ILLUMINATION

Progress! I was excited to finally have all the light fixtures for my room ready to install and was able to wrangle the electrician yesterday to install the chandelier and sconces. The chandelier was graciously loaned to me from Francine Gardner at Interieurs in NYC. Francine has a fabulous atelier in Manhattan with a beautiful selection of globally inspired furniture and lighting, very chic. I originally met Francine through her blog Arte de Vivre, a homage to the full enjoyment of life that chronicles Francine's extensive travels, muses on life, food, decor and so much more. It's a must read!

The fixture is called Groix, a subtle gray chandelier covered in a gossamer shade.  Its luminous and very beautiful. I knew that the shade was very delicate so I worked with the two electricians to get the light hung without any marks to the shade. It took forever but we got it up and I'm so happy with the results.

   It's most common to hang chandeliers 30" above the table but I raised it an extra inch to 31".

Starting to lay the rug, a beautiful cowhide mosiac from Rug Art.

Working on the rest of the install today and all weekend--more photos to come!

Happy Weekend!

FINIAL TOUCH

I'm always on the lookout for inventive ways to update and personalize a room without a large investment. We all know the power of a pretty and well placed pillow, but how about our lighting?  Enter the finial; pretty, whimsical and full of decorative flair, the finial is the perfect exclamation point for a drab table lamp. Designer Hillary Thomas of Chic Shop has a vast collection of well priced finials with design influences from far-flung destinations in an array of beautiful shapes and colors. 

So many beauties its hard to choose!

A LITTLE BUBBLY

 

I make a point of stopping by John Salibello's row of shops on Manhattan's Eastside Antique District (East 60th Street) whenever I am in the neighborhood. His three shops are home to some of the most unusual decorative chandeliers, sconces and table lamps I've ever seen. The shop windows are breathtaking-when I visited last Friday, huge chandeliers composed of clusters of glass bubbles hung precariously over a white lacquered sideboard.  Simply stunning!

Six tier chandelier composed of lattimo glass elements by Venini (1960).

Opaque white frosted globe chandelier, Italy 1960.

Large chrome fourteen arm circular chandelier featuring smoked glass by Sciolari, Italy 1960.

Nickel and chrome sputnik ceiling fixture featuring rays terminating in clear glass balls, Italy 1960.