The short answer: start at Visual Comfort & Co. at 200 Lexington Avenue for designer fixtures with a sane price spread, walk the SoHo cluster of Flos, Artemide, Luceplan, and Roll & Hill for investment pieces, work the East 60th Street antique row for vintage, and head to IKEA in Red Hook or the Brooklyn Flea when the budget is tight. New York sells lighting at every price. The catch is that the good sources sit in three distinct pockets of the city, plus a few outliers, and half the lists online still recommend stores that no longer exist. This guide maps what is actually open in 2026, with addresses.
Lighting is the line item that gets cut first in a renovation and regretted longest. A $400 fixture changes a room more than a $4,000 sofa. If you are planning a bigger project, read this alongside our guide to apartment renovation in NYC.
Key takeaways
- SoHo has the densest run of design-grade showrooms: Flos at 152 Greene Street, Luceplan at 14 Wooster Street, Roll & Hill at 3 Mercer Street, Artemide a block away on Greene.
- The East 58th to 60th Street corridor is the old guard: Foundry Lighting, Just Shades, and the antique dealers John Salibello and Carlos de la Puente.
- Lighting by Gregory, the longtime Bowery discounter at 158 Bowery, has closed. Cross it off any older list.
- Just Shades left its Spring Street shop. The store now operates at 230 East 59th Street.
- Vintage fixtures almost always need rewiring with UL-listed components before they touch your ceiling.
- Plan on at least three light sources per room and 2700K bulbs in living spaces.
Design-grade showrooms: SoHo and below
Flos keeps its flagship at 152 Greene Street. This is where you go to see the Arco floor lamp and the IC pendants at full scale before committing four figures, because photographs flatten exactly the proportions that justify the price. Artemide sits a short walk away on Greene Street with a more architectural catalog. It is the stop for task lighting that has to work hard, the Tolomeo above all.
Luceplan, at 14 Wooster Street, is often the most attainable of the Italians. The engineering is the point here: adjustable diffusers, honest materials, fixtures that read as instruments rather than jewelry. Roll & Hill at 3 Mercer Street covers the American independent side, with weekday showroom hours and designs from a rotating bench of collaborators.
Two younger studios round out the tier. In Common With runs Quarters on the second floor of 383 Broadway in Tribeca, a loft showroom with a bar attached, and its glass and ceramic fixtures can be configured to order. Apparatus shows its sculptural brass work on the 11th floor of 38 East 32nd Street. It rewards a planned visit rather than a walk-in.
Mid-range and trade staples: the Midtown East corridor
Visual Comfort & Co. at 200 Lexington Avenue, Suite 101, is the workhorse of this list. The signature collections run from a few hundred dollars to serious money, which makes it the rare showroom where a full apartment can be specified under one roof. Foundry Lighting holds down 225 East 58th Street, on the block dealers call Designers Way, with a multi-brand floor and weekday hours geared to the trade.
Just Shades, now at 230 East 59th Street, deserves a specific errand. It carries one of the largest ready-made and custom lampshade selections in the city, and a $60 shade is the cheapest renovation a good lamp will ever get. The corridor also pairs well with a furniture run; see our guide to furniture stores in NYC.
Vintage and antique dealers
East 60th Street between Second and Third Avenues is the vintage lighting block. John Salibello, at 211 East 60th Street with additional storefronts on the same stretch, is the city’s deepest source for midcentury fixtures: Sputnik chandeliers, Murano glass, brass floor lamps with provenance and prices to match. Carlos de la Puente Antiques at 241 East 60th Street works the European antique side of the same trade.
For salvage, Olde Good Things at 333 West 52nd Street resells fixtures pulled from New York landmark buildings, including industrial pendants and sconces you will not find reproduced. Buy vintage with one rule in mind: assume the wiring is original and unsafe until a dealer shows you otherwise. Ask whether the piece has been rewired, and get it in writing.
Budget-smart sources
IKEA at 1 Beard Street in Red Hook remains the most credible cheap lighting in the city, especially for paper shades, basic pendants, and rental-friendly plug-in sconces. The Brooklyn Flea, under the Manhattan Bridge Archway on Water Street in Dumbo on weekends, turns up vintage lamps that need work and reward negotiation. Facebook Marketplace fills the gaps if you can move fast and carry a lamp on the subway.
The highest-yield budget move is a hybrid: a thrifted or flea-market base, rewired if needed, under a custom shade from Just Shades. The result reads custom at a fraction of showroom cost. Renters in tight spaces should also lean on plug-in wall sconces, which free up surface area; more tricks in our small apartment ideas guide.
Twelve verified stores at a glance
| Store | Neighborhood | Best for | Price tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flos (152 Greene St) | SoHo | Italian modern icons | $$$$ |
| Artemide (Greene St) | SoHo | Architectural and task lighting | $$$$ |
| Luceplan (14 Wooster St) | SoHo | Engineered Italian design | $$$ |
| Roll & Hill (3 Mercer St) | SoHo | American independent design | $$$$ |
| Quarters by In Common With (383 Broadway) | Tribeca | Configurable glass and ceramic | $$$ |
| Apparatus (38 E 32nd St) | NoMad | Sculptural statement pieces | $$$$ |
| Visual Comfort & Co. (200 Lexington Ave) | NoMad | Designer collections, widest range | $$ to $$$$ |
| Foundry Lighting (225 E 58th St) | Midtown East | Multi-brand showroom floor | $$ to $$$ |
| Just Shades (230 E 59th St) | Midtown East | Ready-made and custom shades | $ to $$ |
| John Salibello (211 E 60th St) | Midtown East | Midcentury vintage fixtures | $$$$ |
| Olde Good Things (333 W 52nd St) | Midtown West | Architectural salvage lighting | $$ to $$$ |
| IKEA (1 Beard St) | Red Hook | Cheap basics and plug-ins | $ |
Before you buy: layers, bulbs, and installation
Count light sources before you shop. A room needs at least three: ambient light from a ceiling fixture or torchiere, task light where you read or cook, and accent light to give the room depth after dark. Living rooms usually want four or five. One bright ceiling fixture is how rentals end up feeling like waiting rooms.
Buy bulbs at 2700K for living rooms and bedrooms, and keep every bulb in a single room at the same color temperature. Kitchens and baths can run 3000K. Look for a CRI of 90 or above so skin, wood, and paint read true.
Anything hardwired should be installed by a licensed electrician. In most co-ops and condos the building will also require the electrician’s certificate of insurance before work starts, so request that paperwork when you book. Swapping a fixture onto an existing junction box is fast work; adding a new box or a dimmer circuit is not. For vintage purchases, have the piece rewired with UL-listed sockets and cord before installation, full stop. More on managing trades in our renovation guides.
Frequently asked questions
Where do interior designers buy lighting in NYC?
Mostly from the showrooms above. Visual Comfort and the SoHo flagships all serve the trade directly, and many offer designer pricing with credentials. The vintage dealers on East 60th Street sell heavily to decorators, which is why the block survives. Nothing stops a retail buyer from walking into any of them.
Is it cheaper to buy lighting online?
Often, yes, and showrooms know it. But scale is the most common lighting mistake, and a pendant that is six inches too small costs more in regret than the online discount saved. Use showrooms to confirm size and finish, then buy wherever the price is right.
Can I install a ceiling fixture myself in a NYC apartment?
Plug-in and swag fixtures, yes. Hardwired fixtures should go to a licensed electrician, both for safety and because co-op and condo boards generally require insured trades for any electrical work. Renters need landlord sign-off either way, so plug-in designs are usually the smarter buy.
