The birthday effect

The weekly micro-decorating newsletter * Issue 12 of 13, A24 *
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It's my birthday tomorrow, and even though I'm well past the stage of being precise with the candle count – it might cause a bonfire now – I still love the ritual of the cake and the wish. That moment with the room aglow and family singing takes me back to childhood and the assurance of being loved.

Lately I've been wondering why we don't strive for that sensation more often. A group of lit candles in a shadowy room with a gathering of friends might prompt the same memory, no matter what day of the year it is. During this darkest month, shops are full of ways to fill your space with candlelight.

Sculptural candles are having a moment, and this set I picked up at Stylegarage are currently gracing my dining room. But I'm reluctant to light them, since it means messing with their neat geometry:

It might be more sensible to keep candles and support as separate entities, leaving the latter to be consistently itself. One of my favourite vintage pieces, acquired at Zig Zag long ago, is this teak, steel and brass number, handsome even when it doesn't hold anything:

It's one part candelabra, one part spiral staircase, making the horizontal terrain of birthday cakes seem pedestrian:

This past weekend, I was browsing at CB2 and came across this nine-armed model that has a similar staggered effect. It looks like a great centrepiece for a holiday dinner:

It's available in a black five-armed version as well:

The stylists who craft CB2's aspirational photos sure know how to raise it to an almost otherworldly level:

The thing is, even at its most basic, a lit candle has an effect. On my birthday last year, my Mom realized she didn't have any cake, so she planted a candle in a small cookie. A song, a wish, a quick exhalation. Somehow the moment was just as special.

So if you're feeling ambitious, go hunting for your dream candleholder. Or if you're in need of an instant boost, find a candle in a kitchen drawer, look for something sturdy to hold it – an empty wine bottle will do – and create your own occasion. It's time to dispel the darkness. It's possible.

Thank you for reading.