On our frequent trips to the Murano Glass Factory we stay in Venice. For centuries writers, poets, artists, travelers, and dreamers of all kinds have been seduced by this captivating city, finding inspiration in its labyrinth of Calle, canals and myriad of bridges. With every visit to La Serenissima, we feel comfortably at home yet intoxicated with wide-eyed wonder as the city embraces us and carries us away with her. Here is a visual feast from our most recent trip.

With every corner we turn, there are bridges, bridges and more bridges.

“It is held by some that this word Venetia signifies veni etiam, that is, come again, and again, for however oft you come, you will always see new things, and new beauties.”
–Jacopo Sansovino

Traveling along the Fondamenta de la Misericordia.

“There is something so different in Venice from any other place in the world, that you  leave at once all accustomed habits and everyday sights to enter an enchanted garden.”
–Mary Shelley

“The light here is in fact a mighty magician… Sea and sky seem to meet half-way, to blend their tones into a soft iridescence, a lustrous compound of wave and cloud and a hundred nameless local reflections, and then to fling the clear tissue against every object of vision.”
–Henry James

“Venice is like eating an entire box of chocolate liqueurs in one go.”
–Truman Capote

Every day we get calls or emails—some with renovation pictures attached—that ask the question, “How do I measure the overall length of my light fixture?”

The answer is that overall length (OAL) is measured from the ceiling to the very bottom of the globe.

The OAL is required when ordering a stem-mounted fixture since the stem is cut to the customer’s specifications. The length of chain-mounted fixtures can be easily changed on site by adding or eliminating links.

What should the OAL be for a light above a dining table?

For an 8-foot ceiling, we recommend a clearance of 32 inches from the bottom of the globe to the tabletop.

For a standard 30-inch table, that means that the fixture will have an OAL of 34 inches.

For every extra foot of ceiling height, we suggest adding an inch or two to the clearance of the globe above the table, so 33-34 inches for a 9-foot ceiling, 34-36 inches for a 10-foot ceiling, etc. The OAL should be calculated accordingly.

What should the OAL be for a light above a kitchen island?

We recommend hanging our lights 72 inches above the floor of most kitchens.

So for an 8 foot ceiling, the fixture will have an OAL of 24 inches, for a 9-foot ceiling 36 inches, etc.

What if I want my light closer to the ceiling?

For a situation that requires more clearance for a door, like in an entrance way or foyer,

or for foot traffic, like a bedroom or hallway,

or where a light closer to the ceiling is more appropriate, like in a bedroom, bathroom, or study we recommend installing a shallow drop or semi-flush fixture.

A good idea
A good way to make sure that your lights will look and feel right is to hang up balloons or cardboard cutouts and view them from around the room. Keep in mind the height of your family. If any of your clan are professional basketball players or Abe Lincoln impersonators, you may want to raise our height recommendations accordingly.

A better idea
Call us (888 431 4242) or email us. We’ve seen and done it all, and we will be glad to help.

The best idea
Visit our Manhattan showroom. You will be able to select the appropriate lighting first-hand, learn how to accurately measure the OAL and have all your questions answered.

Good luck with your renovation. We look forward to hearing from you!

You’ve probably heard a lot of chatter recently about the Federal Government’s “ban” on incandescent light bulbs, those beloved, warm lights that Thomas Edison perfected 130 years ago. You might have heard that we will all be forced to use only those awful, bluish-white swirly florescent bulbs from now on. As it turns out that is not at all the case.

In 2007, George Bush signed into law the Energy Independence and Security Act. Among other things, it mandated that light bulbs be approximately 25% more efficient than they are now. This doesn’t ban incandescents, but because the standard 100-, 75-, 60-, and 40-watt bulbs we’ve been using for decades could never be that efficient, it will effectively phase them out in the next few years.

Because the law only prohibits the manufacture and importation of inefficient bulbs, stores will be allowed to sell out their inventory. And twenty-two types of incandescents, including appliance lamps, colored lights, “grow” lights, chandelier bulbs, and 3-way bulbs, will be exempt unless they double in price after the law goes into effect. This will keep them from taking market share from the new, more efficient lights.

What does this mean for you and your CX lights? It means that you can sit back, relax, and enjoy your lights for a long time to come because you have plenty of options.

