Peter Dunham’s lighting secret will make you a dinner party hero

Peter Dunham is trying to make us all look younger, one harsh recessed light at a time. On a panel we were on together earlier in the year at Legends, he bravely called for the return of candlelight to dining rooms. Can lighting, he noted, highlights ridges (aka wrinkles) and generally makes everyone at the table look a decade older. If anyone in the audience was on their phones or zoning out before he said that, we suddenly had 300 designers’ full, undivided attention. I was delighted the discussion took such an anti-electric turn. Candlelight looks good on anyone, so it’s disarming. It’s the opposite of a police interrogation room. So when you ease up on lighting, guests tend to ease up, too. They feel like they can turn their focus outward instead of inward, which is the key to epic conversation and the kind of laughter that shakes the walls. (The other key is alcohol.)

P.S. Peter’s in good company—not only did fellow panelist Leslie Hunt agree, Tom Scheerer makes a case for candlelight in this Coastal Living story. And Bunny Williams insists it’s the only way to dine in her book, A House by the Sea. Great minds…

I picked up these cool little hurricane lamps from Food52, which work well with a fun little old/new arrangement of low candlesticks.

Need more Peter Dunham? (Answer: always): stop into Hollywood at Home on La Cienega Blvd. in Los Angeles; follow his design adventures at @peterdunhamdesign; or roll up in his killer fabrics at @peterdunhamtextiles.