Sunday, June 4, 2006

I’m feeling very grateful today for light in general, and crystal chandeliers in particular.

The other day I read a story in the paper about a new subterranean species just discovered, teensy creatures resembling scorpions and shrimp, living in a totally dark lake inside a cave.

I’m so glad I was born into a world of light.

The designers who work in my office turn off all their lights because they’re working on computers, but then the computers are pumping out their own peculiar energetic light. Furthermore, these designers are working on Schonbek brochures and ads. They may be sitting in the dark, but they’re contemplating dazzling images of crystal chandeliers.

I seem to be wandering from the subject of watery caves and lightless lives.

Suffice it to say that life is good for those of us swimming through air warmed by sunlight, sweetened by moonlight and stimulated by the prismatic light of crystal chandeliers.

Sometimes when I dim a crystal chandelier very low, I almost feel like I’m underwater, but it’s a subtly luminous sensation, quite unlike the black wet place where our newest species live.

Light would probably shock and even harm these creatures, while it sustains and delights all the other creatures on the planet. If I’m feeling melancholy, I can cheer myself up just by sitting back and enjoying the spectral brilliance of a crystal chandelier. No hope of explaining that to a cave-dwelling shrimp.

Friday, June 2, 2006

Homes used to have alcoves, elbows, nooks, crannies and other irrational spaces appearing occasionally on the way to more important rooms. Now homes tend to be rather box-like, with few if any funny little extra spaces.

I see this as something of a loss. But it can be easily rectified with the help of a well-placed, tiny crystal chandelier.

Note this transitional space, wonderfully defined by a tiny crystal chandelier called Genesis.

The homeowner has a broad area off the entryway leading to a great room. She has warmed it up by making a pleasing arrangement of chairs and art. It feels delightfully personal, even though the architecture of the home is imposing rather than intimate.

The interaction between the tapestry, which is a family heirloom, and the crystal chandelier is striking. Genesis, with its many colored crystal ornaments, is lively in the same spirit as the rich patterns of the wall hanging.

So there are these opportunities to create unexpected subspaces in palatial homes.

Try looking at this small setting and imagining it without the crystal chandelier. It just wouldn’t be as much fun.

Genesis is an amazingly versatile crystal chandelier. Here you see it in contemporary home with pure white walls. I think it would be equally successful in an exotic, eclectic, madly colorful room. This versatility can be explained by the total originality of the design. There is no other crystal chandelier that looks anything like Genesis. Therefore it’s not associated with a particular décor. You can consider it for all sorts of environments.

Tuesday, May 30, 2006

My house is full of unmatched objects that share nothing but a common color palette and mood. I love the freedom of combining beautiful things from different sources and eras. Yet, at the same time, and just to be unpredictable, I also enjoy matching.

And so in my kitchen I have a Versailles crystal chandelier over the table and a matching Versailles ceiling basket over the central work area.

And at one end of my living room, there are two matching Schonbek lamps, one in each corner.

What I’m suggesting is that you can have the fun of matching and the joy of mixing it up, both. Sometimes all in the same room.

In this context, it’s important to know that the new Jasmine crystal chandelier has a matching Jasmine crystal lamp.

Jasmine is designed for contemporary and eclectic interiors. The person who feels an irresistible attraction to this crystal chandelier is going to be something of a purist. She will not be into Victorian clutter. She might not have been seriously considering a crystal chandelier before her encounter with Jasmine.

This crystal chandelier is not about crystal as ornament, but rather crystal as an imposing building material. The body of the chandelier is composed of massive chunks of flawless optic crystal. The same holds true of the body of the Jasmine lamp.

I have linked you to the Jasmine chandelier and lamp with accent crystal of Jet Black, mostly because black is such a hot decorating color this season. But you should know that Jasmine comes with other accent colors, namely sapphire, topaz or clear. These color options apply to both the crystal chandelier and the lamp.