Colorful beaded chandeliers and luxe fixtures with playful natural elements set Ro Sham Beaux's custom lighting a step above many other options out there. Get to know this Southern brand, and indulge in some SERIOUS eye candy!
Ro Sham Beaux‘s striking lighting designs are in your favorite hotel lobbies, retail shops, and design-savvy friends’ homes the world over. Principle designer and founder Ann Yancy calls lighting the “jewelry of the home,” and her luxe handmade fixtures and chandeliers are just the pieces to add to the jewel box that is your home.
We caught up with Ann right before a busy High Point Market to hear the latest on Ro Sham Beaux, plus her best lighting tips!
PinDescribed as an amalgamation of Charleston, South Carolina, and Venice Beach, California, Ro Sham Beaux merges elevated design with natural elements from around the world. You can see tassel, glass, and hemp wrapping on this chandelier and rattan on the artsy flower sconces. Image: Ro Sham Beaux
We are grateful to all our sponsors:
Enlightening the Public: Ro Sham Beaux’s Beginnings
Ann grew up in Asheville, North Carolina, and studied sculpture, metal smithing, and jewelry-making at the Portland School of Art — a varied skillset that shines through in her 2010-established brand. “Having been a lighting designer for years, working exclusively with architects and designers on custom projects, I wanted to share some of those designs with the public,” Ann says. “That was the beginning of Ro.”
PinAfter introducing her first line lighting line in New York, she was off to Charleston to settle in the South and launch Ro Sham Beaux in 2010. Image: Ro Sham Beaux
Ann has lived in Manhattan, Venice Beach, New Orleans, Paris, and Italy, to name a few places. These cities have urged her to blend timeless elegance (think antique brass) with modern elements (think colored recycled glass beads). The Ro Sham Beaux style is a culmination of exploration and places traveled; the lighting reflects everything from the allure of natural landscapes to the buzz of vibrant city streets.
PinBoob lights are out, and spunky statement lighting is in! Image: Ro Sham BeauxPinThe Ro Sham Beaux inventory includes a lot of hemp-wrapped fixtures accented with antique brass or polished nickel. The hand-strung beads are selected from a curated collection of minerals like lustrous crystals, textured quartz, and recycled glass. Image: Ro Sham Beaux
We are grateful to all our sponsors:
Lighting is getting personal …
Interior design, in general, is seeing a shift away from colorless, expressionless aesthetics and toward more daring color and print-mixing. Ann urges her customers to explore what lighting can do for their space. “Many people not in the design world think they have to stick with what’s in front of them. They don’t know how easy it is to customize something to make it uniquely theirs,” she remarks.
PinHigh Point showroom visitors can see the splendor of sconces, pendants, mounts, lamps, and chandeliers up close. Image: Ro Sham Beaux
In addition to the refreshing designs you won’t see anywhere else, Ro Sham Beaux takes “bespoke” to the next level. Their team helps customers fully personalize lighting for their style and application — be it through size, color, shape, or creating a through-line theme with multiple elements.
Behind the label, a team of skilled artisans design and build each fixture with unparalleled attention to detail. Transforming earth-derived materials into functional art is their thing. They take it seriously, so your design process can be fun.
PinThe Ro Sham Beaux design team can send you bead samples and guide you through the process of designing your dream chandelier. Image: Ro Sham BeauxPinRo Sham Beaux offers more than 80 bead styles (wood, glass, agate, crystal, shell, quartz, and more) and limitless shapes and sizes when you customize a piece. Image: Ro Sham Beaux
We are grateful to all our sponsors:
Ann’s 3 Favorite Lighting Tips
Ann has found her audience consistently stunned by the fact that lighting is one of the — if not THE — most crucial parts of a design process. “It can 100% make or break a room,” she says. With that said, here are some best practices.
“I am a fan of oversized chandeliers and pendants. Go big or go home!” Ann says. Secondly, she urges homeowners and designers not to be afraid of color.
Her last (and our favorite) tip is, “EVERYTHING on a dimmer!” Dimmable lighting is worth the effort and money, as you can create ambiance for any space, occasion, and time. No more aggressively turning off blinding overhead lights. Dim ’em!
PinThis trio of St. Jean Chandeliers looks delightful yet moody over a kitchen island. And you better believe these are dimmable! Image: Ro Sham BeauxPin“We have so many new exciting pieces,” Ann says. “The new Rattan collection has taken off.” Here’s the Victoria Semi-Flush in two sizes under $800. Image: Ro Sham Beaux
How to Shop Ro Sham Beaux
When it comes to shopping the Ro Sham Beaux line, there are a few ways to go about it. To see, feel, and visualize the pieces in person, it’s best to go to the North Carolina showroom. “The High Point showroom is our crowning jewel,” Ann says. “It is one of the nicest showrooms in the city, and we always get rave reviews.”
If you’re down to dig for treasures, visit Ro Sham Beaux’s outlet in Charleston. “The current Charleston outlet is an absolute disaster but still fun to shop for treasures,” Ann adds. “We are moving Downtown to a new building we have been renovating, so look to shop there by September 2024!”
PinThe new Robbie Chandelier features some touches of Skylight Agate. Image: Ro Sham BeauxPinAnn’s husband, Will Rogers, has curated a furniture line to round out the collection. Image: Ro Sham Beaux
Ann has also noticed, even in her personal style, many people being magnetized to Ro Sham Beaux’s original pieces. “We have been reintroducing them this year with great success,” Anna says. If High Point and Charleston are far from you, locate a local dealer to discuss options or shop online at ro-sham-beaux.com.
Thanks, Ann, for chatting with us before a busy market week!
**********
For more great Southern FINDS, follow us on Instagram!
Zoe is a StyleBlueprint freelance writer, Charlotte native, Washington & Lee graduate, and Nashville transplant since 2012. She teaches Pilates, helps manage recording artists, and likes to "research" Germantown's food scene.
Our unofficial motto at StyleBlueprint is "Be kind. Do good." We encourage this to be the basis for all comments on our articles. Provide feedback that adds to the story. Some controversy or disagreements are part of any good dialogue between friends, but anything that tears down or belittles others is subject to disapproval or removal. Thank you for being a member of the StyleBlueprint community! View our Community Guidelines.
