The best of the best paper light fixtures

By Krissy Bradfield

I love paper – it has so many uses. Books are made from paper, as are magazines and junk mail. We are surrounded by paper used in all sorts of ways – except most of those are kind of uninspiring. But there are people out there – artists — who look at a ream of paper and think ‘I’m going to turn that into a paper chandelier.’ And they do. They release their creations out into the world where people like me gawk at them for hours, wondering however did they do that? And what magic protects it from catching on fire?

Thank goodness there are innovative thinkers out there who aren’t stymied by such questions. They just get out there and give the humble piece of paper a new lease on life.

Here are 10 of the most beautiful examples of paper light fixtures that I’ve seen. They are complex, intricate and the culmination of hundreds of hours of work.

1. Webster pendant – Glass Lion Home

2. Moth origami lampshade pink gradient – Studio Snowpuppe

3. Kogi by Joa Herrenknecht

4. Student work by Adéla Varmužová

5. The Committee of Sleep Lighting Installation (above) – Talia Radford & Juan Sebastián Gómez

6 and 7. Midsummer Light – Tord Boontje

8. Paper Chandelier L – Studio Job

9. Artichoke handmade hanging paper light – Mel’s Creative Designs

10. White Spiky Pendant (above) – Zipper8 Lighting

11. Tasting East Restaurant and TE Bar Portland (below) – HiiH Lights

A note about flammability

I checked with a few of the artists about the likelihood of any lightbulb-related mishaps and the overwhelming consensus is that there is nothing to fear. “The heat concentrates around the bulb and rises up, so we design our lights with this in mind,” says Kestrel Gates from HiiH. Other artists use cones or wire armatures to guard the paper from directly touching the lightbulb. If it is still a concern, Kestral suggests using compact fluorescent or LED lights, thereby eliminating the heat factor altogether.

Krissy Bradfield is a writer from Perth who loves stationery, thunderstorms and music. A typical word/paper nerd, you’ll find her skulking around the stationery aisle in Big W, rummaging through her ever-growing blank notebook collection or obsessively collecting every magazine ever published. She blogs at Pretty Paper Things.

Jen is currently on honeymoon in Tokyo, Venice and the UK, and has opened up the blog to a series of fabulous guest posters to share their interiors-related expertise in her absence. She hopes you’ll enjoy them and look out for the odd honeymoon post from overseas! The new Mrs Francis (who will still be known as Bishop for work purposes) will be back at her desk on 11 November.