A Deerlodge Antler Chandelier in a Navy Lacquered Chicago Smoking Room
Quick summary
Chicago-area interior designer Nancy Samuelson of Interior Motives by M&N in Lake Forest, Illinois, specified one of our natural mule deer chandeliers for a smoking room in a suburban family home, setting a traditional Western antler piece against high-gloss navy lacquer, marble and tiger print.
A Brief We Don’t See Every Day
Nancy Samuelson, an interior designer and trade partner with Interior Motives by M&N in Lake Forest, Illinois, came to us with a brief we don’t see every day. She was designing a smoking room for a family’s home in the suburbs, and she wanted a medium mule deer antler chandelier at the center of it.
A Dark, Contemporary Room
The room is anything but rustic. High-gloss navy lacquer runs across the panelled walls and up into a coffered octagonal ceiling. Black and white marble on the floor, woven grass shades at the windows, leather club chairs, a tufted ottoman, tiger-print pillows, brass accents. Elegant, contemporary, and deliberately dark.
A Western Design in an Unexpected Setting
Our Deerlodge is a traditional Western design — a medium cascading mule deer silhouette. On paper it’s the last fixture you’d specify for a room like this, and that’s precisely what makes her choice so good. Pairing a Western antler piece with high-gloss navy, marble and tiger print isn’t an obvious move; it took a designer’s eye to see that the contrast would read as luxury rather than collision. She was the one who pulled it together, and the room is hers.
“People think antler only belongs in a log cabin. Put a natural mule deer piece in a room like this one and you see what it really is — it’s a sculpture that happens to hold light. No two antlers are the same, so no two of these are the same. That’s the whole point.”
Dante Martin, maker
Natural Antler Against High-Gloss Lacquer
Against the lacquered navy, the natural antler reads warm gold, and the lacquer throws the light back so the whole ceiling becomes part of the fixture. The cascading tips catch the glow and the piece hangs like sculpture rather than lighting.
That’s the argument for real antler in a contemporary interior. The material does the work. Natural finish, no bleaching, no shortcuts.
Smoking Room Project Details
| Designer | Nancy Samuelson, Interior Motives by M&N, Lake Forest, IL (trade partner) |
| Room | Smoking room in a suburban family home |
| Design | Deerlodge (catalog design) |
| Antler | Mule deer, natural finish |
| Size | Medium |
| Certification | UL Listed, File E238337 (US & Canada) |
Designing a Room Like This?
Shop the Deerlodge, browse all mule deer antler chandeliers, or explore our trade program for designer and multi-fixture projects.
Most chandeliers: 6–10 week build plus freight. Quick-ship chandeliers, sconces, lamps & accessories: 1–3 weeks.