Friday, June 16, 2006

The Designer Night in New York City took place last night, and apparently it was a success. Lighting by Gregory was packed. It must have been quite a sight, wall-to-wall interior designers surrounded by crystal chandeliers.

Schonbek is already planning the next event. If you’re an interior designer, be sure to check out the listing for upcoming Designer Nights on this website. We just got the list today. A lot of details remain to be filled in, however. So keep checking back.

The June trade show in Dallas takes place next week, and we’ll be getting photos soon of new crystal chandelier designs. The excitement level gets very high at Schonbek just before a trade show. And it’s reflected in my office as we prepare materials on the chandeliers.

So here I sit in the office at 6PM on a Friday, feeling pretty good about the week’s work. In preparation for the Dallas show, I had to write a number of co-op ads. I was totally focused on thinking deeply about crystal chandeliers.

You may laugh at the idea of thinking deeply about chandeliers. But crystal chandeliers are poetry and philosophy to me!

Consider rock crystal chandeliers. Rock crystal was formed during the unknowable eons when the Earth came into being. That’s pretty intense. And Schonbek makes chandeliers with these semi-precious gemstones, so you can actually have a souvenir of prehistory in your everyday life.

Different styles of chandeliers recall different centuries and historic fashions. So you can recreate the mood of high life during the age of Louis XIV, Napoleon or Empress Maria Theresa, by bringing a crystal chandelier into your environment.

Colored crystal chandeliers have a different sort of depth. Color is so evocative. Love, jealousy, ambition, happiness, all these emotions suggest various colors. You step into the realm of psychology when you choose a colored crystal chandelier.

But I think I’ll call it a day and go home to my own crystal chandeliers. Always a deep pleasure.

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

It’s interesting to think back to your childhood and ask yourself what lighting was like when you were growing up. This will be especially fun if you’re over 30.

The likely answer is that lighting was basically white. White ceiling baskets, lamps with white shades. And if you grew up with a crystal chandelier, then the chandelier was trimmed with clear crystal, again a white look.

Lighting was for the purpose of lighting up objects, fabrics and colors in the room, or for functions like illuminating countertops and bathroom mirrors.

So when Schonbek introduced colored crystal chandeliers, it was a revolution. Suddenly lighting could be as important, or more important, than your furniture by virtue of its colorful personality.

Schonbek works with muted crystal colors, as well as bold colors, so you can have a colored crystal chandelier compatible with almost any décor.

Now the newest color in crystal chandeliers is black. Whatever you do, don’t miss the Black Is Back section of this website.

Even chandelier frames have benefited from the new taste for color. Crystal chandeliers used to have shiny gold or silver colored frames. Now, at Schonbek, we have as many as 25 different designer finishes. Some are richly complex, multi-hued and antiqued. Others are sleek and minimalist.

Color has invaded technical lighting, too. Geometrix™ designs come in dozens of composited colors unique to Schonbek.

Monday, June 12, 2006

Have you ever toured the home of a famous, long-dead poet, in particular the room where he/she wrote? I have. It’s always impressive how beautifully furnished the room is, and how neat the desk.

What if tour groups are destined to visit your home in the next century? How would you want your work space to appear to them?

If you put a Schonbek crystal chandelier in your home office, you’d have no worries about making a nice impression.

Seriously, a crystal chandelier in your home office has a lot to recommend it. It will encourage you to be well organized, because you’ll have a high standard of beauty to live up to. Who dares to be messy under a crystal chandelier?

And because crystal chandeliers are associated with balls and dinner parties, you’ll feel less like you’re engaged in overwork. You might have a sense of fun as you shuffle through files and write reports.

Then there are those moments when you run out of energy and stare at the wall, wishing you were somewhere else. Instead, you can rest your eyes on your crystal chandelier, and be glad you are where you are.

I have a baroque crystal chandelier in my home office, as well as an old wooden desk from the 1920s and an oversized leather chair with studs and fat arms. It’s a warm and welcoming work space.

Obviously, my style is eclectic with traditional overtones. But you can have interesting lighting in a contemporary home office too. See this home office with Edges®.