Try walking into a buzzy New York spot right now – hotel, restaurant, boutique, doesn’t matter – without running into a candle sconce. Good luck. At Café Zaffri, where I find myself more than I should, lantern-like versions flank mirror-framed artworks above the booths. Like so many interior design trends, sconces arrived as a trickle, then suddenly all at once.
Not long ago, they were the kind of lighting idea you’d only score on 1stDibs or Facebook Marketplace. I loved them back then – they felt so dramatic, a nod to a bygone era when candles weren’t a choice but the only option. Now, with LEDs blazing and the blue glow of a phone on every table, I’m nostalgic for a glow from a world I never actually lived in, which is why I am loving this lighting trend.
