MoS Obsessions: Vintage Tole Chandeliers

The Matters of Style girls are obsessed with vintage tole chandeliers! Tole objects are made of metal which is hand-painted. It was originally a folk art, but it evolved into something more stylish and really epitomizes classic Palm Beach style to us (think 1950's and 1960's). We love hunting for fabulous vintage tole pieces at antique shops, and in fact, eBay is one of your best resources!

How pretty is this Celerie Kemble office? We love her use of turquoise in this room, particularly on the chandelier. It's such a nice way to add some vintage style to this room.

Celerie Kemble


And of course, this breakfast room designed by Celerie demonstrates the beauty of tole chandeliers. We are in love with the gorgeous painted fruit and flowers on the chandelier.

Celerie Kemble

This bedroom blends not only a tole chandelier, but also a fabulous tole canopy bed. We like the simplicity of the chandelier in contrast to the ornate leafy detail of the bed.

Celerie Kemble


We never dreamed we would like black kitchen walls, but Ruthie Sommers knows how to make it work! The white tole chandelier really pops against the walls, and the turquoise door really brightens up the space!

Ruthie Sommers

Another design of Ruthie's, we love the green trellis pattern on the ceiling with this hot pink tole pagoda chandelier. We would love to see more of this room!
Ruthie Sommers


Tole isn't just for breakfast rooms and bedrooms. It is such an elegant look in this Celerie Kemble-designed NYC store.

Celerie Kemble

How pretty is this white tole chandelier for a dining room? The flowers are feminine, but painting it all-white definitely gives it a modern edge. We'd probably paint the walls a bolder color so it stands out even more!

Annechovie

And the classic tole pineapple chandelier. We love everything about this room and the fabulous vintage style that this chandelier adds. This really says Palm Beach style to us!

Peacock Feathers

For a more soothing look, how pretty is this bathroom? This chandelier may not be a vintage piece, but it does do a good job reflecting the traditional style of a tole piece, and it definitely adds interest to this bathroom!

Decor Pad

We probably aren't brave enough to create an all-white room like this one, but it is really gorgeous! I'm sure this chandelier did not originate as an all-white piece, but we love how an easy coat of paint really brings it up to date!

Decor Pad


For a completely different style of tole chandelier, this green and gold fixture is elegant and seems to have a Swedish influence. It really works in this dressy room (and we love the huge mirror behind the sofa which adds that extra layer of dimension to the room).

Veranda


We wish we had a better picture of this fabulous Ruthie Sommers- designed nursery in the Domino book. The pink and green vintage tole chandelier is absolutely perfect in this room. We definitely are on the look-out for a tole chandelier for a MoS nursery.

Domino (Ruthie Sommers)

And if you want to buy a tole chandelier yourself...

This tole pagoda la tern is so pretty! It could really look great in a number of different rooms, regardless of your style.

Shades of Light $225

We dream of one day owning a Niermann Weeks chandelier or lamp. We can't find (or even guess) the price of this little guy...

Niermann Weeks

And for true vintage finds, here are some of our eBay favorites. Just type "tole chandelier" into the search page, and you will find lots of options! There is a big price range, but a fabulous tole chandelier can definitely be found for around $200.

How fun are these colors? This chandelier needs to make a dramatic statement in a large room.

ebay

We are in love with this fabulous palm tree-inspired chandelier. We think this would look perfect in our favorite Jonathan Adler bedroom.

eBay

This green and white would be so perfect in a small bathroom or a nursery. The miniblinds on the other hand...

eBay

This white pagoda chandelier is one of our favorites. Another blogger found this on eBay for a song (around $80 I believe), while an identical version was pushing $2,000 on 1st Dibs.

eBay


We love the lilly detailing on this fab chandelier. We could do without the fake drippy candles, but those are super easy to swap out.

Hidden Valley Antiques

And this brightly colored chandelier is so much fun! We think you definitely could use it in a way that it's not so Brady Bunch-looking as it is in this photo against the stark black background. Maybe we would paint it white, or who knows, maybe we would leave the colorful daisies!

eBay

What do you think about tole? Outdated, or chic and stylish?