Chandeliers add pizzazz

“Nobody says you can’t put a chandelier in your bedroom.”

So proclaimed Michael Amini during the Winter 2016 Las Vegas Market, the biannual furniture, home decor and gift market, where he was discussing his new selection of chandeliers.

“Let there be sparkly and luxurious light!” he proclaimed.

As CEO and head designer behind the Los Angeles-based Michael Amini brand, he already designs furniture inspired by his love of world travel, fashion and architecture.

“Since I was 13, I have always admired glamour and Hollywood,” he said. “Later, I was fortunate to travel the world and visited great places and toured the Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles. I knew then I wanted to live a glamorous life. I now strive to bring that glamour to people’s homes.”

Las Vegas was just the second showing for his chandeliers that include a variety of styles featuring chrome, gold and antique brass and lots of crystal and glass accents.

“Lighting transforms a room and provides a dramatic touch to any decor,” said Amini. “Now imagine if that lighting is a stunning chandelier. It can add elegance to a dining room, hallway, bedroom and any type of entertainment space. The sparkle gives the room a new look and all you have to do is just wait for compliments from your guests.”

Theo Ware, a lighting designer at Lamps Plus on West Charleston Boulevard, said the chandelier market has broadened its appeal because there are more types available.

“Traditional and ornate chandeliers are still popular and always will be, but contemporary models and designs are speaking to a more diverse and larger audience,” he said. “I can tell you that I have sold chandeliers that are now hanging above bathtubs, are in closets, and in children’s bedrooms. They are not confined anymore to dining rooms, living rooms or entry ways. Everyone is shopping for them.”

Ware, who has been an interior and lighting consultant since 1991, said chandelier crystals used to come from Egypt or Austria. Now quality crystals are arriving from China at a lesser cost and this has broadened the market.

“Many tourists come to Las Vegas and find our store,” he said. “They view and study Lamps Plus online, but there is not a store where they live. So when they come here, they shop away. I have shipped chandeliers to Brazil, Canada, Mexico, New York, the Dominican Republic and other countries. One person came in and bought three chandeliers for $100,000. Chandeliers are not reserved for the elite anymore. Buying one proclaims that ‘I have arrived.’”

According to Ware, women are the major decision makers when it comes to chandeliers, although there are no hard fast rules. He talks to many single men who have bought a condo on the Strip and are looking for something to improve its looks.

“I say women because, as children, these girls played with her dolls and doll house and now she is in her own home and her memory tells her that what she wants is a little sparkle,” he explained. “Chandeliers make a statement by saying this is not your usual home. They say this home has romance, intrigue, style, class and pizzazz.”

Amini agrees.

“A home is not a home unless it feels like a home,” he said. “It’s not only furniture, but rugs and pillows and wall art that coordinate with the entire room and the entire home. And then the chandelier is like jewelry. You see a woman walking down the street in a beautiful dress with a matching purse and shoes and she is very glamorous. And then there is the jewelry that adds to her glamour.

“That’s what a chandelier does. It can create drama and make things exciting. It’s not so much a light source as an accessory to beautify the home. Put one in your kitchen. Pick the right one with the right style and it creates a completely different atmosphere.”

Amini said millennials and the newer generations are changing how designers view furniture and interior decorating.

“If you go back 75 years, people lived differently,” he said. “A family bought furniture for $25,000 and lived with it all their lives and then handed it over to their children. The children lived with it. Furniture was not a passion.

“Now it’s different and young people want fashion. They want furniture that fits their lifestyle and space. Our lives have been revolutionized with all the technological changes and that has carried over to home furnishings. And now those furnishings include chandeliers.”