Many people associate brass with home decor from the 70s and 80s: shiny, lacquered and requiring polishing. These days brass is back and is the metal of modern home decor. While gold and copper are also having a moment, the hottest metal truly is raw brass. It’s easier to maintain than the shiny brass of the past, with the patina providing the freshest take on the trend.

To add to its now low maintenance status, brass is also incredibly strong – made of copper and zinc, it is rust proof and very malleable. It has a very industrial vibe and can add a casual feel to a more traditional space. Even though it gives off an industrial vibe, it’s warmer than other metals and plays nicely with a wide variety of colors, while still carrying its own vibrancy. Silver and chrome have the tendency to give a room a cooler appearance, so definitely aim for brass, copper or gold if you are looking to warm up a room.

One of the reasons why brass is the metal of the moment is because it pairs up extremely well with 2015’s trendiest colors; emerald and olive green, blush, black, platinum gray, Greek blue, and blue gray.

The number one place to incorporate brass into your home is with your kitchen’s hardware (think faucets and cabinet knobs). The kitchen is also a great place to experiment with this trend in a less committed way through accessories like drinking glasses, wine stoppers, candlesticks and water pitchers. Add hits of brass to a stark white kitchen to make a big statement.

To add a touch of panache to your living room using brass, try a cocktail table like the Satin Brass Cube. Pendant lights like the Calimero Lamp are another great way to add warm metallics and glam to any room.

The masterful lighting designs of Artemide® display a self-sufficiency of design that’s poignant without overtaking a room. These lovely lamps add gracefulness to a room without necessarily becoming a statement of their own, capable of lighting up both your home and your senses. There are some pieces we’re proud to be displaying in the showroom right now, and we’re very excited to share them with you here.

Tolomeo Reading Floor Lamp

The Tolomeo Reading Floor Lamp features a classic industrial design with clean, spare lines and a truly timeless appeal. Crafted from aluminum, and available in different finishes, this graceful lamp blends the serene and functional. Illumination can be adjusted and directed with an articulated arm and rotating collar, making this lamp the perfect addition to a study, reading nook, living room, or even bedroom.

Melampo Floor Lamp

Great design can add the unexpected to the ordinary, as demonstrated by the Melampo Floor Lamp. A uniquely-shaped satin silk diffuser ensures a perfect warm glow, while an aluminum stem and solid zamac-painted base give it a reserved and modern appearance that works equally well in sober or extravagant surroundings. As its unusual shape hints, the diffuser can be adjusted, making this lamp a flexible addition to any space.

Mimesi Floor Lamp

The Mimesi Floor Lamp combines strict architectural lines with clean and crisp recycled aluminium and methacrylate elements to create an impression almost like a skyscraper. Two indirect light sources create a pleasant diffused light. The effect the Mimesi creates is bold and modern without overpowering its surroundings.

Cadmo Floor Lamp

The Cadmo Floor Lamp is a wonderful, smoothly flowing design that uses steel in conjunction with uncomplicated design to great effect. A simple steel panel is wrapped around two LED light sources, diffusing and directing them. The rounded forms of this lamp creates a gentle and serene—even dreamlike—impression, making it an ideal addition to any space that needs calming.

Pirce Suspension Light

We’ve focused mainly on their floor lamps, but Artemide® has such a lovely range of other lights that we thought we’d share a taste. The Pirce Suspension Light is one such example: an enchanting study in illumination, demonstrating that simple shapes applied correctly can create a solid impression. Painted in aluminum and made up of spiralling disks and bowl-like base at the bottom, this ceiling light floats beautifully while simultaneously creating a warm glow capable of gracing and embellishing any room in your home.

Illuminate Your Life

Well-designed lamps can make a major difference in any space, filling it with the twin enchantments of form and light. Artemide® is a world leading designer in lighting for obvious reasons, and their work never fails to wow us. You can find the lights and lamps mentioned above illuminating our showroom, and we invite you to come by and glimpse the magic in person—or browse our entire collection online.

Fabulous Floor Lamps

Floor lamps have always been a great way to bring light into a room. Now they have become pieces of furniture and can help to elevate your style. We love that they are easy to move, easy to place and can help elevate the aesthetics of your room.  

