May 27, 2014

Put a Shade On It: Shandell’s Lamps Meld Vintage, Odds and EndsBy Ann GambleMiddletownPress.com

Essex, CT – This isn’t one of those lighting stores where you blink from the bright glare of all that shiny brass, brilliant crystal and high-wattage blinging at you from every corner.

This shop is a low-watt experience — a warm and cozy “lighting studio” filled with vintage stuff and oddities that the owner transforms into one-of-a-kind lamps. Here, you can talk with the owner and shade maker, Susan Schneider, to create just the right look even with something that started out old and ordinary, and even watch her work.

Sure, you will see lamp shades, but also wastebaskets, tissue box covers, finials and matchbooks, all handmade. These objects aren’t usually considered the top design essentials in a room, and shades are often overlooked as a source of color and texture. Schneider is on a mission to change that by replacing “one white lampshade at a time.”

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