Lamps - Star Power in Home Decor

As an accent piece that brings color, form, and light to the space, a magnificent table lamp can easily steal the show from any furnishing in the room. Even when the decor is comprised of carefully placed recessed lighting, a designer is bound to add a lamp for that extra finishing touch. It's no doubt an irresitable part of the interior landscape and one that demands certain considerations before making the ultimate decision - which lamp is the perfect choice?

Whenever I have the opportunity to discuss a lamp purchase with a customer, I have to admit I do a little bit of prying throughout the consultation. I don't mean to be nosy, but if the person informs me that they're purchasing a lamp for a bedside table I'll ask if it's purpose is for reading, mood or both. The criteria is important to making the best selection. You should probably allow a good 20" from the bottom of the shade to the table if your lighting needs are task oriented. But not everyone reads in bed. Although my preference is color, a white shade  with a 3 way bulb or dimmer will let you do wonders with the lighting, especially if set against a wall painted in a deep hue.

Buying a lamp on line has it's own unique issues. It's not as though you can switch it on and off to see how the light affects the shade color, or how it illuminates the space. So I thought I would take this opportunity to offer tips on how to choose a lamp that meets the needs of the space, purpose and decorative preference.

1. Color vs. white. There's nothing like the richness of a colorful silk shade. It has a subtle presence that turns dramatic with the flick of a switch. I like to think of a long corridor where a beautiful lamp sits atop a hall table like a captivating beacon that invites you to enter. Or imagine a display of bookshelves or built-ins where a shapely little lamp illuminates a nook or niche. Ah yes, these are examples of scenarios where you can indulge in low wattage and a colorful silk shade to create a warm and alluring ambience.

2. Size.  It would be crazy for me to suggest running to a store and buying a lamp to see how it fits the space. But you can certainly search your house and grab a lamp of comparable size or any object for that matter and see how it measures up. How big is the table surface? You certainly don't want the lamp to hog the table top. The base of the lamp really shouldn't take up more than half of the space on the table.

3.Light. Is there other lighting in the room? Is the lamp the primary source? This is when a white shade becomes the optimum choice. And just because it's white, it doesn't mean you can't play with the mood. Just a reminder that a 3 way switch or dimmer can magically transform the ambience.

Far Out Fashion Offers Artistic Inspiration

I was glad I had the opportunity to see the Jean Paul Gautier exhibit before it finished it's stint at the DeYoung in San Francisco this week. At first you would guess that the talking mannequins would be the talk of the show. Yes the special affects will leave a lasting impression for a lifetime. But it hardly steals the thunder from the creations themselves. Truly a feast for the senses. My fingers were itching to examine the outfits close up, and I constantly had to remind myself that I was in a museum  where the "do not touch" rule reigns. The man is an incredible genius in the way he marrys his designs with exotic materials and a bit of humor. That is not to mention the presentation, which is a whole other discussion in itself. He is definitely the whole ball of wax. But it was his focus on detail that overwhelmed and over wowed me. So imaginative and so masterful, you need to linger on each creation in order to fully absorb and appreciate the breadth of it, and even then, there will probably be a detail that you missed. 

Talking mannequins, wedding dress, dress of pheasant  feathers  and a hat made of tortoise shell combs

An inspiration for any designer, I felt the challenge to create something ala Jean Paul Gautier, leading me to that age old question - what came first the chicken or the egg? Did he find an old bag of collected sea shells that inspired him to create an evening gown? Or did he have a vision of a dress bodice cloaked in mother of pearl that sent him on a shell gathering mission? I like to think that he had a collection of found objets stashed away in his atelier, awaiting a useful and creative purpose. 

Atleast that's what prompted me to go through my studio drawers and closets to see what I had hidden away. OMG, Gautier would have a field day with some of the stuff I found. Glass beads, crystals, metallic studs, wood turnings, and a plethora of hardware essentials ie,  screws, nuts, bolts, and a lot of whatchamacallits. Why have I been saving all this stuff? I guess it's an old habit I picked up as an art teacher way back when. Surely my fascination with all this new found  paraphernalia is bound to give me the incentive to create something new. Maybe I'll create a sculpture in the way of wall art or possibly design a  furniture piece. Don't be surprised if you see a new Susan Goldstick console table inlaid with toy wooden wheels. Yep you guessed it. I found a whole box of them!