Good lighting makes spaces more inviting and comfortable, and great design makes lighting unforgettable! Many floor lamps create a diffuse or scattered light that adds a warm glow to a room, others provide more direct and are perfect next to a comfy reading chair.

Our floor lamp collection is superb, including some unique and artful ones from inventive and cutting-edge designers. Some of the following floor lamps are works of art in their own right.

Aqua Creations

Inspired by natural forms, Aqua Creations create lamps that are really like works of art. For example, the breathtaking Mimosa is inspired by the structure and connectedness of neurons. The less abstract ToTeM provides cool minimalist style with a dash of utilitarian design.

Reflex Angelo

Hailing from the island of Murano, Reflex Angelo use famed Murano glass in their lamps so you know it’s quality through and through. Their Gran Canal is an exquisite lamp with a classical base in glass. The stunning Lucciola’s glass core and mirrored base create an unforgettable presence, plus potential utility with an optional side table addition.

Cattelan Italia

Cattelan Italia’s modern and distinctive designs include some beautiful floor lamps. The dramatic sweep of the Little Flag is an ideal fit for a reading nook or contemporary living room. Meanwhile, the Thriller lives up to its name, with fine lines and an intriguing architectural style.

More Floor Faves

Lladro’s unmistakable Night Bloom is resplendent as a floor lamp, with its intricate ceramic petals pairing perfectly with an unadorned steel base.

The Light Stick F by Catellani & Smith is a truly avant garde design, a wonderful example of minimalism that can fit anywhere. A thin metal rod provides illumination, proving that a slight presence can have plenty of impact.

Arterior’s Roosevelt is classic design with a twist, bringing to mind Gilded Age style as interpreted by more modern sensibilities. At first glance, this lamp could simply be a recovered antique, but closer inspection reveals pleasant surprises.

Illuminating and Invigorating

Good lighting breathes life into any space, and well-designed lighting makes that space unforgettable. Whether you’re reading, playing board games with the family, or simply unwinding after a long day, lighting can make a major difference for your mood and energy. Lighting makes a space cozy and inviting, or serene and restrained, and can support and complete the impression begun by other furniture.

Floor lamps are a key part of creating a lighting setup that’s ideal for you and your space, but also building a specific mood and aesthetic. From understated and restrained lamps to bold and avant-garde, we’ve got just the floor lamp you’re looking for!

Style is cyclical so it’s inevitable that designs we adored decades ago have resurfaced. While reminiscing feels good, re-immersing your home in decades past needs to be avoided. Here’s how to infuse today’s retro-inspired items into the modern home.

1980s: The return of Memphis

Memphis: Everyone, ourselves included, were writing about the return of Memphis after the 2015 Salone del Mobile. The show, seen as a leader in interior design presented a big moment for Memphis, a look that is quintessentially 1980s. Key signifiers of the Memphis look are geometric shapes, big loud colours and plastic laminate. Celebrate Memphis with the Kartell Mademoiselle Dining Chair. Its geometric lines and polycarbonate frame scream Memphis and by mixing it with items inspired by other decades, for example, this very 1970s Ronaldo Shag Rug , you can create a look that is very current.

Brass is back. The most modern take on this look is patinated brass, which is much less fussy to take care of as you don’t have to worry about keeping it shiny. The Satin Brass Cube Cocktail Table combines both a modern take on brass and Memphis style. Its matted brass is modern while its cube base is very Memphis inspired.

1970s: The decade that never went away

The 1970s never went completely out of style. Dashes of it have prevailed in both fashion and interior design, long after the decade was over. The textures, patterns and colors of the 1970s are still influential and nothing exemplifies this more than the prevailing popularity of the shag carpet. Shag carpets like the Maltino Area Rug and Betona Shag Rug are perennial favorites and play well with looks inspired by other decades.

Arc floor lamps with metallic, dome-shaped fixtures are all the rage again, and straight out of the 1970s. Metallics like chrome and brass are a key part of the sought after mixed-modern eclectic look, and go well with reclaimed woods and chamcha.

Elaborate shelving, another hallmark of 1970s style has resurfaced through standing units like the Estoril Bookcase. Both decorative and practical, shelving can be used not only to house our favorite mementos, books and albums, but also modern speakers and televisions, as they no longer carry the heft the did in the 70s.

