Urban Chandy
Custom Urban Chandeliers
Check out our shop on Etsy
Saturday, August 10, 2013
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Making it work
I started this piece back in September and then couldn't seem to finish it...until today! I had some creative energy today and love the direction this went. I wish I had a better background to shoot against besides white brick, very challenging.
The challenge became how to suspend it without using chain because I wanted the chain to imitate a lamp shade. The solution came to me to use steel plumbing pipe and run the wire through the pipe into the ceiling. The black pipe gave it the industrial feel that I was going for and gives it a modern look. I added the union between the two pipes to emphasize the pipe junction. I used 1/2" black pipe and the chain is from a bunch of places I've been collecting it.
The wood is barnwood from Texas that was cut into a circle using a jigsaw and a router. I stained it ebony and used the chain to drape it around the wood like a shade.
I chose the socket for this one to have the black tab-style key because I love how it brings together the modern yet vintage look. So proud of this one, finally done!
The challenge became how to suspend it without using chain because I wanted the chain to imitate a lamp shade. The solution came to me to use steel plumbing pipe and run the wire through the pipe into the ceiling. The black pipe gave it the industrial feel that I was going for and gives it a modern look. I added the union between the two pipes to emphasize the pipe junction. I used 1/2" black pipe and the chain is from a bunch of places I've been collecting it.
The wood is barnwood from Texas that was cut into a circle using a jigsaw and a router. I stained it ebony and used the chain to drape it around the wood like a shade.
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Sandy didn't stop this Urban Chandy!
My last post was the day Sandy hit and changed our lives forever. Little did I know that Build It Green NYC's Gowanus location would be flooded by 8 feet of water from the toxic canal nor that my own new minivan (pictured proudly in my last post hauling a 10-ft scaffolding plank with back door completely closed!) would be flooded in 5 feet of seawater from New York Harbor. So life became a little complicated...
I was finally able to get over to Build It Green the second week in November (no gas, no power, and my family still re-located to a temporary home in Bushwick) to learn that the door we chose for the chandy did not survive the flood waters from Hurricane Sandy. So we found another one and decided this chandy was going TO HAPPEN come HELL or HIGH WATER!
I squeezed the door into my Mazda M5 rental car and managed to get it back to the studio where we went to work on it. At one end there was a chunk of wood that rotted and had come off that we needed to mend and patch. The door was stripped and planed to its original state which was still in good condition overall, not even compromised by the flood water.
We used a wood filler to patch the broken end and sanded it down after removing the top layer of the wood with a planer. We also patched the holes left by some remaining hardware and a hook. The back was reinforced with pieces of ply wood to support the weight of the pendants.
It took us a couple of days but we managed to clean it up and stain it a beautiful ebony color and add over 80 pendants!!
We finished it and loaned it to Etsy for their Holiday Pop Up Shop in Soho, it hung above the bar and was a great source of light for shoppers.
Now it has finally made it's way back home to Build It Green NYC's Gowanus location, newly cleaned up and reopened after the storm. It now hangs above the cash wrap in the store and we are so proud of its new home!
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| Both the Battery Tunnel (Hugh Carey Tunnel) and underpass to FDR flooded in 20 min when the tide surged. |
I was finally able to get over to Build It Green the second week in November (no gas, no power, and my family still re-located to a temporary home in Bushwick) to learn that the door we chose for the chandy did not survive the flood waters from Hurricane Sandy. So we found another one and decided this chandy was going TO HAPPEN come HELL or HIGH WATER!
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| This antique door survived the flood waters Sandy caused in 2012 |
I squeezed the door into my Mazda M5 rental car and managed to get it back to the studio where we went to work on it. At one end there was a chunk of wood that rotted and had come off that we needed to mend and patch. The door was stripped and planed to its original state which was still in good condition overall, not even compromised by the flood water.
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| One end had damage to the wood. |
It took us a couple of days but we managed to clean it up and stain it a beautiful ebony color and add over 80 pendants!!
We finished it and loaned it to Etsy for their Holiday Pop Up Shop in Soho, it hung above the bar and was a great source of light for shoppers.
Now it has finally made it's way back home to Build It Green NYC's Gowanus location, newly cleaned up and reopened after the storm. It now hangs above the cash wrap in the store and we are so proud of its new home!
