03/11/2016
Question about purchasing lamps ...
Q....Hello. I wonder if you might be able to share with me what resources there might be in Merida to purchase lighting for older Colonial houses. The folks we purchased our house from utilized track lighting to highlight their artwork, but we would rather have lights which fit in with the Colonial style and decor. Specifically, we are looking for ceiling lights. Once we find what we want--we'll schedule The Handyman Yucatan for installation, of course. Thanks Jorge!
John D.
A..... Hola John, thank you for sending your question.
Regarding purchasing lamps for your home in Merida, there are a couple of things you should consider, availability and performance.
As for availability ….
I’m sure you figured out that there is very little you can find in Merida that suits well in a colonial home.
Merida is developing rapidly, and the amount of people building and remodeling outside of “Centro”, and thus looking for more modern styles, greatly outnumber those looking for something more traditional.
So although most lighting stores might have one or two lamps that you might like, the majority you will find will be contemporary styles. But searching through these stores will require a lot of leg work.
The only store I know of that specializes in lamps for colonial homes is
Candiles y decoración.
Calle 59 No. 530 X 66 y 64
Most of what they sell is large, but this is definitely your first stop in lamp hunting.
Your second option, before hitting the lighting stores, is the antique stores.
Although many , you might want to try Julio’s first at the corner of 75 and 72 , next to the San Sebastian park.
Your next stop, I would advise, would be the Tecnolite online catalog.
http://en.tecnolite.lat/
(This is their page in English)
This is one of the leading brands for lighting in Mexico, and you will find their products in all lighting stores. As all lighting stores, most of what they have to offer is contemporary, but is easier to go through a catalog rather than going store to store. I have often bought online from them, and have been very pleased with their service.
However, my personal preference, disregarding all of the above, would be to search online on US stores like “restoration hardware“and “pottery barn”. Here, I’m sure you will find what you are looking for, and it would probably be worth it to deal with the hassle of bringing your lamps to Mexico.
Before you go lamp hunting, I would first take in consideration the other issue you need to deal with, which is how they will perform.
Decorative lighting´s primary function is to make the lamp look pretty and decorate the room. They often create great ambience light, but rarely offer useable illumination for anything else. Not only due to its design , but also because they are usually installed in bad places (low) , So they often cast shadows where you need to see , regardless of the number of light bulbs or their intensity .
When renovating a colonial home, I highly recommend my clients to install two sets of lights. One set for decorative and ambience purposes, and another set to light up the room when needed.
I often use a very small but powerful lamp (canopy) in each corner of a room. Since most colonial homes have beams on the ceiling, these are easily concealed and wired through the beams.
If you don’t have beams on your celling, then the fixture can be painted the same color as the walls and make them less noticeable.
Hope this helps, and please don’t hesitate to write again for any farther information.
Jorge Sosa
