After 10 year in our current location (851 W. San Mateo Rd, Santa Fe, NM) the time has come for a dramatic change!
Form + Function is moving!!!

Very soon we will be moving into our new space in Pacheco Park.
This exciting complex has over the last few years turned into the contemporary design mecca of Santa Fe and when a great space opened up we decided that we couldn’t pass it up.

For the last 24 years Form + Function has had showrooms in Santa Fe.
Since our retail business was strongly established before we ventured into e-commerce, the two sides of the business somehow never really merged. That’s what we now want to change.

If it didn’t sound so terribly boring I’d call our concept for the new space a “Lighting Lab”.
We want to show the newest , most interesting lighting solutions displayed not like in a showroom, but just how you’d use them in your home.
Paired with lighting consultations, mini-seminars, Open House events with exciting guest speakers (web cast on our site, of course), we hope to bridge the different sides of our business and create a unique environment for our clients.

Now our “minor” dilemma is just to get rid of 12,000 sq.ft of “stuff” (furniture, of course tons of lighting fixtures, as well as home accessories etc., since we want to start out with a clean slate and brand new displays.

Our first big sale is scheduled for March 1st.

The Dallas Market was inspiring as always.
Since we are planning major exciting changes at our Form + Function retail location in Santa Fe, NM, we were primarily there to get ideas for our brand new showroom - and it was well worth the trip for that reason alone!

As always Forecast had a great display in their front window: A huge birds nest of branches and twisted copper wire on a bed of moss with a backdrop of a gigantic floating feather signaling their new focus on “Organic Modern” design. Pendants and wall sconces with diffusers of cork, interesting hand made papers and other organic materials gave off their soft glow among the warm colorful glass shades.

The interest in the newest developments within “Green Lighting” was apparent everywhere we went: LEDs, Compact Fluorescents in all shapes and forms.
We saw one exciting new product that we are planning on using in our new showroom: LED tape!! A thin tape with an adhesive back embedded with tiny LEDS. Can be cut with scissors every inch and used almost anywhere for indirect light effects: Coves, undercounter lighting, bordering stairs etc.

Finally Santa Feans will be able to dispose properly of their used Compact Fluorescent lamps.

After we called around and found out that there is no option available to recycle fluorescent lamps anywhere in Santa Fe - or for that matter all of Northern New Mexico we decided that something had to happen!

Form + Function to the rescue!

We contacted our lamp manufacturers and found out that several of them (at a cost, of course!) offer recycle bins distributed by EPSI (Earth Protective Services, Inc).

EPSI is a company that according to their website is “dedicated to providing the highest quality, cost-effective waste management for electronic products. Our processes will return recycled materials to reusable commodities, while maintaining the highest level of professional standards and integrity ensuring regulatory compliance and guaranteeing customer satisfaction.”

Form + Function has now ordered several of their bins for CFL disposal that we want to make available to the public. We will pay for the proper disposal of CFLs in Santa Fe!

Yes, that’s true: ANYTHING!
Now is the time to get that desk lamp for a Christmas present or pick out the wall sconces for your bathroom.
We offer a great selection of energy efficient models.

You can also take a look at our CFL demo display where we show the effect of different color temperatures.

There is no question that Compact Fluorescents are the way of the future, but at Form + Function we still have a few questions that keep nagging us.
One is: What do we do with our burned-out fluorescents? If we urge all our clients to become good citizens and switch to CFLs before there is a effective, or for that matter any, recycling program in place (and they actually listen to us!) how is this going to affect the environment?

During the last few days the staff at Form + Function has been scouring the internet and calling around for solutions to the proper disposal of fluorescent lamps.
Remember, we just replaced hundreds of good old incandescent bulbs with CFLs throughout our Santa Fe showroom.
We didn’t want to wait until they started failing before we had a plan for their environmentally safe disposal. Ok, they are supposed to last forever, but we also know that the promised 10,000 hours lamp life is the average life span of a CFL. Some die young.

I liked one suggestion we found on the internet: “Since there is currently no nationwide recycling programs, we advice that you pack up your used fluorescent bulbs safely in a box and save them in your garage until one becomes available.”
Cute! Just like a box of Christmas ornaments to keep for your grandchildren!
Not a totally bad idea, but one that of course only really applies to you and me, who are conscientious and the good guys, all “the others” will for sure not go for this idea!

Many internet sources sternly warned that no CFLs or other fluorescent lamps are allowed in the trash, but should be brought to “Your local household waste recycling center.”
Curious to find out if such a thing existed around here we started calling around: Called the City, the landfill, the Solid Waste managers in Santa Fe as well as Los Alamos (New Mexico). Nobody wanted our dead CFLs. One waste manager suggested just throwing them in the trash! We were of course appalled!
Since we know better, we wanted a real solution. We called Wal-Mart: No recycling program, Sam’s Club: Nope, Home Depot:Will recycle at no charge as many full-size fluorescents as you buy from them. As for CFLs, “The mercury content is so minute, they don’t have to be recycled. You can throw them in the trash!”

We did find one place that would dispose properly of CFLs: Envirosolve in Albuquerque. For $1 a bulb they would do it. Albuquerque is about 60 miles from Santa Fe, so a $50 pick-up fee would be added.
Not quite tempting enough!
Form + Function is now seriously looking into the logistics of offering a recycling program for fluorescent lamps in Santa Fe.

We will keep you posted with an update when we have finalized the details for it.

George Kovacs 1928 - 2007

George Kovacs passed away Wednesday, June 20th during the Dallas June Market.
I missed my semi-annual chat with this lighting icon, who was always an inspiration.

Not only did he shape modern American lighting design, creating contemporary pieces with a retro flavor, but he always did it with a sparkle and his very own sense of humor.
I just have to think of the photo shoot of his collection of contemporary lighting with George in every photo - dressed as an angel! I still have the bobble-head figurine he gave me of George, the Angel.