Just Opened

Bulb

by Monica Weymouth

2056 Locust St., 215-732-2224, bulblighting.net

Christmas lights and IKEA lamps do not a living room make. Bulb, a new lighting showroom just outside Rittenhouse, has enough innovative pieces to transform the dimmest, most design-challenged of apartments.

"I love lights," says owner and lighting consultant Kazan Spratt. "I love the form and feel of a good lighting design." His enthusiasm is apparent in the showroom, which is both minimalist and comfortable. Lamps and lighting fixtures — some of which are much closer to art than appliance — by Bruck, Tech Lighting and Arturo Alvarez illuminate the small, sparse space. Everything is laid out as it would be in a finished room, with chair rails, baseboards and marble countertops to help you visualize the piece at home. If you still can't put it together, Spratt will drop by your place and lay out a professional plan, free of charge. Bulb also carries end tables, dining chairs and some fierce hot pink piggie banks, with more furniture and accessories planned for the future. "From the get-go, the philosophy was to not be all things to all people," says Spratt of Bulb's specialized, design-forward nature.

As for Philadelphia, Spratt is confident Bulb will do well here. "I was excited to take advantage of the neighborhood," he says. "In general, people in Philly are very cosmopolitan, very interested in design." Not that he had much of a choice. His wife, Aileen, is a Philly native. "I'm from San Francisco, she's from here," he says. "And she won."