Recently, I selected all the lighting for a lovely high-end home that is currently being built in New York State. The architecture is new, but has been designed in the style of a traditional, crisp farmhouse. Lighting is a wonderful way to add drama to a space and also reinforce and contrast design concepts. You have the potential to present each room with a different lighting personality of sorts. A home office should have different decorative lighting than a formal dining room and both of these rooms should have different decorative lighting than the kitchen if the budget allows. Below are some of my favorite lighting selections from the more formal, first floor spaces on this project.

Formal Powder Room

Randolph Flush Mount, Visual Comfort

Plumbing fixtures selected for this space were in a Tuscan brass so I endeavored to find a flush mount light fixture that matched that finish. I found this piece, designed by Alexa Hampton at Visual Comfort. The glass surrounding the bulbs is a cut crystal which adds elegance and will also add visual interest to the formal powder room walls.

This fixture is offered in two sizes and in four classic finishes - bronze, antique nickel, hand-rubbed antique brass and polished nickel. 

Formal Dining Room

Vendome Chandelier, Visual Comfort

In the architectural construction drawings we called out two chandeliers over the formal dining room table so I needed to find a chandelier that was a bit smaller and would not be overwhelming when installed as a pair. I came across the Vendome Chandelier which was designed by Thomas O'Brien. The fixture has a lovely fluid geometry and shades over the bulbs to soften the lighting a bit. Specified in a hand-rubbed antique brass, this light fixture finish ties into the stair hall pendant since both spaces are adjacent. This fixture is offered in four other finishes.

Great Room

Chester Wall Sconce, Jim Lawrence

In this residence, the great room was designed as a space with subtle lighting, where the interior architecture takes the stage. As a result, I specified a fairly simple, traditional sconce by Jim Lawrence which is a lighting company based in the UK. If you are ever on the hunt for sconces you will notice that at times it is difficult to fin a design with a smaller backplate. The backplate here was is just under 3" which is perfect. Keep backplate sizes in mind especially when a room is paneled - if the stile is small, you want to select a sconce with an appropriately sized backplate so that nothing is running into the panels themselves.

Kitchen (Over Island)

Harper, Urban Electric Company

A globe light fixture seemed appropriate for over the kitchen island. With an overall height of 36" this globe pendant would ideally be installed over a surface otherwise it may be hanging too long to walk under, depending on the ceiling height. The plumbing fixtures in the kitchen were specified in a more modern nickel finish so the Harper pulled in the nickel while also incorporating the traditional brass seen throughout the rest of the residence. All of the decorative lighting in the space was complimented by recessed lighting for practicality. 

Butler's Pantry

Rosehill Semi-Flush, Visual Comfort

For the butler's pantry I wanted to find something that was very elegant yet slightly more contemporary. The Rosehill is designed by Aerin and features a lovely polished nickel and white strie glass. A butler's pantry is a great space to get a bit more daring with lighting because the room is typically smaller and typically only a few guests enter this room. A fixture like this is also a lot more exciting than a typical recessed fixture. Under-counter lighting was also specified for anyone making drinks to have enough ambient lighting.