We asked the designers in our trade program to take part in a design challenge to create a sconce using any part they saw in our shop. Boy did they deliver! After carefully considering every submission, we picked our top 3 favorite designs. Our community of design enthusiasts on Instagram then voted on their favorite piece for the win.
We're elated to release the Haven sconce, designed by Julie Arnold from Place Interiors. Julie's son James (who's 15) did the rendering on her submission and also has his own very own Etsy shop. What a meaningful experience for this duo to have as mother and son. Julie has a strong history contributing to the design skills and entrepreneurial teaching of at risk youth in her community. As part of our award, Julie named Halo as her charity of choice to receive 10% of the sales proceeds of every Haven sconce (more about Halo below).
Images By: Wildwood Photography
Let's dive into Julie's story.
Q. How long have you been an interior designer?
A. I've been a designer for almost 20 years.
Q. Where did you get your training, what is the story of how you got started?
A. I received my formal degree from Boston Architectural College and studied Interior Architecture, product, and furniture design. I worked in commercial Interiors and then stayed home with my three children in their younger years, always keeping my hand in design. During this time, while volunteering with my children, I knew I wanted to create greater meaning and impact through design by collaborating with non-profits to help them create products of their own. I'm now focusing more time on these collaborations and also designing a variety of hospitality projects.
Q. What motivated you to join our challenge?
A. I used a variety of Lucent lights in a cottage that I designed on Lake Superior, so having a chance to create a sconce using elements of Lucent’s existing collections was very exciting. I was also very motivated about a portion of the proceeds being donated to a non-profit of my choice. I currently work closely with HALO, a non-profit that provides housing and healing to at-risk and homeless youth.
Q. Did you know right away you were going to ask your son to help?
A. Yes, absolutely! James has been learning modeling programs for some of his product design ideas and I thought it would be a great opportunity to enhance his skills. He was on board right away. He's also been involved with HALO, most recently, by designing a one-of-a-kind hammered brass necklace that he donated to their annual fundraising auction.
Image By: Wildwood Photography
Q. Where did you draw your inspiration from for the design?
A. A Scandinavian aesthetic is woven into most of my projects so inspiration stemmed from a variety of midcentury lighting and objects from Scandinavia, France, and Italy, and also from your current collections. Color inspiration came from bold, saturated colors of nature paired with the timeless quality of brass.
Images By: Wildwood Photography
Q. What types of areas / places do you so see this sconce being installed?
A. These sconces would work well in a variety of applications and I can already envision them in some of my projects. Since they will be articulating, they will work well in bedrooms, kitchens, reading nooks, and office spaces (both residential and commercial). The bold saturated color options would look great as accent lighting in a bathroom and also be fabulous statement pieces in hospitality settings.
"Color inspiration came from bold, saturated colors of nature paired with the timeless quality of brass."
Q. What do you think is the most important thing about lighting when you are designing projects for Place Interiors?
A. Lighting is such an essential layer of design. It creates a mood for the atmosphere, not only with the warmth of the light but also the overall design of the light. I think of lighting as sculpture or art with added functional value.
Q. What made you choose this specific charity?
A. I chose HALO because I was so inspired by the important work they do for at-risk and homeless youth. I started a program for them a few years ago called HALOmakers where youth in their program are given a chance to learn valuable life skills through the entire process of making a product. Currently, the product I'm working on them with are handcrafted reclaimed wood serving trays.
More about Halo
View more about HALOmakers here
View more images here under HALO x PLACE Collaboration
Looking for a custom creation?
Here at Lucent Lightshop we pride ourselves on working with designers that have a vision of how they'd like their lighting to look and function. We manufacture unique creations, as well as modify our products to perfectly fit your planned space. To initiate the conversation on your client's dream fixture, fill out our custom request form here. We're looking forward to working with you!