Antler chandelier question...

(Note, this post was moved from here)

This morning I received a comment from Patricia, who is considering buying an antler chandelier, but had an interesting question about antlers. Rather than answer her in the comments area, I thought it worthy of note to make this today's post. She wrote...

I have a newbie question more than a comment. Since antlers are biological material (bone or hair), won't they degrade after a while? Is this a good material to use as a chandelier that hangs over your head? I didn't know anything about antler chandeliers until recently when my husband and I moved to Wyoming from Oklahoma to retire. We are considering buying an antler chandelier for our great room, but I was worried that it may not last.

Good question, and one I have heard before from people who are not accustomed to antlers and their diverse uses. Patricia is correct in that antlers are made of bone. As I mentioned in an earlier post, antlers are shed annually and regrown (antlers are a miracle of nature in that they grow more rapidly than anything else in the animal kingdom). As bone, they will degenerate in time. However, if not exposed to the elements, antlers can last indefinitely, which makes them perfectly suited as a material for indoor accents such as chandeliers, lamps and even furniture pieces.

People who make products from antlers do not harvest antlers from live animals. No animals (deer, elk or caribou) are harmed for their antlers. The antlers that these animals shed every year produce an abundant supply or renewable materials that are available from shed dealers around the country.

• You can browse a listing of companies in the USA and Canada that make antler chandeliers, furniture and antler carvings here.

"Faux" antler (imitation) chandeliers are also very popular and made from synthetic or resin type materials. Typically they are of lighter weight than natural antlers, which could be an issues depending on where you wanted to hang your chandelier. To see examples of faux antler chandeliers, go here.

It was time...

Hello and welcome to the new...
Log & Rustic Furniture blog!

A few years ago when I began putting together the Log & Rustic Furniture Directory, my intent was to categorize everything under one main directory. After a few months of data collection, talking to companies and growing the directory, it became apparent that I should divide the main directory into separate indices. I found that although such products are related, people searching for "twig furniture" were not the same people who were looking for "antler lighting" or "chainsaw carvings".

I decided to create separate websites for these products and group everything under a family of rustic directories. This proved to be the right decision as it kept products organized, yet everything was aligned under the same umbrella of rustic directories. Today, I find myself making a similar decision with my blog... make that blogs (plural).

The original blog, Log Homes and Log Furniture, was begun over a year ago and (like my idea for the directory) it was a catch-all for log and timberframe home information and log furnishings and rustic decor. Although it worked very well, I am now faced with the same dilemma that I faced with the directories.

People looking for "log home information" are not typically the same people searching for "twig furniture" or "antler art". Based on the emails I've received and the blog comments over the past year, it has become apparent that I would best serve my readers if these topics were separated into two different blogs; a blog about log homes and this new blog about log and rustic furnishings and décor. There will be overlap for sure, but it will be complimentary not competitive.

So, welcome to the new blog for
Log & Rustic Furniture and Décor.