each shade is trimmed with a muslin-colored grosgrain ribbon and features a washer top for attachment to any standard lamp. We can duplicate the size of your existing lamp with the only limitation being the size of the navigational chart. Visit our website by clicking on this link for additional information and costs of producing your custom nautical chart lampshade. We also produce a nautical chart nightlight and offer a great selection of brass and hand-made nautical lamp finials to adorn your favorite lamps.  http://www.skipjackmarinegallery.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=SNWMG&Category_Code=LS

Click here to go to Skipjack's Nautical Living home page.