A mon avis, Kelly Wearstler is an obsession worth having.  She is Modern Glamour  – and if you love design, and don’t have her book that shares this title, move your little fingers as fast as they’ll go to Amazon, and buy-it.  You’ve got 1-Click purchase power don’t you?

Kelly Wearstler . Cleo Chandelier $2100. 14 – 16 week lead time.  www.kellywearstler.com/lighting

She’s a fashionista, an Interior Designer, a Mom, a Surfer, a textile, furniture, linen’s, object d’art, and lighting designer.  How she manages to look so serine in her photographs when clearly she is buzzing with energy and inspiration, is a mystery to me.  Her world is seen in bold accent colors, and through the lens of geometric shapes.

Defying Gravity . Kelly Wearstler’s        Souffle Chair . $7900.

The objects she populates her spaces with, for the most part, convey solidity and presence,  and demand attention.  Now and again she throws in something a little softer, like the Souffle Chair in its buttery pleated leather.  It’s tiny legs supporting its dumpling of a body like a baby giraffe, defying gravity.

I first made the acquaintance of Wearstler’s aesthetic prowess at Bergdorf Goodman’s BG Restaurant on Central Park in NYC.  It served as the inspiration for my first project, though all her beautiful diamond and molding adorned walls, which were to blanket my tiny 500SF in their loveliness, were value engineered out of my project.  Two little doors, with their high relief diamonds, moldings, and ornate paint job, were all that I could squeak into my budget.  When I left, those where the only thing I regretted leaving behind.

Kelly Wearstler . Cleo Pendant . Antique Brass . $840.  14 – 16 week lead.

Her recent foray into lighting design has me glowing with excitement.  Several of the pieces, for which I had an unhealthy obsession, she most certainly drew inspiration from the collection of Jean De Merry.  A lighting and furniture design house rooted in French Artisanal Craftsmanship, who found their way to LA.  They brought their own bright lights with them, and Kelly used their flush mount sea urchin brilliance, and mermaid scones in the BG project.  You’ll note a striking resemblance to her Strada Large Flush Mount fixture, and to her Strada Chandeliers.  I wanted that Flush Mount Sea Urchin in Charlestown – two actually.  One for the living room and one for the bedroom, so badly I would dream about it.  Sadly, the living room got an Expo Close-out Chandelier, which looked pretty good and ran me $400., and the bedroom got stuck with a Home Depot $8. flush mount fixture.  So, all in all, I saved $9,502. on that lighting, but I’ll never forget what could have been, if only money were no object.

Kelly Wearstler . Strada Large Flush Mount . Aged Iron . $1260. 2 – 6 week lead.

Wanting it in the “Wearst Way” just got a little easier with K’s new line.  The prices are far more accessible than those of Jean De Merry.  This surprised and delighted me, as that Souffle Chair, which I also dream about regularly, is $7900.  OUT of my budget, and unless I win the lottery, or Kelly decides to take pity on me and gift me a floor model, I will not be getting that billowy meringue delight any time soon.

Kelly Wearstler . Utopia 5 Arm Chandelier . Gild . $1671. 14 – 16 week lead.

Note that the lead times for these fixtures is long – 14 to 16 weeks, which is 4 months to you and me!  I know all about waiting.  That’s just what I will be doing as I continue my search.  Waiting.  The property that I had set my intention on purchasing turns out to be located next to a BRA (that’s Boston Redevelopment Authority) transitional home for homeless men.  No, no, et non – not for me.  Too hard to sell down the road.  That Cleo would have been divine in the bedroom.  Alas, the search continues.