Live Your Best Light

Ask any stylist the key to a successful shoot and you’ll find yourself in a conversation about lighting.

More than just aesthetics, it possesses its own emotional language, writing atmosphere and warmth into contemporary interiors. If you or your home are feeling a little under the weather, consider experimenting some with some new lighting. You might be surprised at the life it brings.

To help you get started, Chaplins Furniture has created a shortlist of the best new launches this season…

Back to Black

In 2020, designers are experimenting with classic drama, revealing a host of iconic designs in sleek matt-black colourways. Seductive and bold, the new palette feels fitting for this time of year, updating winter homes with a little monochrome magic. A new favorite? The New PH Artichoke in BLACK, a daring design statement if ever there was one.

Deja-Vu

We couldn’t sign off without mentioning a handful of new retro lights that are making waves in maximalist circles. Boasting everything from 70s fringe through to art deco prints, these funky designs pack a serious punch, with island culture inspiring the creation of the new ARCIPELAGO LAMPS and CONTARDI’S extended CALYPSO collection.

All photos courtesy Chaplins Furniture.

Nature has been inspiration to designers and artists since the dawn of design, from floral prints and handcrafted wood pieces to architectural choices meant to showcase natural light. While these pieces aren’t dependent on natural light, their design and function are inspired by nature and its ever-evolving beauty.

Photo courtesy In-es.artdesign.

Le KLINT

Traditional Danish company LE KLINT is known for its design lamps. Taking into account new trends and technologies, the LE KLINT luminaires are a symbol of modern Danish design, without neglecting the integrity of the company founded in 1943. In addition to folded lampshades made of paper and plastic, LE KLINT’s latest CARRONADE series will also feature aluminum luminaires with wood in elegant industrial design.

The Nordic design luminaires from LE KLINT receive their industrial charm primarily through the mix of natural materials like aluminum and wood: while the lampshades are made of aluminum, the bracket consists of light oak or dark walnut wood. Laterally set discs of gold-colored brass or silver aluminum round off the design of the CARRONADE lights in style.

For the CARRONADE series, the young Danish designer Markus Johansson was inspired by 18th century ship cannons, which is evident both in the form and in the material selection of the luminaries. All CARRONADE luminaires are also individually adjustable and can therefore be easily adapted to the respective room situation.

“I conclude that design, for me, has to be a perfect combination of function and form, which conveys emotions, that subtly affects us as humans, while simultaneously, enhances our daily experiences,” says Johansson.

The combination of the individual CARRONADE luminaires results in modern lighting concepts. While the CARRONADE pendant luminaires in different sizes illuminate, for example, the dining room table, the floor lamps CARRONADE low and high create atmospheric light conditions in the living room.

As we enter 2019, here are four interior design trends to watch, according to today’s top interior designers as told through Ketra.

In 2019, smart home technology will be a must — whether it’s remote lighting control, window shades built for energy savings, or full-home voice automation.

“One of the major advantages to tech and connectivity in the home is the ability to manage the property remotely, with doorbells now doubling as security cameras, wireless thermostats that can be preset or adjusted while away, or programmable lighting and window shades for energy savings and to make it appear that people are in the home,” explains Erin Ruby, founder of Erin Ruby Design, LLC.

“Technology always has something new that peaks a client’s interest,” adds Rendell Fernandez, design director at Pembrooke & Ives. “Voice actuated smart speakers now add another layer of home automation controls that were non-existent just a few months ago.”

photos by 1stdibs

Photo by Benjamin Moore

Lights that Mimics of the Natural Spectrum of Sunlight

Natural light is a key element to think about when designing a space. “It’s our connection to nature and makes us feel good,” says Charles Pavarini III and J. Randall Tarasuk of Pavarini Design. “The ability to amplify the natural spectrum of light coming through your windows is something we have never had the ability to do before. It’s a breakthrough that is sure to find a growing market.”

“As the quality of lighting technology improves and evolves, this will continue to be an increasingly vital aspect of the built environment,” Ruby agrees. “Any space is only as good as it’s lighting. Lighting dictates how spaces are perceived — warm and inviting, or cold and stark.”

photo by Ketra

Traditionally based on necessity and overlooked in terms of style, the kitchen is now a bastion of design trends. Classic, neutral hues and smooth surfaces are a thing of the past. Those craving a spark of life will love these unique products designed by experts and industry favorites that seamlessly weave function with design.

LIGHTING THE WAY

Fancy Faucets

Transform even your most basic household items, even the kitchen sink, with an inspiring, black matte finish. California Faucets’ recently launched Kitchen Collection is “a refreshing change from chrome and stainless steel,” says Noah Taft, the senior vice president of marketing and sales.

