Home always follows fashion. When Whitney Moore left the fashion world in 2001, that truth, along with encouragement from a friend, inspired her to open a lighting store in the Charleston area. The concept for her store was simple: To bring a different variety of lighting products to the local marketplace. “At Candelabra”—now a fixture on Coleman Boulevard in Mount Pleasant—“we want our customers to have fun, be creative, and celebrate their uniqueness when shopping for lighting for their homes,” she says.
While Moore believes that lighting makes a room, she also has a passion for everything to do with home décor. In October 2013, she launched Lyndon Leigh, the sister store to Candelabra. Located at the Shoppes at Seaside Farms in Mount Pleasant, Lyndon Leigh offers exquisite furniture, lighting and home décor in an expansive two-story showroom that vibrates with lively colors and modern lines. “I wanted to do for home furnishings in the Charleston area what I did with lighting,” she explains. Lyndon Leigh specializes in everything fabulous for your home. The store’s eclectic, modern styling combines urban nostalgia with the latest trends in home décor.
At Lyndon Leigh, the fabulous lighting and home furnishings on display belie the prices. Moore says: “We believe in all price ranges. If we love it and the quality is there, we know our customers will love it, too.”
The staff at Lyndon Leigh believe people are ready to branch out, to see what is current and exciting in home goods. “The home industry is definitely drawing its inspiration from the fashion world,” says Moore. “Right now it’s all about midcentury modern, but you don’t have to go back to the avocado refrigerators or the harvest gold sofas of the ’60s and ’70s. Just mixing in a modern piece or two can give a room a fresh new look.”
The store offers “coastal,” too, but in a chic, trendsetting way. At Lyndon Leigh, they love to throw in a chandelier made of feathers, an ottoman covered in purple or royal blue Tibetan sheepskin, and a couple of bright, sassy word pillows for a fresh new look. According to Moore, feathers and fur are trending and the new midcentury modern is definitely synonymous with warm and cozy.
“It’s so nice to get back into the bright colorful world after the five years of gray,” continues Moore. “It was gray for too long. Now home design is about mixing in as much color as you like. Take the gray room you did five years ago, throw in a color-saturated rug and a bright interesting accessory. You can change the whole look with a piece or two.”
Lyndon Leigh’s skilled sales staff often work from photos of a room to help their customers pick the perfect upholstery for a new sofa or chair, or select a modern touch to reinvigorate an old look. They also do on-site design consultations. In addition, they assist some of the area’s best interior designers, design firms and decorators to achieve the perfect look for their client.
With a constant stream of new and different items coming into the store, there’s always something to discover. Since it opened a year ago, Lyndon Leigh has expanded to include bedding and now carries hand-selected lines not available in other local stores.
The artwork at Lyndon Leigh tends to be unique. For example, Natural Curiosities, a well-known art line, has created custom pieces exclusively for the store. Additionally, this year Lyndon Leigh will introduce to the Lowcountry a selection of abstract art, which has a strong influence in design.
Lyndon Leigh offers an amazing selection of gift items that are perfect for any occasion, including scented candles by Jonathan Adler, agate coasters and fun inspirational phrase boards and pillows. Moore concludes, “You can shop us often and we will have new and exciting things every time you come in.”
Patra Taylor writes about homes, culture and lifestyle from Charleston.
