It’s often the smaller elements that give life to the bigger pictures — this goes for life as much as it goes for the interior design of one’s home. When it comes to the space in which we reside — places where we are spending more and more of our time —i t is usually the design aspects that don’t immediately come into full view that endow a space with its spirit.
This is something that long time Dubai resident Lisa Sicre, founder of Lampshades Dubai, couldn’t agree with more. “Lampshades are a crucial part of the interior design of a space and since two years now they are back in fashion again,” says Lisa who has a degree in Interior Design from Regent’s Academy of Fine Arts in London. “They are essential to make a place feel cozy,” she adds.
“Today we see a big shift in interior design bringing back luxurious fabrics and soft lighting into our homes. Many restaurants and retail shops are adding table lamps in their interior design schemes.”
Whether it’s in the style of a pendant, a floor lamp, a wall light, a chandelier or a table lamp—lampshades give essence and finish to a space. Having worked as an interior designer for over 15 years in Dubai, Sicre founded Lampshades Dubai three years ago as a way to fill what she saw as a gap in the design market. She now has clients in the residential, commercial and F&B domain, including such names as the One & Only Royal Mirage, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, The Edition Abu Dhabi, the new Amazonico restaurant in Downtown Dubai, the Mandarin Oriental in Qatar, the outdoor lamps of Il Borro in Jumeirah Al Nasseem and the Four Seasons in Desroches Island, Seychelles.
The company also provides a large range of accessories in form of colored cables, ceiling roses and lamp holders that come in a variety of fabrics, metals and recently also in leather. “We have a new leather collection of lighting accessories to be matched with a lampshade of your choice,” she adds. “Accessories are crucial and F&B outlets really like them for décor purposes.”
Sustainability and the creation of environmentally friendly lampshades are at the forefront of Sicre’s vision. “A beautiful home and sustainability go hand-in-hand,” she says. “I am working with a supplier in Europe who is moving away from PVC replacing it with a washable material made out of cellulose,” she explains. “Sustainability is also key for our lampshade designs in the hospitality sector, we need to move away from plastic as much as any other sector.”
“We have also recently formed an agreement with a Swiss plastic recycling company based in the UAE that enables us to recycle all of the PVC that we end up with from reupholstering and repairing lampshades in the hospitality sector but we also recycle PVC from any other customer,” she explains. “You can then buy that PVC back in the form of T-shirts, shoes and bags.”
There are many projects on the horizon for Sicre. “One of our most exciting new projects is the creation of a new designer lighting collection of lampshades made out of camel leather,” she adds. Reflective of the vast desert landscape and the place that Sicre has called “home” for so long, she hopes to launch the collection in the fall during Downtown Design. “Lampshades are like big candles,” adds Sicre. “They bring soul to a space.” Lampshadesdubai.com
