Production assistant-fantastico, Lisa and I recently zipped down to L.A. to shoot some new videos for ‘ten,’ our upcoming New Year’s special event. True to form, we worked in a little design browsing.

In the barn-like space of Design MIX Furniture (442 South La Brea Avenue), we couldn’t help but look up.

Not that the exotic antiques and art at ground level left anything to [...] Read more »

Kenneth’s Lamp A Thousand Ways

All the way from Snoqualmie in Washington State, to Dublin, Ireland, Design Junkies uploaded their creative plans to personalize designer Kenneth Brown’s unique lamp (from his QVC Collection).

You can quickly update your room’s décor by changing the contents. of the lamp’s glass cylinder.

We loved the diversity of the entries; there were colored glass tiles, marbles, Mickey Mouse beads and mini [...] Read more »

Wish I’d thought of it. The creative peeps over at Organelle Design took ordinary clothes hangers and plastic bottles, applied their reuse wizardry and made these wonderful light fixtures.

I just adore the “Hangeliers.” Here’s the wooden version.

You can buy the gorgeous fixtures over at Organelle’s Etsy Shop

(via 2Modern.)

Which of the fixtures would look best in your space? Read more »

Something’s dressing up chandeliers in a way that Mom and Grandma may not have: Beautiful, translucent organza and other sheer shades. The layered look jazzes up traditional fixtures, like this teal-shade chandelier from Bellacor or this black beauty from We Got Lites.

Contemporary fixtures like Shade’s of Light’s Urban Shade Chandelier are designed layered with sheer or mesh shades, or with the shade as an option.

This [...] Read more »

by Diana Durkes

Get your DIY on as furniture makeover and upcycler specialist, Contributor Diana Durkes joins us again today. Diana gives “New Life to the Tossed and Found” at her blog, Fine Diving in Chicago.

This month’s makeover is a favorite of mine for adding fresh color or a new layer of pattern to a room. It’s also a great way to use the beautiful printed [...] Read more »

Good wine and good lighting come together with this trend. Some of these have been around a bit, but we are seeing more—and more interesting—light fixtures and lamps made from wine bottles.

My favorite is Pottery Barn’s Wine Bottle Chandelier that my friend Marie at Decorator on Demand mentioned on her blog. The ring of suspended green bottles is simple and impactful.

FCL Style’s take on [...] Read more »

This is a wondrous time for creative peeps. We can design and have printed our original fabric Retro Pink fabric. We can snap an iPhone photo of neighbor Marge’s delphiniums and buy perfectly-matched paint for the Master bath. Computer tools like this let us visualize our redesigned rooms before we shell out the bucks for a single appliance.

And we can design our original furniture and [...] Read more »

Glass is sorcerous. Translucent art glass can be both colorful and subtle. Classy yet fresh. That’s what I see in the hand-blown, art-glass lighting crafted by artist Tracy Glover.

Using Venetian techniques, Tracy crafts these lamps and fixtures in her Rhode Island studio. No two of her creations are exactly alike. This room includes the Large Turk Table Lamp. Below, the Globe Ceiling Pendant in [...] Read more »

A few more gems sparkled for us at Omega Too. Northern California architect Tim Leefeldt crafts these petite pendant fixtures from antique glass electrical insulators and Omega Too’s proprietor Mark Bell adds glow to old Mason jars. The little lights shine with personality.

What else could you make for your home from glass insulators or Mason jars? Read more »

You know when you walk into a store, and you draw an immediate impression of what’s available there? That’s how it was when my friend and I entered Mark & Vanessa Bell’s Omega Too in Berkeley. We looked around and thought, “Okay, brimming with period-correct lighting: Art Deco—check, Art Nouveau—check, Arts & Crafts—check.”

Then we looked more closely.

I spotted the ‘74 Kawasaki gearbox pendant first. [...] Read more »

Girlfriends have the best ideas over a glass of wine and a design magazine. I mean it, we women need to pay more attention to our fleeting brainstorms and ‘we shoulds.’

Shelly Dick and Wanda Guadamud did.

The attorney and business manager neighbors like to decorate with a contemporary flair in their Baton Rouge, Louisiana homes. Over an LSU football game one day, Shelly and Wanda [...] Read more »

Most every room can use a pop of black. So how about black for a lamp or shade? You’ll drum up some drama with one of these noir beauties.

Have a glass of sangria and stare awhile at the Vibe Swirl Table Lamp from Modern Lighting (above). Spiral your space with Ruche Collection’s Acrylic Pendant, or add a slice of class with this table lamp from [...] Read more »

The Grand Californian, Part One

You can find great design in the most unlikely places. Like smack in the middle of the mother of all theme parks in Anaheim, California.

This Spring-Break week we’ve been hanging our shingle near Toon Town, just this side of Pirates of the Caribbean. It’s been heaven for our tween and our baby seems content anywhere, strangely even during the ghostly [...] Read more »