If you happen to own any of our clear-glass Cristallo lights, our recommended bulbs for those lights — 60-watt appliance bulbs and halogen bulbs — are exempt from the law.

If you have an Aqua or Medusa Sprite, we recommend using Edison reproduction filament bulbs, which are also exempt.

If you own any of our colored Scavo lamps, there are two ways to go. One is actually those swirly Compact Florescent Lights (CFLs). The bluish-white ones work well inside our blue and green globes while the warmer CFLs enhance our warmer colored globes. CFLs have come a long way from their buzzing basement-workshop florescent beginnings. There are versions that replicate a warm incandescent glow and even work with dimmers. They are costly, but they are up to four times more efficient and last up to ten times longer than incandescents, so they are much less expensive overall. Their big drawback is their mercury content. If you use them, please dispose of them properly them at a recycling center.

The other great choice for our Scavos is a halogen bulb, which is another type of incandescent light. Halogens have a longer life, higher light output, greater efficiency, more compact size, and whiter, brighter light than conventional incandescents, and they light our globes beautifully because of their superior light dispersion.

It appears that LED bulbs will be more prevalent in the future. Right now they are too expensive, too hot, have a garish blue-white color, and don’t disperse light well, but they are by far the most efficient form of alternative lighting, and the technological hurdles are quickly being overcome. We expect that someday we will recommend them alongside the all options above.

We at CX Design applaud all these changes. More efficient bulbs are not only good for the environment, they are good for our pocketbooks. And if they help us kick our addiction to foreign oil, they are good for national security as well. We give them a glowing A+.

]]> http://cxny.com/cx_blog/tech-talk-from-richards-light-lab-is-the-government-taking-our-light-bulbs-away/feed/ 0 http://cxny.com/cx_blog/10-reasons-to-visit-our-showroom/ http://cxny.com/cx_blog/10-reasons-to-visit-our-showroom/#comments Tue, 31 Jan 2012 18:27:19 +0000 cxny http://cxny.com/cx_blog/?p=534 Continue reading →]]> The CX Design showroom is definitely worth a visit. Here’s why:

Our website is A+, but there is no substitute for seeing, touching and experiencing the lighting in person. All of our lights, like this Aqua Sprite Pendant, look great on our website but they look even better in person.

We will take the time to help you find the best solution for your lighting needs. We want you to get the most out of your visit and we’ll even hold your hand if you want us to.

When placing an order in our showroom, the shipping is on us—it’s that simple!

Practically every fixture we sell, like this Custom Cristallo May Quadro, is tailored to suit your needs in some way. Visiting our showroom is the best way to see all the custom capabilities we have to offer.

We invite you behind the scenes as we hand build our light fixtures and select the Murano glass shades.

Some of our best and most lasting relationships with our customers have started with a visit to our showroom.

We have a kick-ass Rancilio Silvia Espresso machine and we’re not afraid to use it!

Escape the rushed pace of city life for a moment and recharge in our tranquil, soothing showroom.

Imagination has no boundaries and our showroom provides the perfect environment to be inspired and to awaken your inner artist.

Hudson Square is one of the best-kept secrets in New York City. Designed as a townhouse-lined plaza in the 1700s, the district was taken over for commercial use by publishers and printers in the 19th century. Now it is reemerging as a hub for creative industries, and is a destination for visitors seeking out some of Manhattan’s hidden gems.

We’ll leave the lights on for you!

Even though we get a new shipment of hand-blown glass from Italy every few weeks, it’s always a big event, because it’s when we get to open up—like presents—the newest gleaming jewels fresh off the boat from Murano.

Bob gets especially excited about it.

Once all the boxes have been deftly manhandled off the truck by Rob,

they are stacked in our workroom,

and in our storage room (shiny new boxes make Richard grin),

and even in our showroom, if necessary. There were more than 200 boxes in this shipment, so it was definitely necessary.

Then, once they’re categorized,

we can start opening them! This shipment is all Scavo glass globes.

Bob admires a nice May.

Lunch break! The wasabi apparently just made Bob its bitch.

After lunch, while the rest of us are napping, Rob consolidates everything

and labels the boxes.

