From incandescent to LED, the common light bulb has evolved time and time again. As industry experts, Lights Fantastic Pro has helped clients light up their lives beyond mere functionality for the past five decades.

At Lights Fantastic Pro, showroom manager Shelley Kravet as well as everyone on the sales team has a formal education in interior design. Kravet and her team help both homeowners and commercial properties push beyond the generic lighting package and find timeless lighting that fits their needs.

Kravet said when she started working at Lights Fantastic Pro in 2008, the company offered a contemporary selection that not many other businesses were offering. Founder Larry Sayah started Lights Fantastic Pro with a mission to push the envelope. He leaned into the contemporary modern style and cultivated deep relationships with designers, especially Sonneman Lighting.

“He was always fascinated by modern product design in a time where more traditional options were overall much more common for shoppers,” Kravet said. “He really enjoyed showing the more modern aesthetic.”

Evolution of lighting

Over the course of her tenure, Kravet said she’s seen the industry evolve rapidly since the launch of the LED bulb in 2011 and saw the glimmer of halogen and incandescent bulbs grow dim. Small scale LED has enabled the creation of fantastic shapes—product designers can create free form shapes and line them with strands of LED in a way that couldn't be done with finite round bulbs.

In addition, lighting has become more integral, Kravet said.

“That aspect has been quite phenomenal to architecture in general because now you have this very micro light source that can be integrated in shelving and into your general millwork,” Kravet said.

Kravet said she sees examples of this in the commercial sector, and the idea is also moving into the residential sector where homeowners can integrate light into wood-slat ceilings or lighted millwork in kitchens, closets and around the home.

The trendy and the timeless

Where's the industry going next? Kravet said there’s been a move toward warm-dim lighting technology which creates an almost candle-like glow when dimmed.

“We're seeing this strong push to the warm-dim technology which is what we experienced with incandescent lighting—when you dim it becomes this lovely rich umber color and it's all very moody,” Kravet said.

Being of a design background, Kravet and her team work to create a timeless atmosphere, rather than flitting from trend to trend. Instead, the team uses their talents and educates themselves on what is current and most up to date, especially as technology is changing multiple times a year.

“When we're creating an atmosphere, we want it to be timeless and in a lot of cases, we want to talk about maintenance,” Kravet said. “Our team is more inclined to work with designers on creating the decorative tone and empower the architectural lighting.”

Tips and tricks from an industry expert

For clients who aren’t quite sure about the impact and importance of intentional lighting, there are a few tips and tricks to think about when designing your vision. Clients can use Lights Fantastic Pro’s shop by style page to find curated pieces for any aesthetic, from Mid-Century Modern to Farmhouse to Victorian.

Kravet said first-time homeowners or those who are revamping their space should give themselves plenty of time to find what they want. The sheer amount of options can be overwhelming, but there’s no need to get bogged down. Kravet recommends clients take plenty of time to understand the look they’re after.

“The spaces we tend to enjoy and start to be dazzled and enchanted by are the ones that take the time to put some effort into those details,” Kravet said.

It’s a process, and clients can feel comfortable knowing that Kravet and her team have been in the industry for over a decade. Lights Fantastic Pro has four showrooms available: Austin, Dallas, Houston and Lewisville, Texas.

Lighting has the power to shift the energy in a room, aid with sleep and health and highlight a space’s unique architecture. Plan your partnership with Lights Fantastic Pro to see your space transform, almost as if by magic. Continue rethinking lighting by visiting the Lights Fantastic Pro website. To see more possibilities, check out the LFP difference.

The above story was produced by Senior Multi Platform Journalist Summer El-Shahawy with Community Impact's Storytelling team with information solely provided by the local business as part of their "sponsored content" purchase through our advertising team.