Pooky

Pooky started in 2014, when Rohan Blacker, the founder of sofa.com, decided to do for lighting what he’d already done for sofas. He had always loved good lamps and wondered about adding them to sofa.com, but felt that business needed to stay 100% sofas. So lighting got a company of its own. Planning took around two years, mostly spent finding the right suppliers, working out the designs, and building a website that made lighting easy to shop.

The idea that set Pooky apart was mix-and-match. Bases and shades are chosen separately, so a ceramic, glass, resin, wood, or antique brass lamp can be paired with anything from hand-loomed silk ikat to Belgian linen or block-printed cotton. Traditional retailers couldn’t really offer that, and Pooky later carried the same logic into other parts of the range.

The catalogue has widened since. There are table and floor lamps, pendants, wall lights, chandeliers, sockets and switches, cordless rechargeable lamps, and mirrors added more recently. Collaborations have been part of the story too, from limited editions with the fabric house GP & J Baker to a more recent Novogratz x Pooky range. The brand has also expanded into the US, run from its base in the Cotswolds.

Service remains a selling point, with free delivery, free returns, a money-back guarantee, and showrooms to visit in person. Pooky also supports the charity United in Design through its internship programme.