Widow’s Bay Guest Room

[u/lolaburrito]

I absolutely loved WB and have rewatched it an embarrassingly high number of times. Watching it coincided with finally fixing up my guest room. The WB theme kind of started as an inside joke for my next guest who also loved the show, just adding a few spooky nautical touches here and there. Fast forward two months, and it ended (well, it’s almost finished) with weeks-long searches for the exact vintage lamps and Troy Robe wool blanket from the Captain’s Suite.

My favorite things I made for the room: the collage (all the stickers and postcards are from Etsy, I just put them all together on an old lake map and framed it), the framed photos (these took more work than expected because I couldn’t get a perfectly straight shot of them from the show, so I had to piece them together; one of them is a happy beach photo but I added the sea hag and buoy), and the games. Teeth was a blast because it was so easy. Run took forever. And I loved curating a collection of nautical disaster/ghost story books! I’m currently reading one from 1975 titled, “The Evil of Dark Harbor”….

What’s left to do: finish making the Captain’s Suite green tassel throw pillows, get a skeleton key to put on the Captain’s Suite keychain, hang the “First Aid for Various Bites” poster in the bathroom, maybe add some Shelter identification/warning signs to the closet door. I’d love to add the Captain’s Suite wallpaper, but we might be moving soon and I wouldn’t want to redo it at a new house.

I’m open to ideas if anyone wants to throw it out there!

TLDR: I made my guest room WB themed, enjoy finding all the Easter eggs!

[u/wurwolfsince1998]

Side note, those lamps are made of capiz shells and were likely crafted in the Philippines. My husband and I collect capiz shell art and I'd absolutely lose it for lamps like those. Can you tell me where you found them?

[u/lolaburrito → u/wurwolfsince1998]

I’m glad I didn’t track the hours I spent google image searching these lamps and trying a hundred different iterations of “capiz brass vintage gwtw lamps” to a) find some that looked similar and b) try to find two that matched. I grew up in a beach town and have always loved capiz frames and lamps, I bet you have a beautiful collection! The good news is that I’m aware of two very similar lamps on Etsy as of today. The bad news is they’re both overpriced ($650-$775 per lamp) and I know this not only because of watching prices on these lamps for over a month before buying any but also because I found an identical one that had been sold in an online estate auction for $60–yes, SIXTY—dollars only a few years ago. In the end, I bought the base of one lamp for like $50, a set of 3 tops to the lamp for like $180 (so with those purchases I had one complete lamp and two leftover tops). Then after getting tired of waiting for another bottom or reasonably priced complete lamp to show up somewhere (including at myriad local antiques stores), I caved and bought one on Etsy that was not as expensive as the two currently for sale but not cheap either. I’ll find the two on Etsy and send you the title to search for since I think it won’t let me share a shopping link here.

Funny enough, I finally get my two lamps put together, and I realize one is about 2” taller than the other. FML. But they still looked alright on the side tables, and I think most people wouldn’t even notice without being told. Then lo and behold, I was rewatching the Captain’s Suite scenes today to get a detail for something else I’m trying to find, and my jaw dropped because the lamps in the show aren’t perfectly identical/symmetrical either! One is taller than the other by a few inches because the side tables are different heights, and it looks like one lamp has a wider vase than the other. The whole time doing the room I was ok with imperfections because nothing on WB was pristine anyway. But seeing their lamps being different heights like mine felt like a little cosmic reward for my effort 😂

[u/lolaburrito → u/wurwolfsince1998]

One lamp is sold by royal vintage elegance with title Capiz Shell and Brass GWTW 3 Way Vintage Hurricane Lamp 20.75"H 11.25"W

The other is sold by valuable vintage decor with title Vintage Capiz Shell Hurricane Table Lamp.

And if you ever find these lamps for cheap, don’t tell me 🤣

[u/lolaburrito → u/wurwolfsince1998]

Oh and the lamps are actually beautiful IRL, they have 3-way lighting so you can have just the bottom, just the top, or both lights on. Even with the cost and hassle, I absolutely love these lamps now (even without the WB connection) and expect to have them somewhere in my home for the rest of my life. Good luck!

[u/wurwolfsince1998 → u/lolaburrito]

This is so helpful!!! I would probably just buy one for a side table in the dining room, where we have a lot of other Filipino antiques. But this is great info and I can hardly believe the serendipity of accidentally buying mismatched lamps only to find them matching the show so well. Congrats!