Into the Lights

(Stinger & Rock Pendant Lights from Jamie Harris Studio)As a designer, I’ve been lucky to see many beautiful, uniquely-designed furnishings, but I have always had a special partiality to light fixtures, especially hand-made blown glass lights.  Maybe it’s the sparkle; maybe it was that memorable trip to a glass blowing factory in Venice; or maybe I just hate the dark.  But I always gravitate to the lights first at any show or store. 

At this year’s Architectural Digest Home Design Show, there were several impressive designs of light fixtures.  Above are the pendant lights from Jamie Harris Studio. The narrow, tapering light is called the Stinger Pendant and the bubble shaped-ones are called the Rock Pendants. 

(Droplets, courtesy of Moshe Bursuker)Glass artist, Moshe Bursuker, started with sculptures of blown and cast glass and then incorporated his designs into platters and tiles.  He branched out to creating jewel-like pendant lights called Droplets, reminiscent of Moroccan hanging lamps.

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Floored! by the light

(Shakti Floor Light from YLighting)I recently researched light fixtures for a client but I became quickly stumped - many that I looked at just didn’t work in the space.  The living room had low ceilings so suspended lights were out of the question. My client didn’t want side tables so table lamps were out.  I looked at surface-mounted lights and they were dull as dishwater.  Then I looked at sconces but this involved a lot of wiring behind the walls which the budget didn’t permit. Then I hit upon the solution – floor lamps! 

I haven’t used floor lights lately mostly because I found the selection very limited.  Then I discovered these sculptural lights that just floored me!  The floor light above is the Shakti, designed by Marzio Rusconi Clerici for Kundalini.  The Shakti reminds me of the Brancusi sculpture, Bird in Space.  The long body is a laser-cut Plexiglass tube and is available in several colors.

Another beautiful sculptural floor lamp is the Alta Costura, available at YLighting.  Designed by Josep Aregall for Metalarte, the Alta Costura is made of translucent PVC panels and looks like soft folds of linens spiraling around a center. 

(Alta Costura from YLighting)Floor lamps don’t have to be tall – they can be short and sit on the floor, lighting up a dark corner.  This Laszlo floor light ripples like a loosely wound ribbon.  The light is designed by Cristian Malisan for Fambuena and is made of molded plastic.

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Table Lamps Galore!

(Dalu Lamp by Vico Magistretti for Artemide)Table Lamps are very practical light fixtures – sometimes doing double duty in some rooms as they can provide task lighting as well as accent lighting for the room.  In our previous Designer Monthly, Suspended Light, we talked about how hanging light fixtures provide ambient lighting for the room.  Table lamps are more specialized – because of their smaller body, they can only throw light on a small area.  They’re great for specific tasks – reading, doing deskwork, and for providing an accent light in a corner of the room, where a ceiling light may miss. 

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Suspended Light

(LZF Agatha Light)You walk into a room, any room, and one of the things you take for granted is that there’s going to be light. When there’s light, everything not only looks brighter but bigger also.  Plus, with the right light bulbs correctly positioned, a room can be transformed into an inviting place. With this much riding on lighting, you really can’t take it for granted.

One of the easiest ways to throw ambient light around the whole room is to suspend a light fixture in the center of the room. 

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