about Design on a Dime... Get the Light Right, Part 1: Currey & Company

A good lamp is hard to find. The internet has brought us, for better or for worse, a bazillion sources, sure, but finding one that hits on style, budget and quick-ship points is harder than it seems, and can take hours and hours of site scouring. So I was delighted to find Atlanta-based lighting wholesaler Currey & Company (magazine publishers take note: I first found them in the Sources section of Better Homes & Garden...). They're now always on my short list of places to find the light for most any client project.

They have an extensive but not overwhelming selection, ranging from traditional to modern. Where they excel is in the Transitional range... lovely glass lamps, highly usable and with just enough personality to hold their own, and adding what lamps should add a room: a bit of sparkle, a grace note, a dash of color, and, of course, the room-important and ever-flattering light through a fabric shade.

Although I'm not using their Nefret Chair, I've filed it away for a future design project!

But surprisingly, the Currey & Company piece finding its way into my Design on a Dime vignette is less Transitional, and just a touch exotic... the Garnett Pendant (pictured, top), one of their new pierced metal pieces. A little rockin' the Casbah, but modernized. Love how it will add to the silver metal story going on, layering yet another finish in the room that will include chrome, brushed metals, polished nickel, and now this luxurious burnished metal finish, like a full moon over an exotic oasis.

Client project featuring Hammered White Metal Chairs from Michele Varian; Photo: Jody Kivort

I've been enthralled with Near and Middle Eastern design influences since Patsy and Edina went to Morocco (long before Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda), and by a recent client's love of exotic textiles and hammered white metal chairs.

The Garnett also adds a perfect circle above the perfect square of the coffee table from Wisteria. A most elegant lesson in geometry!

I really wanted their new Cairo Pendant, a lot like the Garnett but a little warmer, and for its magical scattering of blue glass beads, which would have been perfect to pick up the blue notes of the painting contenders. But apparently I'm not alone... a wait list (after lots of lovely editorial coverage) for their Cairo means it would not have made the (tight!) deadline for pulling this all together.

Left to right: Cypriot Bottle, Phoenician Bottle, Hera Flask

I've also just discovered that Currey & Company does accessories and high-personality occasional pieces, and their Southern generosity means a trio of their great and gutsy silvered-glass vessels will also shine in my final room vignette. I can almost picture Jasmine and Aladdin free-wheeling above this glittering little cityscape of moonlit towers and minarets. They'd have a magic carpet, for sure. And, thanks to Currey & Company, good lighting!

You can also follow Currey & Company on Facebook.