My friend Andy Schulman is a bit of a lighting genius. Each one of his creations looks like he was channeling the famous Nicola Tesla while wiring them up. Andy, a fellow Boulderite originally from Pennsylvania can illuminate any object, transforming them into delightful franken-chandeliers. If you can believe this isn’t even his day job!….he is also a crafted motion graphics geek in the ad world. Gotta love the talent!

In his own words, “Call it industrial. Duchampian. Utilitarian. Whimsical. Whatever you want to call the work of Andy Schulman of Afterglow Studio, the one undeniable adjective is, “Illuminated.”

At their most elemental, Andy’s pieces are functional lights; at their most metaphorical are testaments to bygone eras. The marvelous sculptures that come out of Afterglow Studio resonate with an audience that appreciates upcycled materials and reveres the inherent nostalgia Andy offers, usually with a sidecar of humor.

Andy’s materials have been culled from years of crawling through old barns combing in markets and from dumpster diving. The shelves of his studio are lined with racks of yet reused car parts, shoe forms, antique kitchem utencils, glassware, instruments and unidentifiable mechanical ephemera.

To him, this collection of vintage cast offs are not obsolete items, but relics awaiting new lives as chandeliers and table lamps. He says, “I love and respect old things with history, character and that were built to last. They may be useless or dirty, but they shouldn’t go in the garbage…I want to tell a new story with them.”

His small-scale and large-scale projects have infiltrated the design world as interest in recycled materials continues to grow.”

German designer Michael Wolke  creates this amazing line of recycled pendant lighting. His Beute Lamp is hand-made from discarded cardboard

Available in two sizes; the small (40 cm by 30 cm) and large (60 cm by 30 cm).

Glass decanters lighting created by designer Lee Broom for London bar Coquine. They look so elegant and give off a beautiful warm glow. Broom removed the bottoms of the pieces in order to place simple hanging bulbs inside. Each piece is made from a vintage find, and the overall effect of a cluster of The Decanter lights is elegant and perfect for a nightclub centerpiece.

These beautiful but accessible lights from cut crystal decanters can be found are sourced from antiques markets and vintage shops.

Michael Wolke of Germay designed the large and in charge Beute pendant lamps from discarded cardboard.

The most amazing led mushroom lights by Great Mushrooming made of glass, LED lights and found wood.

Lane Patterson creates fantastic lighting using old recycled objects and transforms them into figural sculptures, functional sculptural lamps and fountains.  These two are made with license plates, lawn mower blades, fishing floats and recycled metal.

UK’s Laura Cahill began using second hand books after doing research into common unwanted objects. One of the most common unwanted objects that can be found at either thrift shops and flea markets are books. The glue in old books makes them extremely difficult to recycle. So she started to turn the second hand books she was collecting, into desirable objects such as furniture, lighting and ornaments. The result are lovely 3D forms in undulating cylinder shapes.

Neues Licht offers both this Ufo pendant light and the Scintilla chandelier designed by Simon Bruenner. The Ufo is a pendant lamp using glass fiber optic strantds to illunimate  to the edges where the the Ufo radiates, emphasizing the depth of the surrounding space. Fiber optic lighting is more energy efficient than conventional.

New chandeliers from Smart Glass by jewelry and lighting designer Kathleen Plate use recycled glass as a medium for their brilliance. The range offers several sizes and colors for dining room chandeliers to hotel lobby show pieces. Each glorious piece is hand-crafted from recycled soda, wine, beer and salad dressing bottles.

To beautiful for words!

These amazing pendant lights were once boring plastic clothing hangers, but Aaron Brand upcycled them into fabulous looking lighting. The Hanger 75 and Hanger 150 are built DIY or affixed permanently for custom orders. The hangers are sold in intervals of 25 so you can mix and match the recycled inventory for your own unique look. Cool idea!

Each kit includes a basket to hang the clothes hangers, a chain to hold basket from the ceiling and a cord and socket set.

via The Reclaimed Home