Often times the heirloom furniture and accessories we pass down from generation to generation carry with them a story. It’s a history of where it has been, who’s had it, how it came about and more. Even new Wrought Iron Decor has a deep history as the truly authentic pieces are still made by hand using time honored techniques.

One of the authentic wrought iron items with a deep history is the Wrought Iron Courting Candle Holder.

In the 1600’s to the 1800’s, courting candles were used by the man of the home to set boundaries for his daughter. When the daughter’s suitor came calling, the father lit the candle in a sitting room where the couple conversed. When the candles burnt to the metal at the top of the candle holder, it was time for the suitor to promptly leave. However, the father could change the height of the candle based on how comfortable he felt about the suitor. Also, the father could immediately snuff out the candle or add a second candle depending on what he deemed necessary. The courting candle served as a quiet, yet firm reminder to the suitor to end his date.

Rich or poor, the courting candle was used by fathers from all economic backgrounds. It taught daughters to respect their parents’ judgment. The candle also taught the suitor to defer to the father’s ability to judge a man. Although it may sound like a crazy notion by today’s standards, the courting candle served as an important boundary line in the family and social fabrics.

- Read the complete history of the courting candle here.

- Get your own handmade wrought iron courting candle holder.

“You Get What You Pay For,” it has been said, repeated and proven and it couldn’t be truer in the home furniture industry, specifically in the wrought iron furniture and home decor segment. Before you go and shell out hundreds or thousands of dollars on your next wrought iron furniture and home decor purchase take the time to educate yourself on how to make the most of your investment, by knowing what to look for.

Find all of the helpful information you need on making your next wrought iron investment in the “Wrought Iron Buyer’s Guide”

Here is a little sample of what you’ll find in the Buyer’s Guide:

How To Know If It’s Authentic Wrought Iron

Look for pieces that are truly forged or wrought and not cast. You can tell if the iron décor you are purchasing is authentic by examining the scrolls, finials, welded joints and other decorative parts for the tell-tale signs of cast and machined iron.

On cheap items you will find seams from the case and half welded joints, prone to fatigue and moisture damage. If you look closely, the texture will be faint like the way cheaper pressed window molding looks vs. the elegant and much more durable carved trim.

Finials or decorative pieces on cast items will have a light, mass-produced look and feel to them, many will have noticeable seams. Trace over sections of the wrought iron to check for rough spots, splits, breaks or flaws that compromise the tensile strength and invite rust.

Artist Reputation & References

Check the references of an artisan hired to create custom railings, fencing or gates. Ask to contact previous clients and to see photos of the work. Visit the artisan’s forge, if possible.

If you are conscious of the environment and enjoy shopping on-line, make sure you buy from a reputable dealer who carries quality products. Take a look at the videos and pictures the site has.

Reputable websites have extremely detailed images highlighting the unique design characteristics, finishes, and the attention to detail of each item. This allows you to see and feel the texture and quality. If it looks good close up in a picture, it will take your breath away in person!

Where to Buy

Specialty shops, ones that carry iron and only … read on…

Read the entire Wrought Iron Buyer’s Guide click here.

Wrought Iron candle holders are amongst the most popular choice to decoratively and safely display your candles. Iron Candle Holders have stood the test of time, they have developed into detailed artistic expressions from the most rustic designs to impressive modern master pieces, yet still some haven’t changed a bit staying simple and original.

When choosing a wrought iron candle holder you are bound to run into a few dilemmas, first one being which one do I choose?!? With hundreds of designs and styles to choose from you will first want to pick the area in your room where you would most like to add some decoration and eventually candle light. I would also recommend picking out the iron candle holder before you pick out your candles because candles are a dime a dozen and can be found in thousands of different sizes, shapes, and colors to fit your candle holder.

Moving on… Decide where your candle holder will go, on the wall, table, fireplace, centerpiece, or floor. Then ask yourself a simple question,

what style candle holder fits my unique tastes, rustic iron candle holders like the ones from the pine collection might fit in your cabin like setting while the copper candle wall sconces would find themselves much more at home in a modern home design setting.

Once you know where your wrought iron candle holder is going to go and what you general design preference is, it’s time to shop! Make sure to look at the detailed pictures and measure your area to ensure your candle holders will fit both literally and in scale with everything else in the room.

Iron candle sconces, pillar candle holders, and wrought iron candelabras are beautiful accents for any one of your rooms. The hardest part about buying metal candle holders is deciding from the many designs and styles out there. So go prepared and don’t be afraid to spend a little on yourself, a healthy life starts with comfortable surroundings and nothing is more comforting than the natural glow of a burning candle on a safe and decorative metal candle holder.

By the way, just because your new candle holder looks to beautiful and artistic to use its not. Light your candles, enjoy your purchase and use it over and over again, that’s what it was intended for, or just use it as decor, either way I know you’ll enjoy your beautiful new candle holder.

