I'm discovering that I can look at lighting forever -- there's something about light that just fascinates and compels me. In another life, maybe I'll come back as a lighting designer. :-)
Here's a chandelier that I can't come close to affording (in the $2000+ range), and I'm not even sure it fits into my style (maybe in the master bedroom), but oh, it is so very lovely. Have you seen the Fortuny chandeliers, made of subtle Venetian silk?
Sadly, no one appears to be making well-done cheap-ish (under $500, or better, under $300) knockoffs. Ah well.
They’re beautiful. I would worry about glare with the essentially bare-bulb ones, but that could just be me and my watery eyes. The Venetian fixtures are yummy, and yes, very, very expensive. Henna-painted parchment shades (my mind refuses to cough up even enough information to Google) might be worth looking at–not as delicate, but lovely in their own way, and certainly affordable.
Kevin and I have been going back and forth on bare bulbs for all of our lighting conversations — I LOVE them, but my eyes are tough. Genetically adapted for strong sunlight, perhaps? My poor blue-eyed Kevin has real trouble with bare bulbs, so we’re probably going to only use such fixtures in my study. A shame, as there are a ton of gorgeous ones around right now, with the industrial look enjoying a revival, but ah well. It’s not worth making his eyes hurt.
I’ll poke around for the henna-parchment ones — I don’t think I’ve seen those.
And Delia, tell Ellen that for some reason, I can totally imagine Alec having Fortuny chandeliers in his home. 🙂