5 Trends from the Lightovation Summer Lighting Show
As a professional interior designer, I value staying up-to-date on the latest developments in technology and materials from the lighting industry. I also like to visit with my favorite luxury lighting vendors so that I can bring the best lighting systems and fixtures to our client projects.
In June, Mark & I attended the Lightovation Show at the Dallas Market Center. I’m sharing about the show and five lighting trends that we observed while we were there!
The mirror room at Kuzco Lighting was such a fun display!
Why We Attend the Lightovation Show During Market
What is Lightovation?
According to the show’s Facebook page “Lightovation is the largest residential lighting show in North America. Thousands of buyers travel to Dallas during Markets each January and June to discover innovative product lines and experience the most comprehensive collection of lighting.”
Why We “Go To Market”
Attending Lightovation this summer, coincided with one of our annual trips to Market. “The term “Market” may evoke the images of the local grocery store, a weekend farmer’s market or street side market stands. For an interior designer, it means something a little different. The the term “Market”, in this context, refers to a business-to-business trade center. It is a place where an interior designer (or other retailer) can go to connect with manufacturers, browse their showrooms and work with their sales staff.” Read more in our post Why Do Interior Designers ‘Go To Market’?
“Lightovation is the largest residential lighting show in North America. Thousands of buyers travel to Dallas during Markets each January and June to discover innovative product lines and experience the most comprehensive collection of lighting.”
5 Trends in Lighting from Dallas Market
Lighting Automation
Statement Lighting Fixtures
Luxury Finishes
Color Selectable Fixtures
Portable Lights
Lighting Automation
Lighting automation is just one part of the growing field of home automation. We met with vendors focused on smart lighting systems that control a variety of fixtures within an ecosystem. The integration of smart technology is changing the way we use lighting to transform spaces as interior designers, architects and landscape designers. Lighting within a space no longer has to be just stagnant (off vs. on) or even just dimmed (0-100% brightness). It can allow the space to take on a whole new dynamic quality based on the time of day, time of year or specific occasion, all at the tic of the clock, tap of your finger or sound of your voice.
As just one example, this display of tuneable outdoor landscape lighting fixtures by Dals Lighting was on a constant rotation through all of it’s RGB paces. It showed how multiple types of fixtures can be layered together and automated, creating truly unique and varied experiences both indoors and out.
Statement Lighting Fixtures
Luxury decorative lighting goes far beyond commodity, builder grade products seen in every big box store and tract home across America. These specialty fixtures are not just functional, they become a layer of art within a space, if not the centerpiece itself.
This year, the trend of large scale statement lighting continues. We loved the graceful chain drape style fixtures in a variety of finishes and glass types! They reminded us of how much lighting is like the jewelry of a well put together room. Other favorites were more architectural in nature, creating movement with form or repetition, like the dramatic multi-point installations from Sonneman. Minimalist contours and hand crafted glass luminaries from Lib & Co Lighting had us swooning over their dramatic sculptural pieces!
“These specialty fixtures are not just functional, they become a layer of art within a space, if not the centerpiece itself. ”
Luxury Finishes for Lighting Fixutres
Seeing interior designers in lighting showrooms at Market is like seeing kids in a candy shop. Every space is warm and bright, and full of dazzling ornaments for high end interiors. Taking in all of the different forms, functions and finishes is electrifying (pun intended). This year we definitely noticed a significant focus on materiality and craft. Our favorites from this year were the many fixtures featuring natural alabaster, elevated metal details and wide ranges of elegant finishes such as brass and specialty glass. Smoked glass and iridescent glass both seem to be having their moment in the lime light this year.
We even spotted a favorite product line from Alora Lighting on display in a stylish matte gold that was specified for our latest project “The Water’s Edge”!
Color Selectable Lighting Fixtures
More and more decorative lighting fixtures are hitting the market with CCT Selectable options. CCT stands for Correlated Color Temperature. Not to be confused with tuneable lighting, selectable fixtures allow users to select color temperature from a set of fixed options, typically ranging from warm warm white to cool white. The selection mechanism is integrated into the fixture itself, usually by means of a concealed switch or toggle, instead of an outside control system used for automating many fixtures at once. This is also called “field selectable'“ because it can be done on-site during installation.
This gives designers (and clients) the opportunity to customized lighting color temperature based on location, use, preference and other factors, not just fixture type.
Portable Lights
We loved how many vendors had versions of these small scale, portable LED lamps. They are rechargeable and provide a lovely ambiance, which is great for layering in mood or task lighting! Also, since they are both portable and cordless, many are great for indoor and outdoor use. These small but mighty table lamps would be as at home in a high end restaurant as they would be at your backyard supper club soiree. Many color and finish options make these a fun addition to any project!
Conclusion
You’ll often here me say, “Lighting is key to a well executed design project!” and “If you don’t get the lighting right, you are wasting your efforts on everything else”. These five trends are our big take aways from the Lightovation Summer Lighting Show. We can’t wait to bring these developments to our clients’ homes and boutique businesses, to really make their spaces shine!
Ready for Studio Croft to create a personalized design and exquisite lighting solutions for your space?