Where can you find gilded antlers, a great sectional with bohemian (boho) pillows and a chandelier that looks like cascading bubbles? In Charleston, it’s a three-part answer involving a lighting store with home furnishings, a home furnishings store with lighting and a website that has it all. Candelabra, Lyndon Leigh, and shopcandelabra.com are three different home goods entities with one related and relatable style.
That style, frequently de-scribed as “eclectic,” translates in the showroom to a stunning blend of rustic, beachy, modern, raw, earthy, whimsical and glamorous pieces that come together with rhythm and interest. It’s like your favorite home magazine come to life.
At Candelabra, a Lowcountry lighting go-to for 15 years, almost every inch of ceiling, wall and floor space is covered with indoor, outdoor and bathroom lighting in the form of chandeliers, pendants, sconces, table lamps and lanterns. Through all the glass, shell and metal, the Julietta lantern by Mr. Brown, handwoven from hyacinth fibers, catches my eye. As does the Serena drum chandelier, a capiz showstopper trimmed in silver, and the organically elegant Regina Andrew gold sea fan chandelier. Modern forms with antique finishes make great transitional pieces. Quirky objects, such as oversized ceramic cherries, add interest throughout. Vignettes with featured on-site or online, these sister stores have everything for your home furniture items are staged to show how lighting can be incorporated in a home setting.
Candelabra was so branded as a lighting store that owner Whitney Moore wanted a fresh identity for her home goods offshoot. Open three years now, Lyndon Leigh, in addition to lighting, has foundation pieces (sofas, chairs, sectionals, tables, sideboards) and eye-catching accent pieces (side tables, pillows, tableware) from Made Goods, Oly Studio, Dunes and Duchess, Tracey Boyd and Jonathan Adler.
There’s a wider range of price points here than one might first assume. “The impression is that we’re high end, but we’re also moderately priced,” says Moore. “You can splurge for the $2000 pendant, but you can also buy the $45 pendant.” Items that catch my eye include a turquoise acrylic console table, a pair of turtle shell lamps, a knobby reclaimed-wood sideboard and a chandelier draped with wooden beads.
Customers can choose store items and more at shopcandelabra.com. “The beauty of a website is that it offers an endless amount of square footage,” says Moore. Shoppers worldwide seem to appreciate this. “Our Web presence is big,” shares Moore. “Outside of the state, Candelabra is looked at very differently. Designers from New York are surprised to find out that the only store locations are in Charleston.” Proving her point about shopcandelabra.com’s reach, the site recently received a high-profile nod when its Archive New York Antigua 12″ x 20″ cotton pillow was featured on the cover of HGTV Magazine’s March issue.
The man behind the curtain, so to speak, is Moore, herself, a businesswoman and entrepreneur with the eye of a trendsetter. Her background includes a textile products marketing degree from UNC Greensboro and a career in fashion and retail with Belk and Tommy Hilfiger.
Moore says: “I became more interested in dressing my home than myself. So I took the rules I knew from fashion and applied them to home furnishings, which was unique at the time.” Though the website reigns supreme in sales, Moore is committed to having a store presence and plans to expand her business further with shops in other Southern cities and an eye toward franchising. “We’re also scouting downtown [Charleston] locations,” she reveals. Until then, be on the lookout for seasonal trunk shows. The fall show at Lyndon Leigh features the exclusive Florence Broadhurst line of furniture, lighting and accessories; the spring 2017 show will feature leading interiors blogger and bohemian style guru Justina Blakeney. “My passion is in creating a beautiful, livable space,” says Moore. Step into Candelabra and Lyndon Leigh and do the same.
Tori Coscas lives and writes in Charleston.
