What are your rules( if there are any rules) for curating lighting for the home?
A lighting facelift should be done whenever there is some sort of remodeling done to the home. Changing a fixture can give a home a lift on its own or complement new paint or décor. A new fixture can be quite impactful in a bathroom, especially if you’ re replacing an outdated, wide fixture. Today, a lot of people are doing recessed lighting with sconces on either side of the mirror for a high-end solution that looks great.
What’ s the secret to choosing the perfect piece of lighting?
Buying the right size. Don’ t buy an over-scale piece or an under-scale piece. You have to think about what you are using this fixture for. Is it to light up the room or as an accessory piece to supplement the recessed lighting? It’ s really important to determine that upfront. And while you want to make sure that the fixture works with the design, having a contrast is great because it’ s unexpected.
Is decorative lighting“ dead”? We keep hearing everything is going minimal and recessed these days.
That’ s totally false. I think, today, in luxury environments, the combination of recessed and decorative is very much alive and well. If it’ s just recessed, it’ s boring. By bringing in decorative lighting, you create excitement below the ceiling line. If you want to add warmth to a room or make it more inviting, or you want to bring more interest to the eye level, a lighting designer might sell you on the benefits of decorative lighting.
I like to say it’ s the“ jewelry of the house.” That’ s how we look at it. The Corbett line, essentially, is inspired by jewelry and fashion.
Where do you get your inspiration?
Our process is not formal, but we look for a lot of references. We buy every shelter magazine on the planet, rip out pages and look at door hardware, furniture and pieces of art— we’ re searching for inspiration everywhere. There’ s lighting and then there’ s lighting— where do you want to go with it?
Are you seeing any trends or new art movements that are inspiring your lighting collections this year?
The biggest thing right now is midcentury modern. Vintage modern. It’ s casual and contemporary. The key to modern lighting is to mix in some warmth. Maybe add simpler straight-line pieces, but the materials and the tone are warm.
In terms of decorative lighting technology, what’ s the most exciting development you’ ve seen lately?
The continuation of LED technology. We’ re able to work and design with it more easily today. We’ re seeing form follow function, meaning we’ re designing products specifically for LED technology and not the other way around. The days of stuffing LED technology into a lighting product that was designed for more conventional modes of lighting are over. It doesn’ t look good.
In what direction would you like to see lighting design go in the next few years?
I would like to see the continuation of more decorative lighting. I think it’ s a mistake to use it less. The rule of mixing recessed lighting with decorative is that it must be in appropriate settings. More companies are using LED sources and building products that will coordinate with home automation.
56 | Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate