A LIGHT TOUCH
How a frustrating search for the "perfect" lampshade prompted one woman to start a shady small business. Written by Bridget Cottrell / Photos by Rachel Sitarz, courtesy of Admiral Landings Designs "I've chosen a pretty crazy life, but it's worth it," said Ashlee Barclay. The former public school teacher and mother of three daughters, aged two, six, and 10, homeschool the older two while "bouncing back and forth" between homes in Louisville, Kentucky, and Lafayette, Indiana, which she shares with her husband, Chris Barclay, the running back coach at the University of Louisville. Necessity is said to be the mother of invention, and this was undoubtedly true in Ashlee's case. Having recently moved into a custom-built home in Lafayette following the birth of their youngest daughter and amid a social media fast, Ashlee began surveying the sconces and lampshades in her house. "I'd never really paid much attention before, but they were boring," she recalled. Jumping online, everything that came up in her search results was from the UK, with shipping that was either cost-prohibitive or impossible. How ironic that a search for something to diffuse light illuminated a light-bulb moment, leading Ashlee to found Admiral Landings Designs in January 2024— the company's name commemorating the neighborhood where the idea was born. Ashlee says that being an educator means remaining curious and having a willingness to try new things, a skill set she transferred to learning how to create custom lampshades and operate a small business. "It all started as a little creative itch that I wanted to scratch," she recounted. To master the craft, she began by poring over books, blogs, and YouTube videos before moving on to an online handsewn lampshade masterclass with CreateAcademy to fine-tune her skill set. "Teaching myself how to sew unlocked so many things for me on a personal level," said Ashlee, who jokes that she wouldn't gift some of her earliest creations to even her worst enemy. When she felt confident in her abilities, Ashlee signed up for a program with SCORE Indianapolis, which provides free 50 slmag.net
business mentoring from experienced advisors. Her mentor shared her business idea with a friend in the interior design industry, who confirmed Ashlee's proof of concept. With the business particulars in order, Ashlee said things quickly ramped up from there via word of mouth, social media, and a story in the trade publication Designers Today. From the start, Ashlee said she's "bootstrapped" the business, citing oldfashioned hustle and a supportive husband as key elements to her success. All Admiral Landings' lampshades are made to order, with eighty percent being entirely custom designs. "I love working with clients to bring their vision to life," said Ashlee, who uses upholstery grade fabrics for her creations. While she says that most lampshades in the UK use silk, linen, and cotton, she prefers bolder options afforded by utilizing fabrics such as leather and corduroy. "It's fun and more millennial and not so elderly looking," she explained. She collaborates with her eldest daughter to transform fabric remnants into privacy pouches that they donate to women experiencing homelessness. Ashlee creates both hardback and softback lampshades. The former involves bonding fabrics to a durable laminate backing. Ashlee said that while hardback styles are what's the norm in the United States, she prefers the blank slate of the softback, which involves stretching the fabric directly over a metal frame. While she admits to being a glutton for punishment and "pulling some really late nights," Ashlee says that having her daughters see what she is building is priceless. "I love showing them what is possible if you set a goal and work hard; I am building a legacy that I hope to pass on to them." sl For more information visit admirallandingsdesigns.com.