Oh no! A casualty. We pause for a moment of silence.

Another great day at CX Design. All the new pendants have been safely packed away, ready to be shipped to new homes.

Maybe yours.

Till then, Stay Radiant!
Chuck
CX Design’s Chief Staple Remover

Like this brace of Cristallo Sprites in a lovely home in Washington, D.C.

And this row of Cristallo Mosques in a restaurant in lower Manhattan.

This Cristallo 5-Arm Chandelier that graces an airy Tribeca loft.

And…OK, back to those Sprites. We really love this project.

This pair of Cristallo Odalisque Wall-arms warms up an elegant bathroom in Wichita, Kansas.

A custom Cristallo Chandelier brightens up a large ball room in this landmark building in Troy, New York.

This Midwestern entrance hall glows with a collection of Cristallo Pendants and Wall-Arms.

And these Malina Cristallo Pendants in this bright and airy Washington, D.C. kitchen.

As we bid our farewell to a wonderful and bright 2011 we look forward to an exciting and sparkling 2012!

Veselka, the iconic 24-hour Ukrainian cafe that has been feeding artists, anarchists, poets and partiers in New York City for 57 years has opened a new restaurant called Veselka Bowery on 1st Street between Bowery and 2nd Avenue on a corner appropriately named Extra Place.

This more upscale version of the happy, hippy East Village hangout that for decades has fortified Manhattanites with its trademark pierogi, blintzes and borscht is what owner Tom Birchard calls “Veselka for grown-ups.”

The original Veselka has always been treasured for its downtown charm.

The new Veselka, while even further downtown, retains the homespun Ukranian personality and palette of the original, but in a more uptown package.

The original Veselka has forever tempted us with poppy seed cakes and other homemade delights.

The new Veselka entices us with 75 artisanal versions of vodka, the nectar of Ukrainian hospitality.

It also extends that hospitality by greeting guests at the door with the welcoming glow of our hand-blown Cristallo Glass Pendant lighting.

Tom and his crew wanted to keep the personality of the traditional Veselka, but make Veselka Bowery more “restaurant than cafe.”

Tom ventured into our showroom to see if we could design some pierogi-shaped lights, but as soon as he saw our line, he recognized, from a recent trip to Venice, that our lights were hand-blown Murano glass, and he threw out the pierogi idea, opting to use our lights just as they were.

He fell in love with the idea of a custom Double-Ring chandelier and invited Richard, our “Glass-Master General”, to visit his new space, which was still under construction.

Upon seeing the recessed ceiling above the entrance where the lights were to be installed, Richard realized that a large, low hanging ring chandelier might not be the optimal solution, so he conjured up the notion of a constellation of long-stemmed Cristallo Pendants.

He instructed the design team to create scaled renderings.

And invited Tom back to the showroom to discuss it.

And he loved the idea of a warm, welcoming committee of hand-blown Venetian glass lights guiding hungry patrons into his new place.

In fact, he loved it so much that he decided to put a row of Cristallo Mosque Pendants over the bar.

A close up of those Cristallo “Lords of the Bar.”

And he tucked a few bespoke Scavo May Wall Arms into some cozy corners.

Tom was impressed with how much work Richard put into developing a lighting design that would help him realize his vision for his new restaurant.

Which was to incorporate a bit of the old Veselka

into a new, more sophisticated wrapping.

So, when I feel like a bowl of soul-warming, traditional Borscht (which is often), I’ll always head to my favorite Veselka on Second Avenue. But for those times when only Vegetarian Golden Beet Borscht will do, I’m off to Veselka Bowery.

Hope to see you there!

Stay Radiant!
Chuck
CX Design Filing Champion, 2006

Kathy Nott is normally a very nice, generous, easy-going person.

But when it came to her new hand-blown CX lighting, she confesses that she suffered from a slight case of OCD.

She wouldn’t let anyone touch her lights — not her daughter, Kayla, who offered to help clean them, not even her electrician.

He could wire them, but she wouldn’t let him hang them.

She did, however, do a masterful job of it herself, as you can see from this Custom Boy Ray Ring Chandelier in the master bedroom.

And this Oona Pendant in her study.

And these Tanzi shallow drops and Custom Three-Arm Cristallo Chandelier in the bathroom.

