Linden Rose & Co., Lighting
By Gina Dostler
It was another beautiful afternoon in Southern California. I walked across the crowded street as drivers, having stopped momentarily behind the white lines, watched and waited until they could start their travels up and down the coast again.
My destination was Linden Rose & Co., a boutique lighting store by Sherwin Kim that opened up last May. As the cars passed through the empty crosswalk, I reached my goal on the corner of PCH and Orchid, black awnings slanting over the sidewalk, golden lights shining through the store windows.
I met with Sherwin to talk about light fixtures and found a very personable guy. He is a man gifted with tenacity, energy and the wisdom of success. I sat down at their worktable surrounded by beautiful lamps and listened to Sherwin enthusiastically enlighten me on making homes beautiful with lighting.
Q: So what brought you into the lighting business?
A: During college my friends and I would show our sculptures and ceramic pieces throughout Southern California at various art galleries and flea markets. The pieces sold very well and so we formed a manufacturing company in California to produce ceramic lighting. In five years, we went from a garage-style operation to a 50,000-square-foot manufacturing plant, selling 600 to 1,000 lamps a day. Twenty years later I started another business, designing and developing product overseas. A year ago I decided to sell my shares of the business and get away from all the travel. But after a few months’ hiatus, I decided to get back into the lamp business, but from the other perspective – retail.
Q: What style is trending with lamps?
A: Designers are mixing up the styles. They are taking old ideas and remodeling them into new trends with out-of-the-ordinary combinations and contrasts. Modern designs with their sleek looks, unusual shapes and vivid colors are blended with streamlined, elegant traditional styles. Old World meets modern times. Today’s look utilizes softer metals like brushed nickel, stainless steel, pewter and sometimes brushed copper. Painted finishes with a soft tone that includes gold and silver flecks, tones of brown and red and textured white finishes all create a warm touch . Weathered finishes and patinas bring more authenticity with soft, traditional looks. And there is more decorative detail in the craftsmanship giving a greater sophistication to the lamps.
Q: What types of designs do you carry in your store?
A: I like classics, styles that carry a timeless, elegant feel. We carry a finer collection of lighting that will grace a home for many years. One of the collections we have is Thomas O’Brien, who is very much into mid-century designs, the ’40s and ’50s, and reinvents them into his own style. It’s his unique approach to modernism. We also have the “antique collection” style of Suzanne Kasler with her Southern charm and European sensibility. I like the classic sophistication of Barbara Barry that brings luxury into the home. And for updated traditional, we have Michael S. Smith, the White House decorator, to bring a blend of classic European style and American modernism. The Alexa Hampton collection has an iconic neoclassical look with bold scalings and patternwork.
Q: What else do I need to know about lighting?
A: Lighting has several functions. There is general or ambient, accent and task lighting. Ambient is all-purpose lighting that allows you to see properly in the room, radiating a comfortable level of brightness. Using wall sconces, cove lighting, ceiling lights, lamps or inverted pendants provides this type of lighting. Accent lighting adds drama to the room and lamps with opaque shades creates this look. Task lighting for reading, cooking or office work might be achieved by pendants or lamps with the illumination directly focused on the task at hand. Decorative lighting, such as chandeliers add sparkle and glamour to a room, but might need other lighting to provide good illumination. Torchieres illuminate a room for beauty and charm and buffets create a cozy and inviting atmosphere.
Q: How can I pick the right light fixture for my home?
A: Utilizing tear sheets containing this information allows you to check out styles, lighting details and pricing for a more informative decision. A more visual approach to choosing the right lighting is extracting an image of our light fixture and to place it into a room-setting photo through a Photoshop process. This allows you to see the style of the fixture and how it might look in your home.
Contact Info:
Sherwin Kim
Sherwin@lindenrosecompany.com
Linden Rose & Company
3565 E. Coast Hwy
Corona del Mar, CA 92625
949.673.1866 888.760.1073
