Like many people, the pandemic has me spending most of the workday in my home office, and I was getting a little uninspired or, shall I say, bored with the look and feel of my workspace.
I draw on the creative energy around me, and when I switch up the look and feel of my surroundings, I feel inspired and reinvigorated. I played with the idea of giving my home office a makeover until I saw a floor lamp on the Lights.com website that motivated me to make it happen.
The Castell Collection 2 Globe Floor Lamp in Aged Brass from Lights.com in my home office. Photo credit: The Design Tourist, aka, Karen LeBlanc
The contemporary globe floor lamp is from the Castell collection at Lights.com, and its midcentury vibe spoke to me. The floor lamp’s hand-finished, aged brass patina with its frosted, white glass globes became the basis for my new gold and white color palette.
I love the floor lamp’s sleek, sophisticated silhouette standing at 57″ from a circular marble base.
The Castell Collection 2 Globe Floor Lamp in Aged Brass from Lights.com in my home office provides perfect illumination with its dimmable switch to create a cozy ambiance. Photo credit: The Design Tourist, aka, Karen LeBlanc
As a design journalist and decorator, I find most projects begin with a single point of inspiration, a favorite object, piece of art, or piece of furniture that drives the style of the room. The Castell contemporary globe floor lamp complements my overhead frosted globe bulb chandelier and anchors the room’s modern, sleek style.
It stands next to two white leather chairs accented with gold velvet pillows and a large piece of foiled gold artwork. The floor lamp’s illumination creates a cozy seating niche to read or for people to converse with me while I’m at my desk. I love the ability to dim the lights to set the perfect mood with the floor lamp’s inline dimmer. I added a platinum silver shag rug and a white faux fur upholstered bench with a gold-painted base for texture.
The white and gold color palette of my home office provides the canvas to showcase my new aged brass, frosted globe floor lamp from Lights.com Photo credit: The Design Tourist, aka, Karen LeBlanc
Overall, I wanted to make my home office more facey or photogenic for Zoom, Skype, and other video conference calls. I chose a white lacquer desk to coordinate with my white lacquer cabinets and niche. I accented the niche with metallic gold pops of color and some greenery to add some visual interest and dimension to the white backdrop without looking cluttered.
As a decorator, I appreciate that the floor lamp is part of an extensive collection, so you can find other fixtures to keep the look consistent in different rooms. Next, I plan to purchase the coordinating table lamp to replace the one on my desk to complete the look. Check out the Castell collection’s fixtures for every room, from pendants and chandeliers to vanity lights.
I have partnered with Lights.com to offer you a special discount of 10% off of your order until 1/31/21. Use the promo code: DESIGNTOURIST10 at checkout.
Happy Decorating!
Important influences on De Vries’ work include Andy Warhol and Roy Liechtenstein, along with figures like Arman and James Rosenquist. In his early career, artists like these inspired him to make his own sunglasses into a piece of art, which set him on the path he continues on today. He started off with a collection of design objects, and from there learned various sculptural techniques allowing him to manufacture these objects himself.
Pieces like 
He continues to take his inspiration from the world around him, drawing from current events, pop culture, alongside his own experiences and views of modern society, as pointed criticism comes together with nostalgia. 
PULSE Art Fair, one of the first satellite fairs to join Art Basel Miami, celebrated its 15
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The Casspir Project is a multidisciplinary fine art exhibition that encompasses a variety of media including installation, photography, oral history, and documentary film in response to Apartheid’s effects on South Africa’s culture and community.
PULSE Art Fair is my antidote to fair fatigue during the art-saturated week of shows and fairs because of its original programming, cutting-edge installations and sensory-rich experiences. I highly recommend this annual art fair during Miami Art Week.
The gallery’s mission is to help shape the discussion between art and design and to further increase the presence of cutting-edge design within the larger art world. 
Functional Art Gallery works with artists and designers who push the line between aesthetics and purpose, form and function, perception and intent.
The art installation Roots called attention to “alarming changes in nature and our environment” including disappearing forests and wildlife, polluted air and oceans, rising sea levels are rising, and an increase in extreme weather phenomena. Delta Air Lines and the Sacred Space Miami presented Roots by Atelier Marko Brajovic, curated by Ximena Caminos and produced by Alberto Latorre. The idea behind the art is to stimulate cultural and artistic responses to environmental change. 
The Roots pavilion is a self-supporting aluminum branching system wrapped with fine custom-made ropes and was designed by a parametric software mimicking the natural growth of a mangrove rooting system. In the middle of the pavilion, a large deck is used as a collective space for ceremonies and for three traditional Amazonian hammocks from which visitors can experience the immersive documentary SACRED COCA.
Learn more about the artists and art objects featured at Design/Miami in new episodes of The Design Tourist filmed at Miami Art Week.
The overarching theme at both shows was about creating awareness and connecting with humanity. At Spectrum Miami, I ran into two strange-looking characters clad in rags roaming the show as social sculptures. They were wearing Ghillie Suits, camouflage garb traditionally worn by snipers outdoors to blend in with their surroundings.
Companies such as The 
To understand the evolution of an artist, I like to explore the backstory—where the seeds of creativity first sprouted. Brad Joffrion drew inspiration from his childhood growing up in Donaldsonville, Louisiana, along the bayou and neighboring sugar cane fields. “In high school, I was the go-to person to draw banners for different events at school. At that time, swamp scenes were sort of my specialty. I grew up fishing in the Atchafalaya Basin and was fascinated with the scenery,” says Brad, whose extended family claims several artists. 
Bard’s signature style infuses colorful epoxy into his woodworks— an aesthetic he developed by experimenting with the materials. “I started experimenting with epoxy which appealed to my left brain due to the precise nature of epoxy. There are a lot of variables that can affect the curing of epoxy such as environmental conditions, the accuracy of the two-part mixture, mixing speed, etc. There were many occasions where I stayed at the woodshop for 12 hours straight and alone. No music, just me and my creation speaking telepathically to each other.”
“My wish is to design objects for people with them in mind. For example, the recent black walnut with black epoxy dining table I designed and created. The base of the table tells a story of the couple who purchased it. The husband is a retired airline pilot and the wife was a boat captain for a large pleasure boat. Hence, the base resembles the vertical tail wing of a large passenger jet and there is a compass made of stainless steel accenting the center of the base.” 
As the holiday season approaches, attention turns to planning parties, events and decorations. The overarching theme for holiday decorating is authenticity and craftsmanship with a generous dose of Mother Nature. One of my favorite sources for holiday décor trends is the 
Sweet Traditions is a theme emerging from Christmasworld, a massive trade show of holiday decorations held in Germany. Christmasworld describes it as joyful and personalized with decorations of handwritten messages and hand-drawn images in fresh colors such as peach, red and berry tones. Imagine Christmas stars in various sizes, made from paper and folded, cut, glued and painted all by hand.
The color scheme includes reds, blues and gold, accented with black, pinks and purples. 
It’s wasting your time
Brooklyn has a thriving and prolific community of artists, artisans, craftspeople, and designers that puts it on par with other hubs of craftsmanship around the world. Products bearing the Brooklyn-Made certification are coveted by collectors and design aesthetes interested in authenticity and the backstory of pieces they acquire. Once a year, the borough showcases its maker community in an event known as Brooklyn Designs, now in its 15th year presented by the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce and co-produced with Novità Communications.
