Hitting the lighting scene in the late 2000s, industrial’s urban ‘unfinished’ look continues to be popular within the hospitality arena, perfectly complementing trends of exposed bricks and pipes, concrete flooring, and large open windows.
And vintage too remains popular. Moonlighting under the guise of ‘shabby chic’ during the early 2010s, vintage inspired lighting is now more fashionably recognised as upcycled; taking an old item and breathing new life into it.
The question is, do we expect these lighting trends to stick around for much longer, or is their shelf life coming to an imminent end?
In our opinion, neither option is on its way out just yet, but we are seeing subtle changes to both themes.
Let’s start with industrial. When it first hit the design and lighting scene a few years ago, it was all about the distressed, rustic look in blackened/galvanised steel, conduit piping and filament bulbs.
Today, while still preserving many of the original industrial elements, the trend has evolved with the use of brass, gold and copper, pulling away from the warehouse greys into a more polished, shiny finish.
Mesh too has become a key feature of the new look industrial, blending perfectly with the traditional cage and rope fixtures and fittings.
The proof that industrial trends are still hugely popular is encapsulated through The Kitty Hawk’s soft industrial décor which used bronze mesh feature cage pendants and reclaimed timber beam fittings to pick up a Restaurant & Bar design award.
On to vintage. The upcycled nature of this type of lighting makes it creative, unique, and most importantly beautiful.
Not only does it give old items a new lease of life, it gives a bar, restaurant or hotel a stand-out ‘wow factor’.
As a manufacturer, we love working with designers on such lighting showstoppers, from the beautifully classic to the weird, wacky and wonderful.
While the designers certainly have their own opinions as to what the lighting should look like, or represent, it is our job to bring this vision to life, while at the same time ensuring its functionality and safety.
In recent months, we have had the pleasure to ‘upcycle’ a motorbike shell into a centrepiece flying machine for a Chester bar and created a truly stunning range of vintage floral lighting masterpieces for The Florist, Liverpool – a bespoke lighting project exclusively for the New World Trading Company.
We manufactured various pieces of upcycled vintage lighting here at our Lancashire factory, combining a rustic wooden ladder with multi bulb drops and a wooden feature wheel with a hammered copper trim and vintage glass shade pendant drops.
From shabby chic to vintage inspired and more recently known as ‘rustic luxe’, this trend is definitely here to stay and us creative types couldn’t be happier!
Can Chantelle Lighting help you with your next project? Visit www.chantellelighting.co.uk, email [email protected] or call 01282 877877.