1960s: Quit gawking, start grooving

Wallpaper, once deemed completely passé, has recently gotten a full embrace in modern home design. Bold, geometric prints and florals reminiscent of the 60s are the most current take on the trend and can be mixed with modern pieces of furniture, for a fashion-forward look.

Nothing brings us more delight than the fanfare surrounding the EA 17 Chair. Many of us group up with the classic Eames Lounge in our parent’s home and it’s just as popular 60 years later.

Metallics come in two broad categories; warm and cool (sometimes called yellow and white, respectively). Gold, copper, brass and bronze are warm, while stainless steel, silver and platinum are cool. Any one of them can be used to add a punch of shine and contrast, warming up or cooling down your space.

Popular metallic looks
Silver is virtually foolproof as an accent, whether you choose to use it in small doses or large. It complements whites, and contrasts with strong colors. Silver pillows, planters and light fixtures add sparkle and interest. Cool metals, particularly stainless steel, are almost ubiquitous in kitchens, but warm metals offer an exciting alternative. The warmth of copper or brass creates a welcoming impression that guests are sure to appreciate.

For a long time, brass suffered from its association with the design trends of the 1980s, but it has made a comeback as a more restrained metallic than silver or gold. The key to modern brass is to opt for a raw or unpolished finish, rather than the ultra-shiny look of old. The striking Praetorian Dining Table is available in a brass base that offsets its seared oak top beautifully, while the Segno Dining Table features an antiqued dark brass base that’s perfectly of the moment.

Copper has also seen a surge of popularity in recent years, and is extremely versatile. It fits in with a range of decor styles, including industrial, and can be styled to look modern or retro, feminine or masculine. The Speedform Chandelier is a great example of contemporary copper.

Take it further
If you really love the metallic look, there’s no reason to stick to just accents. Metal bathtubs make a striking addition to the bathroom – as an added bonus, they also tend to retain heat better than ceramic tubs, meaning you can soak for longer. Wall coverings with metallic elements create constantly shifting shine and sparkle, subtly reflecting and amplifying the light in the room. For the kitchen or bathroom, consider updating to metallic tiles, like Karim Rashid’s collection for Alloy. Ralph Lauren also offers a luxurious metallic paint for walls.

Illuminating the homes of Hollywood stars and famous musicians, as well as boutique hotels across the globe, the Morning Glory Floor Lamp is truly in its glory this year, as it celebrates a quarter of a century of lasting design. Designed by Creative Director Albi Serfaty, the founder of Aqua Creations, the silk and metal sculptural lamps truly shine, whether they are on or off. Aqua Creations was established in Tel Aviv in 1994 by design team Albi, and her husband Ayala, with the goal of bringing true artistry to light.

“We’ve hand made over 4,000 Morning Glory lamps in our atelier over the last 25 years, and each is as unique today as our very first prototype.

“Originally we didn’t use any laser cutting technology, so each Morning Glory was completely individual and had its own personality. It was very primitive in a way, and the design at the time used only incandescent lamp bulbs – very simple electricity.

“Now it is more sophisticated: the base has become thinner and the opening wider to create a more sensual silhouette. We still make every Morning Glory floor lamp by hand, and our special Live and Let Dye technology means we can dye its silk shade any color or pattern. This makes it personal, fresh and relevant.

“Its size, shape, materials and the wonderful soft light it produces make it the ultimate floor lamp. We recently refurbished one of the very first lamps we ever sold, and even though it was 25 years old, it still worked perfectly. We just updated it with a new silk shade. Now it’s set for another 25 years.”

At Sklar, we are proud to offer this iconic lamp as the perfect foil for traditional or modern furniture. Manufactured in Israel under the careful supervision of their creator, Morning Glory lamps come in all shapes, sizes and a glowing range of colors, and the silk can even be hand-colored to match an exact shade. Though the sensual blossom is constructed of metal and silk, it is treated to ensure mold and fire resistance, and adds a soft ambience to any room, either on its own, or in a grouping of three or more.

The Morning Glory is perhaps Alibi’s most famous lighting creation, and at Sklar, we have access to literally hundreds of amoeba-shaped lights, such as the Liana or the Nana, that cling to the ceiling, climb the wall or just drop majestically over a dining room table. Find a place in your home for these pieces of art guaranteed to light up your life!

Talk to our design experts today about incorporating the Morning Glory or any of our amazing, sculptural lamps into your decorating scheme today.