Quick Fix

I really like the pivoting wall lamp designed by Jean Prouvé in 1950 and produced by Vitra today. The only hiccup is that it’s huge. It is two meters long.

So when I discovered that Vitra had produced a small amount of the original Petite Potence lamp in beautiful shades of green, I was sold. I managed to find one in the shade I liked the best, and the lamp has served us well since then.

As it comes with a dimmer and the fantastic swivel function, it can be used as a reading lamp in bed or our bedroom corner – or simply as a mood light in the corner of the room with the light dimmed.

Since the first day in our home, everything about the lamp was great – except for the socket. It did not bother me at the store but when mounted on the wall and the spring light hit it the first time, I was really unimpressed by this detail: a mediocre, black plastic(ish) socket was far from the beauty of the original.

So when one afternoon, Saku accidentally hit the lamp when leaning over to kiss me, I was kind of happy. Good kiss, and, it was the ugly socket only that got broken, leaving a sad bulb hanging like it’s going to fall off any moment.

After spending 8 euros at our neighborhood electric store, and being convinced by the owner that I can totally replace the broken socket myself, that’s what I did, and it took little more than ten minutes. Sometimes a little drama is well needed to set things in motion right in the direction you want to go.

Another thing I discovered, and this is obvious but I’m going to mention it anyway: it is such a delightful feeling to get your hands dirty and actually fix or make something yourself – and then live with the end result. We tend to notice and value those things around us, because we are so aware of the time and skill and care that went into accomplishing them.