Shop for your perfect Metal Candle Holder at Timeless Wrought Iron

Simple cleaning and care can extend the life of your wrought iron furniture for generations, I clean mine not everyday but it gets cleaned and maintained so that the luster and beauty are still there when I pass my table and chairs on to my kids.

Here is a sample from the “How to Care for Wrought Iron Furniture” article I found, it should be very informational for you as it was for me. They even suggest what types of chemicals to use in this article. The text is a little like a sales pitch since it is from a site that sells wrought iron furniture and decor but its very useful information, here’s a sample from the article on how to keep your finish looking new:

(Finish: All of the finishes we offer have a standard durable natural black finish unless otherwise specified. Hand-applied premium finishes are applied over a baked on powder coat base finish and are slightly more delicate but can be maintained in the same way. To maintain your finish we recommend a regular dusting with a soft lint-free cloth and the occasional application of furniture wax to keep a clean protective coating on the finish. A few products we recommend are; Lemon Lite – a cleaner and polish that is simply sprayed on and wiped off, more product info… Shield – is a high gloss multi surface polish that is non-abrasive and creates a protective coating more product info…; Brilliance – is an all-purpose surface cleaner that will not leave a high gloss coating on your finish if a natural mate finish is what you prefer, more product info… One Touch Wonder Wax, is a simple to use spray on wax that creates a durable and protective wax coating on your wrought iron furniture finish, more product info…,” Written By: Timeless Wrought Iron)

Hopefully you find this as useful as I did! Click here to read the full article…

P.S. If you have any questions about caring for your iron decor that has not been answered in the article, they have a simple form where you can submit your questions. I tried it and they got back to me within the 24-48 hrs. that they say it may take. It actually only took them 3 hr to get back to the question I submitted.

People are always in awe over the exquisite beauty seen in hand forged wrought iron decor. They’re amazed at the blacksmiths ability to take cold, hard, lifeless iron and turn it into warm, beautifully crafted organic shapes that reflect the beauty of nature. A perfect scroll, for example, is demonstrated so wonderfully in the shape and structure of the nautilus.

Wrought Iron decor is available in a variety of design styles from rustic to more modern and contemporary designs. Wrought Iron creates a perfect balance of nature, fine lines and exquisite design in the spaces where we live, work and play.

Though the standard techniques of working with iron haven’t changed for more the 200 years, blacksmiths continue to push the envelope with new wrought iron design. Some of the most beautiful wrought iron decor is that of which is forged to replicate the textures and natural look that Mother Nature herself creates. The replications of branches, leaves, fruits and other natural items are so detailed it feels like you took it from nature itself and cast it in iron. As artisans, blacksmiths pride themselves on innovative designs and quality craftsmen ship. You’ll be able to see it and feel it in their work giving you a whole new appreciation for quality iron decor.

There are thousands of hard to find wrought iron items available for you to enjoy start your search for the perfect Wrought Iron Items at Timeless Wrought Iron where we have more than 1,500 wrought iron items to choose from and more are coming! If something isn’t available our custom capabilities are only limited to your imagination. Even the hand forge custom work ships out in 2-3 weeks. Get inspired to create an oasis in you home, office or cabin with wrought iron decor.

Yesterday we made an installation video for our visitors to enjoy and hopefully gain some knowledge from; however, this video making stuff is not as easy as it looks apparently…
The video is an informational one on how to hang a simple wrought iron towel bar in your bathroom. The towel bar was to be mounted on a small area of wall, just bellow some of the clients existing copper wall art and it was to be mounted into drywall. It turns out that even after careful preparation, planning and rehearsing we would run into a stud, even thought we marked them and told everyone in the introduction that we would be avoiding the one and only corner stud in this wall, we hit it. “Its not a bad thing,” its actually a good thing since ideally you would like to mount anything that will have stress applied to it into the wall stud but for us we had already told everyone that it would be a pure drywall mount. Oops!
So we kept filming a corrected ourselves but the video seems long and under panned so its launch onto the helpful tips and hints page of our wrought iron web site might be stalled. “The towel bar turned out great despite everything and another client was again supper satisfied,” just in case you were wondering.

Here are some more pictures of the most recent project:
I plan on making many more helpful videos for you and the rest of our visitors so that everyone can feel confident about installing their own home decor, whether it is curtain rods for the living room or hanging pot racks for the kitchen.
If you have any suggestions about video making and editing please share it!! I would be happy to hear what you have to say. If you would like an installation video of something specific or think people could benefit from let me know, we’ll make one for you and post it to our web site. You could even have your own home made how-to-video posted on our site if you would like! Simply send your video to me via email or conventional mail (USPS) and I’ll review and let you know whether it’s fit for the site or not.Technorati Profile