Combine a designer’s artistic vision with innovative lighting techniques, apply it in a commercial or residential setting, and you get the distinctive installations offered by Illuminations Lighting, Atlanta’s unparalleled contemporary lighting showroom.

“The beauty of lighting is that it can serve a design in a variety of ways,” says sales director Elaine Elder, co-owner with operations chief Vicki Celani since 2014. “It can either be very sculptural and the focal point of a space, or it can disappear and create drama with the light that it produces, rather than with the object itself. Light is always needed in every space, and we represent products that can achieve a range of design goals.”

Located in the heart of the design district at The Galleries of Peachtree Hills, Illuminations was established in 1990 by Craig White, who hired Celani to manage the accounting and operations and Elder to develop the sales end. Though neither partner is an Atlanta native, both have lived in the area for much of their lives. Elder came to Atlanta from the Washington, D.C., area, where she worked for a high-end Italian contemporary furniture and lighting firm. Celani was the chief financial officer for a contemporary furniture company in Atlanta before joining Illuminations.

“Originally, Illuminations was a way for Craig to introduce high-end contemporary decorative lighting lines in an adjacent showroom within his successful furniture store, Innovations,” says Celani. “He also saw this as a way to expand his retail business by offering the lighting to the Atlanta architecture and design community and collaborating on more commercial projects with both companies.”

Medical issues compelled White to sell his other companies in 2003. Celani and Elder continued to operate Illuminations and ultimately purchased the business 11 years later. Initially, the manufacturers Illuminations represented were largely Italian, because Italian lighting manufacturers were the first to export their products to the United States.

“These companies include Artemide and Flos, giants in the contemporary lighting world, along with a number of other exceptional Italian manufacturers,” says Elder. “Over the decades, lighting manufacturers from Spain and other European countries began to open U.S. offices and reached out to us, as we had the most experience in pioneering new European lighting brands in the Southeast.”

Meanwhile, Illuminations has sustained its commitment to support U.S. manufacturers and has worked with domestic companies such as Ultralights in Tucson, Arizona, for more than 30 years. Today, Illuminations offers more than 60 lines from around the world, and Celani and Elder regard the companies they represent, exclusively, as the very best in terms of originality in design and quality.

Although Illuminations has always focused its attention on the architectural and design community in general, early in its history, the design preference among the majority of homeowners in Atlanta was more traditional, somewhat at odds with the company’s contemporary lighting ethic. Since innovative lighting was more widely accepted for commercial projects at the time, Elder and Celani found early success in working with commercial interior designers but have since brightened residences as well. The scope of their lighting work is comprehensive: ceiling and floor, wall, architectural, recessed, suspension, acoustic and table.

Today the company’s product line-based territories extend from Georgia to the Carolinas, Alabama and Tennessee. But Illuminations’ capacity as a showroom, managed by Raichelle Singleton, enables it to sell products to retail customers in any part of the country.

“I work with designers and retail clients on residential and small commercial projects such as restaurants,” Singleton says. “I also lay out and merchandise the lighting in our showroom as we receive new products.”

Celani notes that the company does not employ installers, but rather recommends the firm of Atlanta Master Electricians for residential jobs.

Elder and Celani and their team are grateful to continue to work with the many talented people in the architecture and design communities in Atlanta and each of its territories. Witnessing the movement in residential design toward a more contemporary style also has been rewarding.

“This, along with our move to The Galleries six years ago, has allowed us to broaden the scope of our residential projects,” adds Elder.

Among Illuminations’ most valuable resources is the category search available on its website, which is maintained by marketing and social media manager Heydon Hatcher. Designers and retail clients can search for the desired lighting using highly specific details, such as size, color, style, etc., and find the products from all manufacturers that meet those exact criteria—a huge time-saver for designers searching for specific lighting for each unique project.

“Our website is a beneficial tool where our clients can find not only the category search function but access to manufacturers’ literature and links to their respective sites,” says Hatcher. “Our website is constantly evolving based on our clients’ needs and feedback.”

Celani says that while she and Elder have always collaborated on key operating and financial decisions, their goal is to divide and conquer.

“Elaine handles the sales side of the business, and I deal with the operations and financial aspects. She maintains relationships with the lighting manufacturers, attending sales meetings, training events and related trade shows. She and our sales team work with the clients and manufacturers to provide the best customer service, from start to finish, on every project. I handle the operations, finances, computers and general well-being of our company. Most everyone has been with us for 10 to 30 years, so we have the feel of a small, family-owned business,” Celani says. “Elaine and I have been running the day-to-day operations together for almost 35 years now. We are proud to be certified as a Women-Owned Business and are committed to giving back to our community. We have seen a lot of changes over these years but remain steadfast in the one thing that keeps us going strong—our commitment to provide our clients with the best customer service in the industry. We have an incredible team of eight people working with us to continue to nurture the strong relationships we have built with our manufacturers and clients.” *

Bill Thompson covers the arts, books and design.