Glenis

Sustainable lampshades at last!

I’ts Christmas and I’m very excited this season to have designed and made these sustainable lampshades. I created them out of recycled upholstery nails and my favourite banana fabric. I mainly designed them to be a modern development to the traditional banker’s lamp. You know the one I mean, they’re the old green glass shade and bulbous brass lamp base that fit traditional victorian inspired office spaces.

Multi values

These new desk lampshades I love because they are sleek, modern and fit the mid-century trend as well as fit in with traditional spaces as well as those with apartments with a minimalistic vibe. They will be available to buy on my Etsy shop Home Office Charm in early January 2020

A five-year journey

I got the inspiration for the form of the new collection of the sustainable lampshade from a traditional handstitched version I did (see image below).

Hand-stitched banana fibre lampshade at Earth Shine arts by Home Office Charm

Over the years, I’ve enjoyed its warm golden glow as my bedside table lamp. I knew it would be appealing after hearing the reaction to it while I had it on display at West London interiors showrooms. It was also a favourite shade in my Etsy shop. I had to price it high ( the soft hand-stitched version) as it took me ages to make and it hurt my thumbs along the way. I vowed never to make it again. But I was so enamoured with the warm glow that the shade generated I wanted others to experience it too.

So to make it easier for more people to buy and so that I could make more of them while fitting in with my earth shiny vibe, I created the new collection. I dreamed up the new collection and experimented with these sustainable lampshades at weekends and evenings to fit around my full-time work. I attended courses this year on wiring and batch make them during high days and holidays. I’m so excited to hear what other people think of them when they get listed in my Etsy shop from January 2020.

Photo of Designers Guild Lampshade in the Making

Behind the Scenes

Excited that my photography skills are developing. It’s all that Instagraming I’ve been doing.

Anyway I thought I’d take a quick snap of the fabric. I’m using a Ralph Lauren that I got from the Designers’ Guild Autumn sale together with their natty gold and cotton trim.

I love the symbolic juxtaposition of the two fabric thread gold and hessian or Burlap as the Americans say.

I’m beginning to feel that the shades I make, create such a statement that they are infact ornamental in themselves and don’t need a base.

My passion for trimmings and tassels continue.

If you have any questions or comments about handmade lampshades with trimmings and tassels please drop me a line.

The frames are upcycled and stripped back and re bound.

Upcycled textile wall art layered discs

Art & Illustration

I made these fabric disks in the Christmas break and originally had them on my wall spread out like the old flying duck motif.

But this weekend I was having a tidy up and rearranged some of wall decor. They look better layered up, I think.

I’m back to making and will do a few more of these discs and other shapes.

It’s been difficult finding time to make but I’ve managed to clear the decks for a season of showcasing my hand made office decor creations made from upcycled fabrics, cosmetics and skincare products.

It’s going to be a creative season. If you want to ask me anything about wall. Desk or wall styling drop me a line.

I’ve noticed the more we do Webex, Skype, Zoom meetings the more important it is to hand craft our own mise-en-scène. That’s film talk for how we look on screen.

Striking double height lampshades for a double height space

Personal Reflections

I went browsing in Heals of London a couple of years ago and I was inspired by these double height lampshade sizes I saw.

The version I saw was made of Cork but what struck me was the size, they were 20 cm in diameter and 40 cm tall so in essence they were double height lampshades. And because my space is double height ceiling with 5m window height I’ve always been keen on finding how best to balance out the decoration in such a mammoth space .

So I made these double height lamp shades out of some fabric that I got from the Designers Guild sale recently. Then during my break I made these while catching up with a box set of some USA TV.

The name of the fabric is Aubriet lino and the colour is damson .

I love how it looks so floral and pretty but also it looks very organic and earthy with it’s burlap or raw linen backgrounds.

Finding funky fringing for updating standard lamp

Creative Workspaces

I wanted to do justice to this standard lamp as its trimming update was long overdue.

It’s one of the pieces that I realise now was over designed. And recently I’d

been wanting to strip down the details always remembering the less is more rule. I continued to be Inspired by smart office dress and my mood board contained images from Pinterest.