This new collection is far from limited; there are 30 artisan finishes to choose from, including polished rose bronze, weathered copper, and satin gold. Settle no more between function and aesthetics. With “a lifetime guarantee against tarnishing” the days of compromise are over.

Pictures courtesy of California Faucets. Link to buy:http://www.calfaucets.com/category/kitchen-products

These extraordinary women found a way to make their mark in the design world, though once considered something of a boy’s club. Here are highlights of the acclaimed designs by the industry’s leading ladies, talents who are innovating beautifully.

SVS Rugs
Salem Van der Swaagh

Salem Van Der Swaagh is a textile designer, committed to creating products that have both environmental and social impact. All rugs are designed and hand woven in Berlin, using 100 percent salvaged material from industrial weaving, then repurposed into highly textured, luxurious wool products.

Modern Line Sofa
Greta Grossman, 1949 | 2015

Modern Line was one of Greta Grossman’s most elegant and minimalistic designs, praised in particular for being representative of her background in Scandinavian design. Her timeless sofa collection has a sleek, feminine and light expression that is supported with elegant slender legs. In her words, the sofa was “developed out of our own preferences for living in a modern way.”

Photos courtesy of Suite NY

Luxxu, hitting the market of luxury lighting in 2015, is looking to bring unique Portuguese design to the global market. CEO of Luxxu, João Barros, discusses what is coming next for this brand and why this is a project of which he is proud.

Barros defines Luxxu as a luxury lighting brand, which later expanded into the luxury furniture market. “Today, the brand is separating the two concepts in two different brands, Luxxu Modern Lamps and Luxxu Home,” he said, a huge move for the company.

In a sea of luxury interior design brands, Luxxu is defined by its unique aesthetic. “Thanks to the timeless aesthetic that does not follow trends, the brand is gaining its place in the luxury furniture market,” said Barros.    

Though Luxxu is a very recent brand, it has several defined bestsellers, most coming from the Empire collection. There are several other projects that Barros is very proud Luxxu has completed, from designs in Victoria Secret’s Bali to Four Seasons Beverly Hills.

Luxxu also collaborated with well-known luxury brand Swarovski to incorporate its crystals into some designs. Teaming up with this established brand is great news to Barros. “This exclusive consumer can consider us a trustworthy brand,” he said, “This partnership has a lot of unexplored potential that we will explore for Luxxu Modern Lamps.”

Reaching 3 million euros in sales as of last year, Luxxu’s value is exceptionally high for a new brand. Barros attributes the success to the marketers, the large focus on target markets, and the available customization options for clients. “Hours spent studying of the best strategies to grow in the design world have helped us to bring our unique designs to such an exclusive target,” he said.

In the future, Barros predicts many new releases for both branches of the brand. “In 2020, I foresee that the brand will reach high values in sales very superior to those we hit last year,” Barros said. “I also see in the future of the brand, stores or showrooms fully decorated by Luxxu. The entire Luxxu team sees the brand with a strong position in the luxury market.”

Photos courtesy of Luxxu

Recently released exclusively with SUITENY, the design brand Nuura is known for creating aesthetic and select lighting options that reflect the riches and joy found in Nordic nature. With the chandelier as a central focus, Nuura offers lighting collections that enrich the room and complete the interior in both private homes and public spaces. By combining delicate design with state-of-the-art technology, the designers strive to create unique quality lighting that has a positive impact on our wellbeing.
“The meaning of Nuura is light and honour,” says a brand representative. “From our base in Denmark, we are inspired by the Nordic light — an everlasting source of inspiration. We wish that our lighting collections will spread life and joy.”

All photos courtesy SUITENY.

Contemporary designers around the world are transforming lighting fixtures from basic utility into artistic bling.

By Roger Grody

Diamond Ring by Christopher Boots. Photo by Christine Francis. 

Talented interior designers compose seating, flooring and window treatments to complement each other like a wardrobe, requiring a delicate balance of fashion and functionality.  Lighting was once viewed as mere utility, but the fixtures produced by today’s premier designers represent the jewelry that sets off an outfit.

Drew McGukin, a New York-based designer with a national clientele, reports that although dramatic lighting can sometimes short-circuit budgets, its value should never be underestimated. “I think of lighting as an extension of the art in a space — a real opportunity for functional sculpture that immediately lifts a room,” says McGukin, who welcomes the myriad of innovative products currently available. Among the lighting designers he favors are fellow New Yorkers Lindsey Adelman, an industry leader, and Stephen Antonson, whose work is distinguished by his creative use of plaster.

“I’ve always surrounded myself with handmade things, art and antiques. They make good company because the maker seems to be present,” reports Antonson, who wants his chandeliers to evince this feeling and eschews polished, silky finishes. “No two are alike and you can actually see my hand in every one,” he explains. Indeed, Antonson’s plaster has a tactile, organic quality in which you can almost make out the artist’s fingerprints.

