The apartment we bought in Paris (75004) last year has amazing moldings and we were really afraid that they would get damaged during the four-month-long renovation. We hesitated about installing pendant lamps because drilling into the moldings would certainly damage them, or worse, the moldings could simply fall to pieces!!

This said, there was one exception: we wanted to buy two of these famous Alvar Aalto lamps, designed in 1937, and have them above the dining table. So, as the electrician started drilling, I stopped breathing and watched. And prayed. The moldings got damaged a tiny bit (there was no other way to install the electricity cables), but nothing dramatic happened. During the recent Christmas holidays we went to one of our favorite design stores in Helsinki called Artek, and bought two of these beautiful lamps. Today the lamps got a new life as my husband fixed them on the ceiling. We like them a lot, and having a good 20cm of snow in the balcony makes the day feel very Finnish!

Link to the lamps and ARTEK design store: http://www.artek.fi/products/lighting/144

Another link to the online Finnish (+Scandinavian) design shop: http://www.finnishdesignshop.com/