The Arts and Crafts movement was inspired by the opposition to mass production. Contributors believed that machine-made objects were not of a high quality and the process was dehumanising. The manufacturing process disengaged individuals. Our collection of Arts and Crafts style lighting will bring the sense of handcrafted beauty back into your home.
Throughout history, families have been passing down generations of secrets so that trades could been honed and augmented. The Arts and Crafts movement sought to reignite the passion for these trades. To enable crafts people to engage directly with the creative process from beginning to end.
With this in mind, a small team of Artisans with a similar critique for industrial society began to make furniture and other decorative objects commercially, in order to offer consumers a different choice.
Initially drawing on historical designs, the concept quickly grew. It focused more on showcasing how something was made – not manufactured. It caught on and the movement was born.
From humble beginnings, the Arts and Crafts movement began to influence architecture. Designers were using round windows and turrets. No machine could ever achieve the angles and corners that were being created by hand.
Lighting an Arts and Crafts Style Home
If you are lucky enough to have a home that is inspired or has the characteristics of an Arts and Crafts style, you will know that you can’t simply use any old style of light.
You’ll recognise the name William Morris as a passionate contributor and founding member of Arts and Crafts. His famous quote sums up the essence of Arts and Crafts interior design:
“Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be beautiful or believe to be useful”
John Ruskin, an art critic who wrote about social issues, suggested a link between social health and the impersonal mass production of goods. Never more relevant than it is today the Arts and Crafts ideals can help us to create beautiful, meaningful and fulfilling lives for ourselves and for those around us.
What characteristics to look for when choosing Arts and Crafts Style Lighting?
Use High Quality Materials
When choosing lighting that will suit an Arts and Crafts décor it is important to look for the highest quality materials. The core value of this trend is not to have a house cluttered with many things. Instead select one or two of the most superior pieces that are both highly functionable and fill your heart with joy.
Choose materials such as metals like copper, brass and pewter as well as wood and glass as these showcase the traditional skills needed to work with them.
Settle on Uncomplicated Designs
The Arts and Crafts movement believes that excess detail is unnecessary and showed poor design quality. The movement suggests that a superfluity of ornamentation interferes with the overall use of objects and is therefore irrelevant.
When choosing to light your Arts and Crafts style home, select lighting designed with function in mind. Allow this to determine it’s characteristics.
Take Inspiration from Nature
Nature inspired patterns are a fundamental design element of William Morris’s compositions. Whether your room is decorated wall to wall with these iconic styles or you’ve opted for a feature wall, you will need lighting to compliment this highly patterned look.
Nature has been an endless source of inspiration throughout the eras; particularly for designers prominent during the Arts and Crafts movement. The familiar forms of nature often influences lighting design using stylised depictions of the natural world around us to enhance visual appeal.
To compliment the natural materials in your home keep colours neutral. When choosing lights opt for natural pigments in keeping with the character of the Arts and Crafts Style.
Look for Traditional Methods of Production
The effects of industrialisation on the way things are manufactured was at the heart of the Arts and Crafts movement. Arts and Crafts makers sought to revive traditional ways of crafting less reliant on machinery. This allows the crafts person to develop a more personal connection with the object which they are creating.
Don’t be afraid of choosing lighting pieces that are simple and minimalistic. This allows for the natural beauty of the manufacturing process to shine though. Rely on the charm and simplistic quality that this nostalgic styling brings to your home.
Consider it’s Function
Arts and Crafts lighting needs to be fit for purpose. When choosing lights to suit your needs ensure you first consider what your needs are. If you are looking to fill a room with light then you will need to be looking at Arts and Crafts Style Ceiling Lights.
When choosing a ceiling light consider the size of the room that you are looking to light. A room with low ceilings may need a light that sits flush to semi flush to the ceiling while a larger room may benefit from a bar pendant or ceiling light cluster pendant.
Perhaps you are looking for a little extra light in room. Whether it’s to brighten a dark corner or as a bedside reading light. You will want to consider Arts and Crafts style table lamps which are perfect for placing exactly where you need them and can be easily moved if required. Alternatively, wall lights are a particular favourite for the Arts and Crafts era. Carefully considered and beautifully crafted they make both a decorative and purposeful addition to any room.
Arts and Crafts Style Lighting Today
Nowadays it can be impractical and perhaps excessively expensive to rely exclusively on highly skilled craftmanship and exclusively handmade goods. However, when choosing lighting to suit your Arts and Crafts style home interior the basic principles of this movement can still be considered.
So, remember when searching for that perfect piece. Keep it simple and sophisticated, embrace natural elements and nature inspired patterns. Keep in mind the function and most importantly hand pick something you love and will enjoy looking at and using. After all, Morris and his fellow artists believed that the key to human contentment is beautiful things and you’re sure to find something to suit you at Bespoke Lights in our collection of Arts and Crafts Style Lighting.