And “sometimes a room needs a showstopper — that one piece that catches everyone’s eye,” James Nauyok, Baker’s vice president for product development and visual display, said in an email. Gold gives a piece like that its drama.
Brad Kleinberg, president of chandelier maker Crystorama, says the new gold appeals mainly to younger consumers with a keen interest in style.
With the economy strengthening, those consumers are feeling freer to be more fashion-forward in their home design choices, he said. So they’re throwing off safe choices like chrome and satin nickel and reaching for something with a little elegance and bling, something a little more cutting-edge.
Crystorama specializes in updating traditional lighting designs, so Kleinberg says it’s using a lot of multilayered finishes to give its gold chandeliers the hand-worked look that’s on trend now. Those finishes often start with a layer of gold leaf and sometimes have a little silver in them, he said. Some even have a sandlike texture.
This contemporary take on gold may be complex, but it’s hardly fussy. That sets it apart from the older uses of gold, which tended to be more ornate, Bath Township interior designer Christine Haught says.