Posh Pooch Retreats - Dog beds get Susan Goldstick finials for the finishing touch.

I always enjoy when interior designers contact us for a public installation or event. Most typically the focus is a decorator showcase house. But every so often a special project will involve an unusual application of our decorative hardware. One of my favorites is still the house of cards sculptures perched in the poker room at the Wynn hotel in Las Vegas. So when designer Phyllis Harbinger contacted me about a challenge hosted by the New York Metro ASID for the Southhampton Animal Shelter, it more than piqued my curiosity. Fantasy dog beds was the theme and I was excited to see her creation. It was no surprise that her Moroccan inspired carousel dog bed got lots of oohs and aahs and won a prize. You don't have to be royalty to love it, but maybe a sultan to afford it. It auctioned at $1200 and a replica costs $2000.

Winning Contestant shows the fruits of labor from Alan Schatzberg's workroom with Susan Goldstick carnival finials and Kravet fabric. Photos courtesy of Design Concept Interiors. 

But actually this is not the first time, our decorative hardware was a key component in a dog bed design. Joanne Mahon, managing director of Diamond Dogs Uk approached us years ago for a "pet" (no pun intended) project. Her company specializes in Swarovski crystal dog collars and she chose our sparkly Isabella finials to crown the posts of her dog bed creation. I admired her philosophy that a dog's bed is a furniture piece and therefore should mirror the decor of the room, hence the rich leather cushions and arms.

Privileged Puppy looks happy in leather upholstery and surrounded by Susan Goldstick Isabella finials.  Photos courtesy of Diamond Dogs UK.

So there you have it, two very unique and very different interpretations of a dog's dream digs. No tired old baskets upholstered with chewed up blankets for man's best friend. However I will caution- my perisian cat would take ownership of these dog beds in a nano second! 

Developing a Knob Collection

There are many considerations when I set out to design a new knob and handle collection. Color and life style trends are a major focus of course. The color forecast for 2012 predicts an abundance of orange and all shades of blue are emerging.  But I have to admit that it's usually the customer feedback that is the bigger impetus for my direction.

Customer surveys are probably the single most valuable tool for determining the focus of product development. Although we don't have a formal questionnaire, I'm always aware of our customers' comments and concerns. They are the ideal focus group, bringing my attention to what I refer to as holes or decorating needs that are asking to be fulfilled.

Duc and Duchess collection

Inspiration comes from all kinds of places. Exciting visuals from travel, events or just a shopping experience are all motivation that move me into my creative playground. Just like a chef in the kitchen, it's ultimately the fiddling around with the ingredients in the workshop that gives birth to the new product. In the case of my new Duc and Duchess collection, I decided to pair some of our most requested color and metal combinations with the "diamond" crystal. It reads like white in decorating terms and gives the piece an overall liveliness.

Once I'm satisfied with the design, the next step is the merchandising; naming the product (not as easy as one would think) determining the number of pieces (also not so easy), staging the photos (time consuming but very rewarding), and finally developing an advertising campaign (ah yes, the final lap). But it's not done yet. Because it all needs to be evaluated. Sales figures, customer feedback, maybe a little tweaking to the design, it's all part of the process.

Brilliant Upgrade

New and Improved...
An advertising nomenclature that's all too familiar and yet it baffles me at times. The "new" part is inevitable.  But I have to admit the "improved" aspect often has me stumped? I know this may seem trivial to some, but  I have to admit that I was a little unnerved to see that Swarovski had changed the number of facets on their flat back crystals.

                                                                                                  

Seems like I should have had some advance notice. It's true that these Austrian crystals have become so much a part of the Susan Goldstick identity, that I guess it threw me a little off balance to see that our decorative hardware now has a new look. I would have liked to be a fly on the wall at the meeting of the Swarovski project team, who in their quest for more brillance, determined that the rose chaton was looking dull and needed an uplift.

