I can’t believe it’s September already, the month when everyone gets really serious about their jobs again.

In that context, I’d like to point out the updated page on this website for interior designers. Schonbek has finalized the dates of the next three Designer Nights, in Little Rock, Philadelphia and Orlando. If you’re an interior designer, and you live in or near one of those towns, you should definitely check it out.

Crystal chandeliers are hot right now, and I’d imagine most interior designers have clients who are demanding one, if not one in every room. Here’s a chance for a designer to see some of the newest crystal chandelier designs from Schonbek, with commentary from an expert.

Crystal is a whole fascinating field of knowledge. There are so many types of crystal, so many shapes, and so many chandelier styles going back through the centuries. At a Schonbek Designer Night, a designer can get a crash course on crystal, from a company that’s been designing and manufacturing crystal chandeliers for 136 years.

Schonbek was founded in 1870 in Bohemia. Even before that, members of the Schonbek family were running glassworks in this very famous glassmaking region. So there’s quite a long tradition to tap into, when you meet with someone from Schonbek.

Going back to jobs, the Labor Day weekend is upon us, and my mother-in-law will be visiting. I’ve just cleaned every crystal chandelier in my house, except for one, which I’ll clean while she watches as a form of amusement for us both. I have not dusted behind the furniture, but I’m hoping the brilliance of the chandeliers will be so riveting, it will make any imperfections in my housekeeping less noticeable. This strategy works with most visitors.

Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Let me call your attention to a new lamp on the Schonbek website.

It’s small, an accent lamp really, but so adorable that it deserves a blog of its own. It’s a Rivendell.

You might call it a kissing cousin of the Schonbek collection of Rivendell crystal chandeliers. By this I mean that the lamp and the chandeliers are very compatible and share lots of genes, but they can live independently too. You can have one without the other.

But in my case, if I bought this charming little lamp, I would not be able to resist acquiring a Rivendell crystal chandelier with a matching Jet Black finish. This is a new finish for the chandelier line, and very trendy.

Rivendell crystal chandeliers are interesting. You can dress them up or dress them down. Because these chandeliers are inset with hundreds of dazzling little crystal beads, they can hold their own in a very sophisticated setting. Then again, because of the flowery organic shape of these chandeliers, you can be a bit of a flower child and combine a Rivendell with exotic, eclectic or wildly eccentric furnishings.

In ads I’ve referred to Rivendell as “a crystal chandelier for people who never wanted a crystal chandelier.”   It’s so totally original and beyond categorization.

Rivendell is popular and has become a Schonbek classic, maybe because most people consider themselves totally original and beyond categorization. You look at this crystal chandelier, and you see something about yourself.  

Monday, August 28, 2006
My friend Lee is thinking of selling her rental property. I blogged about this property before, because she had the original idea of putting Schonbek crystal chandeliers in each apartment so she could ask higher rents.

This worked well for her for years, but now she’s tired of the bother of managing the property.

I was pleased to find out, however, that she decided to confiscate one of the crystal chandeliers from the rental property for her own house. She chose a really magnificent ceiling basket, a Versailles. Her ceilings are low, so a hanging crystal chandelier won’t work as a central light in her rooms.

Although this Versailles is mounted flush to the ceiling, it’s quite big, with flowing scrollwork and numerous candles. Although it’s technically a ceiling basket, it really functions as a crystal chandelier.

I hate to think of the other crystal chandeliers going to a new landlord (or lady), so I suggested that she create a kind of tableau with an antique table and a hanging crystal chandelier in the corner of a room. In this way, it wouldn’t matter that her ceilings are low. No one could walk under the chandelier. It would be there simply as an object of beauty to contemplate.