Thursday, February 11, 2010

Rock On




I believe it was Candice Olsen who said that "lighting is like the jewelry for your room" -- and I absolutely agree with her. Not only is getting the right lighting in a room essential to maximizing its functionality, but it's also a wonderful opportunity to really take a risk and play around with color and materials. In fact, I'd argue the use of just any old nondescript table lamp is a real opportunity lost design-wise.

Giotto necklace ($160) from Stone & Honey

For the past few seasons, agate and other semiprecious stones (the larger, more colorful and more asymmetrical, the better) has been a huge trend in jewelry, one which is now making the leap into interior design. Not only are geodes and rock crystals showing up in the form of table lamps, but polished agate and petrified wood are being repurposed as coasters, trays and simple objets. My favorite incorporation of this trend into design though are the table lamps, which are so large and vibrant that they read as almost garish, but in the right hands, these lamps can bring both an organic quality and a ton of glamour into a room.

Can you spot the mineral lamps in each of these rooms?




House Beautiful

Nate Berkus

In their most natural form, geodes and crystals also have a very geometric element which can appear at once architectural and modern while still retaining the fundamentally organic qualities. With these divergent characteristics the lamps create a degree of tension, which creates depth and interest in these otherwise rather traditional rooms.

If your itching to get in on this trend, there are a number of gorgeous options available for purchase:

Source list (from top left): 1. Cameron Table Lamp from Circa Lighting ($3150). 2. Marble Block Lamps from Williams-Sonoma Home ($395-841). 3. Black Quartz Spider Lamp from Vivre ($4,400). 4. Rock Crystal Lamp from Anthropologie ($2,200). 5. Pierce Accent Lamp from Crate & Barrel ($149). 6. Amethyst Lamp from Plantation Home ($2,295).

Save for the C&B option (which is admittedly the smallest and least interesting of the lamps above), all of these options are jaw-droppingly expensive. So what's a girl to do? What about a budget-friendly option? While I'm all for investing in high quality, lifelong pieces for your home, there's a good chance that a trend like this will date quickly. Unfortunately though, semi-precious stones don't come cheap, especially in the scale of many of these lamps -- but luckily I've found a wonderful solution via the wonderful blog (and now e-store) Matters of Style:

At prices starting at $125, these are a great, affordable alternative. Even better, the Lucite base and brass hardware are right on trend. For all their current offerings, check out the Matters of Style Store HERE.

12 comments:

Kathysue said...

Love,love these lamps Averill. I so agree about lighting to me it is the element in a room that puts any room up a notch if done appropriately. In fact Over at Pure Style Home I wrote that exact comment about what element in a room is important to me. she has a great oval tray give away going on. Back to my point, love this post, we seem to have some of the same design sensabilities. Have a wonderful weekend celebrating your love,Kathysue

Samantha said...

Cool. These are gorgeous.

ashlina {the decorista} said...

oh yea. i love the lamps..they are total rock candy!!!
my favorite ones i blogged about here...
http://secretsofdomesticbliss.blogspot.com/2010/01/rock-candy.html

happy valentines weekend.
xo
ashlina

lady macleod said...

Lovely as always and I agree with you about the importance of lighting and the chance to dress up a room with the fixtures by which it is delivered.

Marija said...

beautiful images, great lamp choices. and i love that i now have a new source! perfect!

Marija

alison giese Interiors said...

I was so thrilled to see the MoS girls offering those lamps! The area where we live here in Brazil is notorious for its abundance of minerals, and I keep hoping to find something I can turn into a lamp with a DIY kit. Alas...it's typically still more cost-effective to buy the gems in The States. Example: I bought a geode bookend at HomeGoods for $12 (that had a 'Made in Brazil' sticker on it!) Down here, it would've been close to $40 - nuts, I know!

*Chic Provence* said...

Hi Averill, Great post on beautiful mineral lamps, I love the natural element they bring to a room with such glamour!

Love your blog....there's a Lovely Blog Award for you on my blog today!

Happy Valentines Day!

Kit

Southern Aspirations said...

Love the collection of lamps- especially the Anthropologie one. The amethyst is quite pretty as well. But yay for the MOS girls for their more affordable options!

Liz @ It's Great To Be Home said...

I especially like this trend post - very glamorous and unusual!

Sarah Klassen said...

Nice lighting finds, Averill!

I am really drawn to the all black lamp -- it's beautiful. Very chic, I must say.

Happy Valentine's Day :)

xo

Beth Connolly said...

I agree that lighting is so important and often overlooked.

Christy said...

Very interesting, and I hadn't noticed this trend yet. I love it - especially the black quartz and amethyst. Love those.

And, I'd like to move into that first image on this post. Holy moly it's gorgeous!!!

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