2018 Lighting Trends - "Ice Ice Baby"

Anna Lee, The Lighting Lady, Certified Lighting Expert at Hansen Wholesale

Anna Lee Lights it Up!

By Anna Lee,
the Lighting Lady
Certified Residential Lighting Specialist
at Hansen Wholesale

February 9th, 2018

Lightovation Report: This is our second blog post about what new and exciting things we saw at this year's 2018 Lightovation convention. In this blog mini-series, we will discuss the following trends and topics from the show:

Gold is "Back in Black"
Ice Glass - The Coolest Look
Ceiling Fans Stymied By Regulations
LED Take Over in Lighting
Edison Bulbs Still Strong
Reclaimed Wood is Good

Topic #1: "Ice Ice Baby"
Ice Glass - The Coolest Look

I realize I am truly showing my age with the first line of this blog post, but if you don’t know what I’m referring to you should check it out because it really is a great first line in any discussion “Alright Stop, collaborate and listen. Ice is back with a brand new edition” Oh Vanilla Ice you are actually on point with that this year! Ice Glass is the new thing for Lighting!

I’ve always loved the way you could play with dimensions on glass that would allow you to have a clear glass that diffuses the look of the glaring light bulb. It’s not an easy thing to do. Having a Clear glass cover on a lighting fixture has many benefits and seriously only 1 con I can think of:

Pros to Clear Glass:

Brighter Clean Light
Perfect for any room you are performing a task
Sparkle (nothing sparkles like a prismed clear glass)
Clean appeal, it makes the whole room feel lighter
Larger area of light reach

Cons to Clear Glass:

Burning holes in your retina from the blazing filament in the lightbulb (dramatization). Okay, I may be exaggerating a bit but you know you’ve done it before. You’ve stared directly at a light bulb through clear glass and saw spots everywhere you looked after that.

This year the lighting designers have overcome that with what I’m calling “Ice Glass”. There are so many fixtures that came out that have this gorgeous cut clear glass that have all these levels and seamless cuts they magically diffuse the light bulb without losing the light. Unlike typical crystal with well defined faceted edges, this new "Ice Glass" has smooth rounded edges and irregular thickness, so it looks like it is either frozen or slightly melted. It really is a fantastic edition to this years offerings.

Where would I use these fixtures? Well, my favorites for this type of glass are:

Bathroom Fixtures
Chandeliers for Dining rooms
Pendants for Kitchens
Island Lighting for Kitchen Islands
Outdoor lighting

The trend is beyond just “ice glass”, manufacturers are really dabbling in adding dimension and texture within glass to obscure the bright filament. Certainly more thickness and more uneven thickness seem to be working as far as diffusing light. Rain glass and water glass fit into this category and seem to be stronger this year as well. I do not see this as a short-lived trend. I'm sure lighting designers are going crazy with their imagination and will continue to experiment with this beautiful concept in ways we can’t imagine over the next few years.

Examples of Ice Glass in Lighting:

Feiss Kalli Collection (Now Available). The glamorous Kalli bath lighting collection by Feiss emits soft light sparkling through thick, multi-faceted, clear pressed votive crystal glass shades which rest on softly flourishing arms

Feiss Cutler Collection (Now Available). Tiles of either Clear Crackle glass or Clear Staggered Rock glass are set in an organic version of a subway tile "look" and allow the LED light to shine through, adding rich sparkle to the room.

Feiss Erin Collection (Now Available). This dramatic design features a double-pane of clear faceted, pressed crystal suspended in front of a linear LED light source.