Replacing the lighting fixtures in your home shouldn’t be last on your “to-do” list. What amateur renovators generally do is remodel, repaint and replace the furniture, completely forgetting to trash their out-of-date lighting. It doesn’t matter how elegant the sitting room is with its paired wingback chairs or how spacious the tub may be. If the lighting in your house is off, the ambiance is ruined. The lighting fixture in the house is just as important a player as the coffee table and sofa. Lighting is what makes your house a home.
To create an atmosphere of modernity and forward thinking, we must revisit what has gone before: Mid-Century Modernism.
Starburst Polish
After you’ve decided to update your home, HGTV says one of the first things you need to see about replacing are your lighting fixtures. For table and desk lamps, it can be as easy as replacing the lampshade. For pendant lights and chandeliers, it can get a little more complicated, especially if you don’t know or understand your own design aesthetic.
Back in demand, Mid-Century Modernism combines cleanliness, technology, nature and style into one contemporary and discreet aesthetic. Clean lines, clear surfaces and dazzling colors make up the style that is Mid-Century Modern and transforms a room from mediocre to extraordinary. To best showcase your design know-how in the Mid-Century Modern fashion, Elle Decor recommends getting a chandelier that acts as the “perfect punctuation mark in a well-composed room.” A well-placed ceiling light will act as a sculptural art piece in the room, you just have to know which ceiling light is right.
An excellent example of the Mid-Century’s exquisite designs, the Starburst LED chandelier by BlackJack Lighting breaks up the interior space using straight-edged diagonal stainless steel spokes capped with 24 points of LED lights. Starbursts are an explosion of light, BlackJack lighting’s Starburst chandelier captures that magnificent explosion in a stationary lighting fixture.
Nebulous Charm
A nebula is an incandescent cloud of light silhouetted against the dark ultramarine blue of the sky. Nebulas are memorizing natural gaseous orbs of light that leave a lasting imprint on every stargazer. Why wouldn’t we want to bring the beauty of a starry night inside to enjoy all day every day?
The Nebula pendant designed by Oggetti Luce is a handmade globe made up of the traditional art glass of Venice. Each piece of glass affixed to create the orb is completely unique in its form, just like the personality of its owner. A pendant that can stand alone or work in a cluster of other nebulous lights, the Nebula pendant plays with light and shadow to tremendous effect.
Sputnik Style
HGTV details in their article “10 Expert Lighting Tips for Interiors” that chandeliers are often considered old and uninspiring because they use the flamed light bulb aesthetic. The flamed light bulb makes the living space look a little too old-fashioned and is reminiscent of the spooky decorations Halloween enthusiasts put out every year.
To enhance your space, HGTV designers suggest getting a fixture with globe bulbs. The spherical bulb brings into your home a sense of peace and transcendence through its perfect geometrical form. Ceiling lights like chandeliers and pendants are some of the more visible lighting fixtures in your home, drawing yours and the eyes of your guests to their design and the area they are swathing in light.
If we look at the sputnik-inspired Zanadoo chandelier by Arteriors, we see a lighting fixture entirely designed and built up of the same geometrical shapes we see in nature. The linear spokes of the chandelier recall an effervescent satellite floating through space. The chandelier’s globe bulbs mimic the glowing moon we see in the night sky. This antique brass chandelier will act both as a statement piece and talking point in any room of the house.
We carefully select our books, art prints and throw pillows that we know will be on display for all to see, it’s high time we start doing that with our ceiling lights, too.
