Our Story

WE CELEBRATE THE MANY WAYS EACH OF US BRIGHTENS OUR LIVES WHEN WE BRIGHTEN OUR SPACES, AND WE WORK EVERY DAY TO INSPIRE PEOPLE TO MAKE THEIR HOMES AS DISTINCTIVE, BEAUTIFUL, AND CAPTIVATING AS THEY ARE.

Starting Small

Shades of Light started from humble beginnings in 1986 as a small, single location showroom in historic Richmond, Virginia selling unique, high-style lighting designs. Since that time, the company has grown to become a national, multi-channel retailer of lighting and other home decor products. True to its heritage though, the company has remained singularly focused on its curated collection of high-style products and unique lighting designs, many of which are produced in Virginia by the company’s own staff of highly trained artisans.

Thoughtful Curation

By thoughtfully curating our selection of lighting and home decor products, we try to inspire our customers to discover and express their own unique style, while minimizing the guesswork and amount of time required to find the perfect piece. We offer a wide range of styles so every customer can find something that speaks to them — from traditional to modern, country to coastal, and beyond.

Our Workshop

We don’t just sell lighting - we also design and produce it ourselves! Did you know many of Shades of Light's products are made in our Richmond workshop? Our in-house artisans design and craft pendants, outdoor lights, lampshades and more.

Our Colonial Metalcrafts Collection is a known and necessary resource for architects, designers and home enthusiasts who seek to replicate or reference the traditional colonial aesthetic. Made with high-quality copper and brass, each lighting fixture is painstakingly hand crafted and bench made by our team.

Exclusive Collaborations

We also collaborate with exciting creators to design exclusive collections. Shades of Light has partnered with Sherry and John Petersik of Young House Love and Chris and Julia Marcum of Chris Loves Julia to create trend-setting, exclusive lighting collections.

Customers Come First

Providing exceptional customer service is extremely important to us. More than just answering questions about orders, our expert customer service team can offer styling or technical help, ensuring you find items that are on-trend and in your price range.

Supporting Hospitality Projects

The Shades of light hospitality division acts as a trusted partner and contract lighting resource for multi-family condo and apartment complexes, hotels, resorts, retail chains, restaurants and the film industry.

Growth Over The Years

Our team has experienced rapid growth over the last decade. We have been named one of Richmond’s fastest-growing companies by Richmond BizSense and one of America’s Best Trending Online Shops by Newsweek.

Behind the scenes, we’ve expanded our warehouse space and installed a state-of-the-art conveyor system to support our growing business and better service our customers and ensure “in-stock” products are shipped within 24 hours.