Art et Floritude - Guirlande "Pondore" lighting fixture.
In any good stage production, lighting creates the mood, enhances the set and actors, and illuminates special scenes. The lighting in your home serves the same function. Down lights highlight artwork in living rooms, lamps cast a soft glow in the bedroom, and chandeliers spill light over busy workspaces like kitchen islands, or shimmer softly over a family meal in the dining room. New trends in lighting embrace the current economic times without sacrificing style and use familiar forms in new ways.
“In my view, it’s seemed that as the economy got worse, the designs became simpler with less design or ornamentation,” explains Bill Gardner, design development manager for the Millersville, Maryland-based company, Niermann Weeks. “We’re seeing less of the heavily beaded and crystal styles and more simple designs, like the metal frame chandeliers.”
Niermann Weeks, which is known for its ceiling fixtures, has seen no drop in the popularity of its chandeliers. Last year they introduced new products that are abstractions of historical forms that have been popular. “They’re all classical type forms, but they’re pared down,” Gardner explains. He points by way of example to the Vivaldi, a rustic interpretation of the French Country aesthetic with a chalk rust finish. Or the Cristobal, featuring concentric circles in a Venetian silver leaf finish.
A trend Chris Genck of J. Lambeth & Co. sees at the Washington Design Center is lanterns. “The biggest thing now is lanterns versus a chandelier,” he states. “Even doing three small-scale lanterns over a kitchen island instead of pendants or a chandelier is big now.”
One thing that’s missing from these popular lanterns is glass. While Genck speculates that this could be for ease of maintenance, he also attributes it to a desire to preserve the architectural integrity of the metal framework.
Objet Insolite - Ferica sconce
Designer Victoria Neale of Victoria Neale Interiors, LLC in Washington, D.C., is still in love with chandeliers, but is also now using lanterns in unusual ways, placing them in entrance halls, kitchens and bathrooms. The Gothic Four-Light Hanging Lantern offered by Circa Lighting is one of her personal favorites.
“The biggest trend now is lanterns. small-scale lanterns over a kitchen island instead of pendants or a chandelier is big now.”—Chris Genck, J. Lambeth & Co.
Circa Lighting is a direct retailer of fine lighting, emblematic of another trend Neale has spotted. “I see now that there’s more access to good fixtures at the retail level than ever before,” she states. “You don’t need to spend $1,600 to get good quality lighting; there are lots of places serving homeowners that fall between Home Depot and the Design Center.” She points by way of example to Circa’s Single French Sconce, a classic style for a relative steal at $126.
While Neale still sees plenty of clients who like their light fixtures dripping in crystals and others who want the style pared back, when it comes to chandeliers and sconces, she says ditch the shades. “Unless the piece is specifically designed for a shade, the use of too many shades starts to look busy. If you have a three-armed sconce with shades, they start to detract from the line of the piece.”
Not surprisingly, lighting has gone organic. But we’re not talking about CFL bulbs here; rather organic shapes that reflect the forms of nature. “Art et Floritude carries a plant inspired-line part of which is very modern in its forms and another that’s more classic with beautiful leaves,” says Genck. “People are using things with textures that have the feel of ‘green.’ They are organic but very modern.”
A major trend in sconces is traveling from Europe to the U.S. Typically, the size of a sconce has been limited by its hardwiring, which is hidden behind a backplate no less than 4-inch by 4-inch. Not so now, says Genck, thanks to Objet Insolite, which now makes a line of sconces where the hardwiring is hidden behind the shade, allowing the bronze body of the light fixture to become a freestyle piece of artwork. The Ferica sconce, for example, is nothing more than a delicate wisp of metal holding up a simple shade. Sconces have never been so airy.
According to Victoria Neale, the perennial problem with lighting is how to make it all match without being too matching. The trick now is finishes. “If you have a metal chandelier with a lot of crystal, use a metal in a similar finish for your sconces or lamps, but leave off the crystal,” she recommends.
“I love lamps,” she continues. “I love the ambience they give a room with their light.” Neale likes to work in pairs, which ground a design, particularly if a pair of lamps can be placed on either end of a sofa. However, rooms now must have an accent lamp for interest or the room will look dated. “Floor lamps are a great option if you don’t have room for a table lamp,” she adds, noting that the tried-and-true pharmacy lamp, in all its contemporary incarnations, is still a sound investment.
LIGHT IT RIGHT
If there’s one thing Victoria Neale sees homeowners do wrong over and over again, it’s selecting a chandelier that’s too small for the room. To keep from making this costly mistake, try using this simple formula when selecting a chandelier:
• Measure the width of the room in feet
• Double that number
• Take that number and make it inches
• That’s the size of your chandelier
In other words, if your room is 12 feet wide, you should look for a 24-inch chandelier.
Christianna McCausland is a Contributing Editor for ChesapeakeHome.
Contacts:
NiermannWeeks: niermannweeks.com or 301-912-1226
J. Lambeth & Co.: jlambeth.com or 202-646-1774
Victoria Neale Interiors, LLC: victorianealeinteriors.com or 202-244-8410
Resources:
Art et Floritude: artetfloritude.fr/eng
Circa Lighting: circalighting.com or 877-762-2323
Objet Insolite: objetinsolite.com or 860-873-8603
