THE LIGHTING | The New Old Chandelier

Michelle James's original Brilliant series April Hannah

Back in 2008, Michelle James, a former fashion and hair stylist, couldn't find chandeliers to complement her 1899 Brooklyn brownstone. Solution: She designed her own, suspending vintage glass globes of various eras from a linear brass structure created by a local craftsman. As the eccentric idea became a custom-lighting business, Ms. James began routinely scouring eBay and Etsy for cast-glass shades from the 1940s to the 1980s. Like any good stylist, she eventually asked herself: "How do I tweak this to make it a little more glam?" The answer was what she calls "jewelry"—bits of crystal from vintage table lamps that she incorporates into some of the chandeliers' brass stems. Though Ms. James creates a range of styles, the original Brilliant series, whose globes suggest chic solar systems, remains a signature. "They're all one-of-a-kind," she said. "I've had people ask me for an exact replica, but, even though I have 250 vintage globes in my collection, the chances of that are fairly slim." Custom Brilliant Chandeliers, from $1,400 per globe,

—Alison Clare Steingold

THE FABRICS | Give Your Furniture a Foreign Accent

From left: Jaisalmer and Kathakali F. Martin Ramin/The Wall Street Journal, Styling by Anne Cardenas

Italian luxury-goods purveyor Loro Piana, known for cashmere coats, is an old hand when it comes to sourcing materials in remote locations: vicuña from the Andes, lotus-flower cloth from Burma. Given that Maharaja, Loro Piana Interiors's new collection of linens and silken velvets for the home, was merely inspired by worldly travels, it might almost seem lazy. Still, Jaisalmer ($348 per yard)—a diamond pattern named for Rajasthan's Golden City in a linen-Egyptian-cotton blend—would make regal upholstery for a lucky sofa. And Kathakali ($300 per yard), a sheer linen-and-Alpaca drapery weave that loosely interprets the harlequin pattern, is as playful as the Indian dance it references. Other fabrics in the collection range from $250 to $1,850 per yard. Loro Piana Interiors, 212-593-9663 —A.C.S.