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| Urban Chandy at Build It Green NYC Gowanus |
Monday, October 29, 2012
Project with Build It Green Gowanus
In the process of setting up the new office space I've made probably about 20 trips to Build It Green NYC on 9th Street in Gowanus to pick up supplies, furniture, etc. I'm proud to say that at least 85% of the office set up is used or salvaged materials. Check out these shelves we built from salvaged scaffolding planks:
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Pretty cool huh? They're very sturdy too! I've been wanting to experiment with the steel pipe for years and now realizing how easy it is, you'll definitely be seeing some pipe incorporated into my chandy designs soon. I found 10 planks of old scaffolding and managed to squeeze them into my new minivan (oh yes, I've got wheels now...watch out NYC!) to take them back to the office. They barely fit but we just able to shut the back...
The console folds down so I can fit 10-foot long planks in the van!
So in one trip to BIG last week I met the founder Justin Green and Jaclyn Jablkowski, communications manager and they suggested they may need lighting for their new event space. I excitedly volunteered to donate a fixture and they happily accepted! I'm so excited! Here are some pics of the new space they will be renting out to various groups for events and weddings. Here is a little preview, they are still working on it but check out what a cool space it is!
look at that ceiling, it's about 35-40 feet high!
We found an old door to recycle into a chandelier and I will building it onsite since the door will unfortunately not fit into the van. But stay tuned for some video footage of the assembly soon!!
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So in one trip to BIG last week I met the founder Justin Green and Jaclyn Jablkowski, communications manager and they suggested they may need lighting for their new event space. I excitedly volunteered to donate a fixture and they happily accepted! I'm so excited! Here are some pics of the new space they will be renting out to various groups for events and weddings. Here is a little preview, they are still working on it but check out what a cool space it is!
We found an old door to recycle into a chandelier and I will building it onsite since the door will unfortunately not fit into the van. But stay tuned for some video footage of the assembly soon!!
Hurricane Chandy
It's been a couple months but lots of things going...
We moved our production back to Brooklyn to the Navy Yard at Grand Avenue & Flushing, and we love our new space!!! I've been working to get everything organized and set up for holiday production. That said, we've taken a pause (hopefully briefly) to hunker down for Hurricane Sandy today and now it looks like tomorrow as well. Second hurricane evacuation for us in 15 months...Ahhemmm time to start paying attention to our role in global warming people.
So maybe I've watched too many movies, but can't decide if it's more day after tomorrow or perfect storm or maybe a little i am legend minus the zombies. Although it is Halloween in a couple days so zombies are probable at this point. That is my forecast. Very scientific, I know.
Here is the shot of NY Harbor from my apartment in Battery Park:
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Notice that the Battery Tunnel and Hugh Carey tunnels are still open and holding up not too much water down there yet. We are in Zone A that was evacuated last night but have decided to stick it out.
For those of you waiting for orders...we will do our best to get into the office this week pending power outages. I assure you we will finish your orders and get them out as soon as possible. Thanks for your patience with us and being such awesome customers!
We moved our production back to Brooklyn to the Navy Yard at Grand Avenue & Flushing, and we love our new space!!! I've been working to get everything organized and set up for holiday production. That said, we've taken a pause (hopefully briefly) to hunker down for Hurricane Sandy today and now it looks like tomorrow as well. Second hurricane evacuation for us in 15 months...Ahhemmm time to start paying attention to our role in global warming people.
So maybe I've watched too many movies, but can't decide if it's more day after tomorrow or perfect storm or maybe a little i am legend minus the zombies. Although it is Halloween in a couple days so zombies are probable at this point. That is my forecast. Very scientific, I know.
Here is the shot of NY Harbor from my apartment in Battery Park:
.JPG)
For those of you waiting for orders...we will do our best to get into the office this week pending power outages. I assure you we will finish your orders and get them out as soon as possible. Thanks for your patience with us and being such awesome customers!
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Light fixture in window of Populence
So it's been a while since I last posted...let's say almost 200 chandies ago!! We have been BUSY busy making lots of orders. Oh yeah, so many orders were coming in that I had to get some help down in Austin, Texas. One of my best friends that I grew up with, Danny Ehr is an amazing craftsman and offered to start making chandies too.
Yesterday on of our light fixtures was featured in the New York Times!!! We made this custom pendant chandelier for a store called Populence on 8th Street and Fifth Avenue in the West Village.
It's difficult to tell in the picture but we used copper hardware with vintage style turn-knobs, it looks so cool.
We have been working on many cool new things, check out our website for lots of new designs.
www.urbanchandy.com
Yesterday on of our light fixtures was featured in the New York Times!!! We made this custom pendant chandelier for a store called Populence on 8th Street and Fifth Avenue in the West Village.
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| Photo by Christopher Gregory / New York Times | http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/29/populence-has-popcorn-for-all-seasons/ |
We have been working on many cool new things, check out our website for lots of new designs.
www.urbanchandy.com
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