John Beck - a favorite!

I play favorites. Every designer has them.

One of mine is John Beck, owner and chief creative director of John Beck Steel and Paper – handmade and custom steel furniture. He’s in my home town, St. Louis, Missouri, but makes his furnishings available to the world.

John proves that steel is not just for skyscrapers!

I love him not only for his designs and the fact he lives in St. Louis - though those are good reasons enough - but also for his unstudied and unassuming approach, lacking any stuffiness, he’s confident without being cocky about his popular work.

He says, “Some folks like to call me an artist because of the things I create. But I don’t think so. I’m a regular guy, just any random guy you’d see walking down the street. The only difference is I got lucky and I’m able to do the things I love for a living and I’m actually pretty good at it.”

And he practices what I call “contrarian creativity”. He even says it in his tag lines: “Rule Breakin” and “Hand Makin”.

I love his pendant lights, a new product introduced last week. For $90 this is a great price for custom lighting. Each is hand distressed and can be customized to reflect your color scheme.

His work is mostly contemporary in feel, but can complement just about any décor. I can see his furnishings working well in: a cabin, farmhouse or a loft; any room with an eclectic mix of traditional and contemporary furnishings; also in a room with transitional furnishings (contemporary furnishings that lean traditional – think “Pottery Barn”).

Consider one of these pendant lights for over a sink in your bathroom or in your kitchen.

For more on pendant lighting see my blog: Pendant Lighting.