Story by Art Department / January 5, 2016
The posh lighting fixtures in this Waterfront Park condo radiate high-end style and perfectly accompany the mid-century modern interior design.
Looking out the living-room window, the homeowners of this downtown condo can survey one of the most picturesque landscapes in Charleston—Waterfront Park set in front of the harbor, Castle Pinkney, and Patriot’s Point. Peeking out the other side of their abode, the city’s steeple-filled skyline stands regally. The interior décor mimics the surrounding beauty, incorporating rich textures, neutral color schemes, and metallic accents. French expatriate and interior designer Marie-Laure Kosian, Allied ASID of ML Design describes, “The homeowners wanted something that was fresh and bright with a mid-century and European look.” To achieve this, Marie-Laure punctuated each room with an appropriate light fixture fitting the homeowners’ desired style. She continues, “The lighting is very mid-century, and that’s why we picked each fixture. They look like the 1950s, and the other furnishings we chose are the style of that era.” The motif carries throughout the whole space, giving a unified feel to the condo.
Light fixtures represent the jewelry of the home. For those finishing touches, Marie-Laure chose one of her local favorites—Circa Lighting—to shop, touting its high-end options and its convenience (Circa has a showroom downtown and offers an approval process to try a fixture out in a room before purchasing). Acacia Lohman of Circa Lighting notes, “In the showroom, we try to represent five to ten percent of our 5,000 offerings. We carry over fifteen designers, including Aerin Lauder, EF Chapman, Barbara Barry, and Ralph Lauren.” Acacia adds that the vast number of products and lines allows homeowners and designers to shop at one place for an entire project without the house looking too “matchy-matchy.” Since the pieces are manufactured at one place, though, all of the finishes between the various lines are complementary and harmonious.
Outfitting a whole home or condo seamlessly is no easy task, and it’s one that Acacia recommends using a designer to tackle. The best plan for approaching a lighting package is to begin with the plans, figuring how many fixtures are needed and understanding the electrical components of the home. Then, there are three questions to consider: What style, what finishes, and what budget? From there, either an interior designer or one of the ALA-certified lighting specialists at Circa will narrow down the choices, selecting three options for each space. This makes the decision-making process easier; rather than trying to choose the best option from a group of thousands, homeowners simply select from small samples tailored to their styles and budgets. A combination of bold statement pieces and simple fixtures brings the design of the whole house together cohesively.
The Waterfront Park condo indeed looks unified; each fixture illuminates the intricate details of Marie-Laure’s design. Dominique Verona, Circa’s showroom manager, concludes, “The fixtures finish a room. In this home, they supplement Marie-Laure’s aesthetics—her fabric, her textures, her furnishings, and every little detail. They go hand-in-hand in quality.”
Check out the before and after photos from this project to see the amazing difference for yourself.
Before:
After:
For more information about the lighting, call Circa Lighting at (843) 937-5990 or visit circalighting.com. For more information about the interior design, call ML Design at (843) 327-9698 or visit marielauredesign.com.
