Candles a decor favorite during the pandemic, as they add light, scent, mood

If a candle is burning in a dark room, we don’t see the darkness, we see the light. Perhaps that’s why candles have become such a popular decor element over the course of the pandemic.

Little lights you can place anywhere, candles can make a room feel cozy and welcoming.

Pittsburgh Candle Works owner Jennifer Ingram said her business has been doing well the past year because people are staying home more and they want their house to be comfortable and to smell good.

Ingram is seeing classic scents return to favorsuch as vanilla and lavender. She collaborates with Pittsburgh artists to design vessel labels. One collection she is working on includes city neighborhoods such as Lawrenceville and Oakland.

The Candle Lab in Lawrenceville allows guests to create their own scented candles, from more than 100 scents displayed along a wall. The cost is $18-$34. It is operating by appointment. Guests decide what they like and manager Bridget Cox helps them create a signature candle. They get to mix the scents and add to the wax and oil combination. It takes about 90 minutes to set.

Decorating with candles

New York designer Glenn Gissler says candles have been in his personal and professional styling wheelhouse for years. He’s got dozens of votive holders and a stockpile of candle refills, and sets out the diminutive flames for quiet evenings at home these days, and larger gatherings in non-pandemic times.

“I’ve used candles on every stair tread in my duplex apartment, and in windows to provide illumination where we don’t normally see it,” he says. “I set the candles as singles, triples and long lines across a fireplace mantle. And for a wedding party some years ago, I ran 300 votives to direct partygoers to where the party was, setting an immediate festive tone.”

Gissler has a home in rural Connecticut where he spent the holidays. “I used no lights, only candles,” he says. He set them up along the top of mullioned windows, where their reflection added seasonal sparkle.

A little trick he shares: “I love using hurricanes to surround tapered candles on a tabletop; they help keep circulating air from disrupting the calm burning of the candle.”

Courtesy of Rachel Wetzel

Out of Bounds Candle Co. in Oakmont is inspired by the game of golf with scents such as fresh cut grass, morning dew and the clubhouse.

If you’ve only got a few candles but want to make a statement, Laura Bohn, a Manhattan-based interior designer, has this tip:

“Group what you have in one spot using interesting containers or candlesticks. They’ll be a real focal point and instantly add mood.”

Candle holders: sticks, pillars and vessels

Jamie Outrich owns 837 North, a candle company based in McKees Rocks. Outrich said it is important when making candles is to make sure the wick is sized properly to the vessel.

“It can be really difficult to find the exact right match, but it makes all the difference,” Outrich said.

It is also best to avoid vents, drafts, fans, and windows — anything that can cause a temperature shift in the room.

“For the candles to cure evenly, you really want to space them evenly and keep the temperature in the room consistent.”

Courtesy of Jamie Outrich

A candle inspired by the trees in Pittsburgh. It’s a blend of birch, oak, pine, dogwood and cedar made by 837 North based in McKees Rocks.

The size and shape of your candle usually determines where you put it. A chunky pillar candle needs a sturdy broad base. Karen Konzuk of Garden Bay, British Columbia, crafts charcoal-hued concrete vessels that look like stone eggs or planetary shards. CB2’s new spring line has chunky aluminum and travertine holders, also in earthy hues.

Slender holders showcase a taper’s silhouette. Brooklyn’s FS Object’s brass Spindle holders, for instance, are a lofty 18 inches tall; set with slim ebony candles, they’d bring drama to any surface.

Designer Jonathan Adler pays homage to Paris’ Pompidou Center with a playful holder that evokes the center’s iconic curvy tubes in clear or multicolored Lucite. Lucite is also the material for his Monte Carlo collection of block holders that look like candy cubes. And as part of his Muse collection, Adler’s done a candelabra he calls Eve; a ringlet of white porcelain hands stands ready to grip tapers, like a circle of dancers.

Virginia Valentini and Francesco Breganze of the Italian studio LatoxLato have designed a clever candelabrum; they use a water jet to precisely cut small slabs of marble. Closed, the pieces look like a solid slab. But with a few light pushes, a series of candleholders accordions outward, creating an objet d’art.

You can get creative by using just about any heat-resistant holder — glasses, jelly jars, wine bottles, “even muffin tins,” says Gissler.

Scents set the scene

Not everyone likes or can tolerate a candle with fragrance, but for those who enjoy them, there are loads of options. Vanilla, citrus, pine, sage and rose are on the leader board of popular scents, say Etsy’s trend experts.

Aerangis’ signature collection is anchored by a candle that founder Alicia Tsai calls “In the Beginning,” which was inspired by her grandfather.

“As I child, I spent every afternoon in his greenhouse as he tended his orchids,” she says. “He presented me one to tend as my very own — an aerangis orchid, a delicate, star-shaped flower known to emit its soft and comforting scent in the evenings.”

Homesick’s collection references cities, countries, and favorite hangouts, such as Grandma’s Kitchen (apple, cream, clove) and book club (nutmeg, sandalwood). Celebrate the seasons with Holiday Stroll (sugar plums, blackberries) and American Summer (peach, watermelon). India’s candle melds cumin, curry and cardamom. Canada’s mixes butter, maple and oak moss. Homesick gives you the option to personalize each candle.

Kim Cook is an Associated Press writer. Tribune-Review staff writer JoAnne Klimovich Harrop contributed to this report.