Adelman is the darling of world-class interior designers and architects, and her work—an extraordinary fusion of art, whimsy and electricity once reserved for Manhattan penthouse dwellers — has found a global clientele. She is as much a movement as a designer, and Adelman-inspired knockoffs are so ubiquitous that even suburban homeowners are unwitting fans of the designer.

At Lindsey Adelman Studio, the founder surrounds herself with a staff of metalworkers, architects and philosophers, all dedicated to pushing the limits of lighting design. Adelman says of her craft, “It’s structural and sculptural and you can test it immediately.” She also appreciates the unpredictable dynamics of anything that hangs from a ceiling, suggesting a chandelier’s relationship to gravity is far more seductive than that of static sofas or tables.

Adelman is inspired by the work of renowned architects Santiago Calatrava and Shigeru Ban. And although one can see the influence of those masters’ daring sculptural expressions in Adelman’s cantilevered fixtures, she humbly characterizes her personal style as simply “combining the practical and sensual.” 

Her studio’s first product was a modest version of Adelman’s now-signature Burst, an explosion of hand-blown globes and spikes inspired by vintage French jewelry and Medieval flails. The Boom Boom Burst, a spectacularly oversized edition of that inaugural piece, is priced well north of $100,000.

“I think that, more than ever, designs are driven by self-expression,” states Adelman, who notes this is still a nascent trend for products designed for mass-production, but quite prevalent among independent designers who self-manufacture. “Lighting is the perfect medium for this kind of expression,” she insists.

Across the country is Los Angeles-based Fuse Lighting, where founder Kevin Kolanowski uses semiprecious stones to elevate lighting fixtures into an haute couture of electricity. “Designing lighting has really been an ongoing exploration for me,” says Kolanowski, who, like Adelman, is influenced by Calatrava, as well as architects Carlo Scarpa and Zaha Hadid.

“I appreciate all types of design, but have such a passion for lighting because of how it can completely transform the mood of a space,” says Kolanowski. His work is a testament to how a thoughtful selection of materials and forms profoundly influences how light radiates through a room. “Lighting is art, atmosphere, structure, and function all in one,” says the designer, who has always been fascinated by jewelry.

“I wanted to play with this idea of adornment using organic materials in my lighting design, but with a contemporary twist,” says Kolanowski. The designer began incorporating semiprecious gems into sleek geometric forms, calling his work “jewelry for the home.” Like a jeweler, Kolanowski manipulates natural materials into art, using citrine nuggets or amethyst chips to suffuse and refract light in different ways. Fuse’s Alex chandelier features a curtain of stone surrounded by a metal frame, and a particularly compelling combination of finishes is amber-hued carnelian nuggets juxtaposed against dark oil-rubbed bronze.

Kolanowski contends the industry’s embracement of miniaturized and flexible LED bulbs has encouraged the use of new materials and a wider variety of intricate shapes in lighting design. He states, “The forms that I’m working with now usually follow architecture and are more fluid than ever.”

Unlike some commentators, Jason Miller, founder and creative director of New York’s Roll & Hill, does not believe lighting has yet completely morphed into art. “Design is design. Art is art. The goals are different,” he insists, but concedes, “I do think it’s fair to say that lighting has become more expressive, which opens up a whole new world of opportunity for interiors.”

Miller has assembled a team of designers — including his celebrated crosstown peer Lindsey Adelman — that emphasizes the sculptural qualities of lighting, customized to clients’ specifications.

The Brutalist movement-inspired Gridlock pendant from Roll & Hill, created by Philippe Malouin, is a handcrafted, symmetrical assemblage of brass trusses, something that might have been created from a very sophisticated Erector Set. In addressing new trends, Miller states, “I think there is a group of young designers working right now whose work has more in common with Memphis or design from the ’80s than other periods.” He notes, however, “That work is usually rejected as being ‘ugly.’”

“I’m very inspired by nature,” explains Gulla Jónsdóttir, who adds, “There are no straight lines in the human body so why should we live in square spaces?” The Icelandic-born designer is a successful hospitality industry specialist whose chic Parisian restaurants and serene Mexican resorts reflect her organic, seductive imprint. She also authors collections of furniture, including some distinctive lighting pieces. Her Nest chandelier — the fixture’s outer shell is a collection of “twigs” crafted from salvaged rebar, while an inner shade surrounding the bulb is created from polished tubular steel — reflects the designer’s penchant for reimagining nature.

Alexander Chandelier by Stephen Antonson. 

Nest Chandelier by Gulla Jónsdóttir. Photo by Jesus Banuelos. 

Masters of Illumination

Roll & Hill: www.rollandhill.com

Stephen Antonson: www.stephenantonson.com