She also studied our website for hours and memorized the names of all the fixtures, and kept her new lights a closely guarded secret until she was ready to unveil them at her open house.

But she has made progress. She now happily shares all her lights, like this Cristallo Tanzi semi-flush and three Cristallo Tanzi Pendants, with everyone.

And after much struggle, she even allowed her electrician to hang some of the lights. The pivotal moment may have come when she was faced with the task of installing this Oona Cristallo Pendant high up in her stairwell.

Now that Kathy has finished renovating her beautiful home, she has decided to start her own design business, and, in truth, her OCD (let’s call it Obsessive Compulsive Design), with its qualities of great attention to detail and intense desire to get things exactly right, is just what anyone should want in an interior designer.

Our advice is to quickly get in line. She will be popular.

Thank you Kathy and Greg for sharing your lovely home with us. It has been a real treat.

See you all next time.

Till then, Stay Radiant!
Chuck
CX Design’s Chief Storage Closet Engineer

It had been vacant for months, and the previous inhabitants had left it a maze of incoherent additions and unfortunate design decisions. Greg and Kathy had driven by it countless times, wondering if it would be worth the time, trouble, and long-distance calls to their ever-supportive daughter to remodel it.

They had renovated before, and knew they were a good team, but this went well beyond previous efforts. So Kathy set a date for her open house two years into the future. It was only when she was still frantically hanging pictures and cabinets on the day of the party that she realized just how all-consuming this project had been.

She claimed that there was still much to do, but none of us at the celebration could see it. We marveled at the high quality of materials and craftsmanship throughout, from the local limestone on the outside to the hand-made cabinetry inside, and the small details like rounded corners and mouldings that spoke to the great amount of thought that went into the whole project.

That attention extended to Kathy’s exhaustive search for the best way to light her new home. After finding her way to our website and spending hours imagining which lights would go best in which rooms, she wrote to us, “I love the Cristallo glass collection. It is just what I have been looking for. I feel it would be fantastic to use this collection throughout the entire house.”

And then she ordered a whopping 34 fixtures.

Which is partly why she became friends with the UPS man.

Kathy perfectly complimented the textured plaster walls, warm hues, and fine iron work of the entrance way with an Oona Pendant.

A deft arrangement of Mayas and a Three-Arm Chandelier adds a radiant elegance to her well-appointed kitchen.

Kathy created a warm, welcoming atmosphere in her front hallway with an Oona Pendant and a pair of Nina Wall-Arms.

What better way to get ready for a night out than by the flattering light of these Odalsique Wall-Arms?

And what more glamorous way to entertain friends, family, or the UPS man than by the glow of this trio of Sofias.

In the next Chronicle, we’ll talk about Kathy’s testy relationship with her electrician, and all the other great things she did with our lighting.

Till then, Stay Radiant!
Chuck
Chief Bulb-Replacement Technician

I have been wondering lately if United Airlines has something against Wichita.

Our CEO, Richard, and I recently took a 36-hour trip to this tiny Kansas town, and in that time United cancelled two of our flights, forcing us to sprint through airports in order to catch all our various improvised connections.

The reason for this, I concluded, must be that United has some sort of beef with Wichita. But what? And why? Why would this mega-corporation be holding such a major grudge against this nice, unassuming dot on their map?

Maybe it’s because they’re chafed by the airport signage requirements.

Or maybe they’re bothered that some of the town’s masons appear to have substance abuse problems.

Or perhaps they’re just creeped out by Wichita State’s mascot.

Whatever the reason, we know for certain that if United’s executives could find some way (other than their airline) to hustle down to Wichita and meet Greg and Kathy Nott, they would immediately add flights to their Wichita schedule.

Visiting the Notts was well worth our detours through Dallas and Denver. We spent a delightful evening with them and their friends and neighbors celebrating the successful, two-year renovation of their 1930s-era, Kansas-limestone dream house.

One of our favorite features of this house—besides the flat-screen TV outside by the pool—is that almost every room has at least one of our light fixtures in it.

In the next Chronicle, I’ll reveal all the other amazing things they did with our lights.

Till then, Stay Radiant!
Chuck
CX Design Employee of the Month, April 2004