Mini Sunflower 2" - new brilliance

So if our knobs, finials and switch covers are looking more radiant these days. it's because they truly are. But I can't help feeling a bit nostalgic about the now retired chaton crystals, maybe not as brilliant, but just as beautiful nonetheless.

Mini Tiki 2" - old brilliance

Glass Switch Cover Installation - Atypical Stuff

I know I'm partial, but our colorful beveled glass switch plates are truly unrivaled when you check out what is available in the marketplace. I wish it was possible to capture their unique beauty on the web. But pictures can't possibly display the dynamic nature of glass reflections and how the light affects the color,  They are truly dazzling "in person". However,  the purpose of this post is not to rave, but to offer some helpful installation tips.

One of the unique aspects of a glass wall plate is that unlike your typical switch cover, it's flat in the back. Installing a glass switch plate really should be no different than putting up any other.  In a perfect world all electrical boxes are positioned properly where the metal braces are flush with the wall.  However you may run into a problem if your electrician installed the electrical box too close or too far from the wall opening.  Each of these conundrums has a different solution. So here are some tips and diagrams to help you tackle either issue.  

Scenario 1 - Electrical box is positioned too far from the wall opening.

If the conduit box in the wall is positioned too far from the wall opening, you may need to use shims behind the receptacle to move it forward. We always include vinyl screw spacers in every order of glass switch covers. These little tubes are sleeves that fit over the mounting screws behind the receptacle. You can use these screw spacers to bring the box closer to the wall opening. The following steps show you how to use them.

1. Measure the distance from the front wall surface to the conduit box flange.

2. Cut a vinyl screw spacer at the measured length and install one on both the top and bottom mounting screws behind the flanges of the electrical fixture.

3. Spacers intact, place the electrical fixture back in the conduit box in the wall.

Scenario 2 - Electrical box is positioned too close to the wall opening.

If the conduit box protrudes too far, you won't be able to set the glass plate snugly against the wall because there may be a gap. This can easily be resolved with an acrylic spacer. They're available in single, double and triple templates and we can order them for our customers.

So there you have it. My "ehow" contribution on tips to handle those unusual situations with glass switch plate installations.

Whatchamacallits - The Special Needs in Drapery Hardware

If every window was a uniform size surrounded by ample wall space on all sides, choosing drapery hardware would be as easy as A B C. Whether it be the curve of a bay window or the one oddball window in the room that's has special needs, some design issues can be mind boggling for the average person. And to make things more complicated, many people don't know the name of the thing that will solve their dilemma, or in many cases, that such an item even exists. But that doesn't mean you have to be a professional to decorate a window.  It doesn't hurt to have a bit of knowledge about some of the problem solving pieces that will come to the rescue. So here we go, I'll start with the most common concern. Attaching 2 poles together to give the length you need calls for a splicer screw also known as a dowel screw.

Another issue that comes up is the window that's squeezed into the corner of the room. In a perfect world there's plenty of room for finials on both ends of the drapery rod.  But what if you bump into this scenario where a window is positioned close to an adjoining wall, allowing too little space for the drapery finial?  This is when you'll need an end cap for one end of the rod.  The end cap is not only a problem solver, but the asymmetrical design can often feel more dramatic as the focus leads the eye to the more decorative finial.

A real brain twister is how to run drapery rods around a bank of bay windows or curves. A swivel joint bracket is a pretty handy solution to this situation. It allows you to position the pole so that it can handle a curve or windows that meet at an angle. Another thing that puzzles people is the purpose of the  hole in our cup brackets. If you're wondering why there's a hole there, this is where you can use a screw to secure the rod to the bracket so it doesn't move.  And if you want to cover up the hole, little wooden plugs will do the trick.  Pictured here in raw wood, we can obviously do a paint treatment to match any bracket or finial in our collections. So if any of these special needs are speaking to you- then speak to us and we'll order it for you.