For us, no trip to Savannah, Ga., is complete without a stop at The Paris Market on West Broughton. We are especially impressed by their lighting selection, which includes some gorgeous glass chandeliers. On a recent visit, however, it was the more organic chandelier shown above that caught our eye. We like the idea of recycling oyster shells that would otherwise just be tossed out. But we were shocked by the price.
The lamp retails for $1,800. Which got us thinking: We could probably hit up our local oyster bars for some leftover shells, clean them up, drill holes in them, and craft one of these ourselves. The Paris Market's version is designed for candlelight, but we would make ours an electric fixture by attaching the shells to a pendant lamp shade. (We happen to have an old shade lying around that we could strip of its current fabric.) For a more polished look, we might spraypaint the shells with some glossy white paint.
Hmmm ... Perhaps this would make a good January Jumpstart project?
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Whaaa? A trip to Savannah!
I went to SCAD (graduated '05) and I miss it dearly. Living downtown and walking to everything, cheap rent in awesome old buildings, the architecture, the trees, the traveling cups of booze.. sighhh...
Thanks for giving props to one of my favorite stores in Savannah! The original Paris Market on Whitaker and Jones is tiny but very cute and the shop next door is also worth a look.
view Laura's profile
Laura - Every time I visit Savannah, I find myself entertaining the notion of living there. The SCAD shop is another must-visit for me when I'm there. And the new-ish Jepson Center for the Arts is gorgeous.
view anh-minh's profile
i hate those.
view venus_thames's profile
not cute. at all.
view chusmabilly's profile
rags. they look like dirty rags... but i suppose you can string anything in a line and hang it around a light and call it a chandelier... baby shoes; oh, wait -- BRONZED baby shoes, forks, lipstick tubes, pencil crayons, hot wheels.... any of those would look better than rags, er, oyster shells and wouldn't smell like the sea when heated up with light....
;p
view foog's profile
I've noticed a trend over the last few years for the shell-embellished to cost a bleeding fortune. Mirrors, chandeliers, etc.. (The difference between the pricey and the merely kitschy seems to be the greater density of shells in the former.) Artfulness, however, HAS been involved. The little beauties that are the subject here could be great on, say, a sun porch that had plastic sheeting duct taped over the windows for the winter and a couch accessorized with old, bare ticking-covered pillows full of head grease and drool stains. It could be a look.
view Aulaire's profile
There are already plenty of excellent re-uses for oyster shells for mass users such as oyster bars, including selling them to makers of earth-friendly fertilizer.
There is actually a shortage of shucked oyster shells needed to build oyster reefs to assure a stable oyster population.
http://saltwaterfishing.sc.gov/oyster.html
If you think it's a pretty lamp, that's great -- but it's not a "green" project.
view wende in the twin cities's profile
look, dirty-socks lamp...
view grunion's profile
They seem a bit clunky-looking to me. Maybe with fewer shells they would look daintier.
view sarah nin's profile
Ghastly!
view hrhprincessfiona's profile
It would be cute in a little beach shack on Tybee! I'm not sure the aethetic is accepted by non low country people though.
About living in Savannah - I miss it so much. I'd be back in a second if the crime were lower and there were jobs! Savannah is seriously lacking in the job market. Cute retail shops are having success though! I've entertained the thought of retiring there 30 years from now and opening a shop of my own. :)
view Laura's profile