Friday, September 28, 2007

To get along in life, we have to be well behaved. But when it comes to decorating we can do as we please, and nobody gets hurt.

A crystal chandelier with leopard skin shades can be a wonderful outlet for the wildcat within. I’m thinking of Tango, a bold new crystal chandelier design by Schonbek.

The wildcat motif is a power not to be ignored in interior design. The cheetah rug, the leopard chaise, the tiger throw pillows make appearances in home décor magazines with some regularity. Especially when glamour is in season.

We spend our lives trying to become civilized, which is a good thing. But there’s a streak of wildness in many of us that’s always threatening to express itself. This is the appeal of the wildcat motif. Better to have a few animal skin patterns in the house than to behave like an animal yourself. Sublimation is a wonderful thing and can lead to some very fun design looks.

You may also have a secret desire to wear a leopard skin cocktail dress or tiger patterned high heels and handbag – a desire you will never succumb to in a million years. Here again, the wildcat theme can be safely transferred to your home décor.

It should be said that Tango is not purely a creature of the jungle or the savanna. This intrepid crystal chandelier also partakes of celestial imagery. Note the clear crystal spheres orbited by dazzling crystal beads. And the crystal stars that appear to be shooting off the crown of the chandelier.

Tango is really very chic, and I should confess that you can forget the leopard look and order this crystal chandelier with black shades. You will then be firmly in the realm of civilization.

Thursday, September 27, 2007

There are crystal chandelier people, and there’s everyone else. I’ve become a crystal chandelier person by accident, as many of us do.

The first step is deciding to buy a crystal chandelier, and making your decision about the style. If you choose a Schonbek crystal chandelier, the shopping process is particularly delicious, because Schonbek has designed such a variety of styles, each totally individual and original.

If you’re lucky, you’ve done your shopping at a large lighting showroom well stocked with Schonbek crystal chandeliers. You’ve experienced first hand the ineffable charms of prismatic light. And you’ve had excellent advice from a good lighting consultant on staff there. Schonbek goes to great lengths to help train their dealers’ lighting personnel. These professionals are very knowledgeable about crystal and the Schonbek design portfolio.

Lovely as a Schonbek chandelier looks in the showroom, it will look even lovelier in your home. Crystal chandeliers interact with their environment like no other type of lighting. The palette of your interior – whether earth tones, passionate colors or nostalgic hues – will be refracted and reflected by your chandelier. This is a somewhat subtle effect, even in the case of a very brilliant crystal chandelier, because the colors and the light are instantaneously shifting and changing all the time.

So you inevitably drift into the habit of contemplating your crystal chandelier now and then, and this is a very pleasurable non-activity, like gazing into a fireplace at the dancing flames. This is the next step in becoming a crystal chandelier person.

What happens finally is that your friends become fascinated by your crystal chandelier, and the more daring among them will ask to borrow your Schonbek brochures. This happened with my friend Kilah, who now has a houseful of Schonbek crystal chandeliers, all mini chandeliers except for the Renaissance in her dining room.

If you’re a tea person, you enjoy discussing the qualities of various types of tea with friends who are also tea people. And you love drinking tea together. A similar thing happens among crystal chandelier people. You visit each other’s homes and admire each other’s décor. Being a chandelier person doesn’t dominate your existence, but it is another pleasant thing in life, like tea drinking or poetry reading.

You don’t have to be rich to be a crystal chandelier person. Obviously, fabulously wealthy people can indulge in chandeliers of great magnificence. But Schonbek generally makes a crystal chandelier design in several sizes, so whether you live in a palace or a cottage, you can find a chandelier appropriate for the dimensions of your room. Crystal type will also affect the price of your chandelier. Schonbek always uses the highest quality crystal within any crystal type. So you can choose more affordable crystal with confidence. Then there’s the wonderful collection of mini chandeliers by Schonbek, each a perfect jewel that can have a transformative effect on a small room.

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Both Andrew Schonbek, and his sister Eileen Schonbek Beer, have their names on a number of design patents. The design process at Schonbek typically involves a team of designers, but the fact that the Schonbeks themselves lead, guide and participate in this process is unusual.

All too often the owners of crystal chandelier manufacturing companies are entrepreneurs, not designers. And then there are the hordes of opportunistic offshore companies that are purely in the business of knocking off other people’s designs. Schonbek is constantly taking legal measures to protect their patented designs from marauders.

I maintain that imitations have a lifeless quality, no matter how closely they try to duplicate the work of someone else. Whereas an original design has a unique energy, a kind of living beauty. Take, for instance, Keilah, a new lamp design by Schonbek. There is a simplicity about the design that might make it an easy target for imitators. But they will miss all the subtle nuances, and they will skimp on the quality of the crystal. The Schonbek name is an assurance that you’re getting the highest quality crystal, always, whatever the crystal type displayed.

The Schonbeks themselves are as deeply knowledgeable about crystal as it’s possible to be. They were taught by their father, Arnold Schonbek, whose expertise was also the gift of his ancestors.

Keilah is remarkable for its crystal composition, as well as its chic contours. The body of the lamp is one huge chunk of flawless optic crystal, sharply faceted like a diamond. The gleaming Jet Black crystal balls above and below this massive crystal diamond are beautiful in a completely different way. I’ve called this a simple design, but it’s really not. The interplay between rich black crystal and clear prismatic crystal is quite sophisticated. And the lamp is rich in Swarovski® crystal rhinestones, studding the crystal and bejeweling the shade.

I seem to be focusing on Keilah, probably because Eileen was intimately involved in this new design. She also played an important role in the design of La Scala, a crystal chandelier with a magnificent display of oversized crystal in a variety of classic shapes. And as I’ve mentioned before, Eileen Schonbek Beer was the force behind Schonbek’s landmark revival of rock crystal chandeliers. This collection is unique in the lighting industry, including not only historic styles but also contemporary designs trimmed with authentic rock crystal gemstones.