When John and Courtney Daniels were trying to find lighting for their home, back in 2013, they went to the big box stores. Courtney was in real estate, and John worked as an electrician on boats for the off-shore oil industry. The couple did not have a pleasant shopping experience.
“John got so frustrated. He said, ‘I am not doing this anymore,’” Courtney said. But she had an idea of what she wanted — a large fixture with three arms and two globes that articulated in different directions. “John’s like, ‘Can you draw it?’ No, probably not. But then I did, and he’s like, ‘I got it,’” Courney said.
She wasn’t sure he could turn her drawing into lighting, but he did. Soon people were telling them they needed to make more fixtures and sell them. And J. Knox Designs was born.
Now they work long, creative days out of a studio on their property, outside Fredericksburg. Their custom fixtures have found a path to a Michelin-star restaurant in New York City, an ice cream shop in Canada, a home in Japan, a wine bar in Miami, and an island in the Caribbean.
“We did a Texas-themed chandelier for a hotel in Antigua, their Texas room,” Courtney said.
What sets J. Knox Designs apart is their materials: no steel. They use solid brass, a metal with heft. “It doesn’t corrode. A lot of people want what we call natural brass — no coating, no varnish. It develops a chocolate patina. Since it’s not steel, you’re not gonna have paint flaking off. It’s not gonna rust,” John said.
Brass pieces last, and J. Knox Designs’ fixtures are designed to be handed down as heirlooms. That craftsmanship is worth the extra cost. “This one woman, we struck up a friendship. For four years in a row she’d come in and say, ‘I want this, but it’s not in my budget.’ In each of those four years she bought something else and had to replace it every year. She said, ‘I could’ve spent the same amount for you to build one fixture for me,’” Courtney said. “That was six years ago. She still has our fixture.”
John and Courtney enjoy the challenge of designing new pieces. Most of their inspirations come in the middle of the night. “If either one of us wakes up and says, ‘I know how to do it,’ or ‘I know what’s gonna look good in that house,’ then it’s gonna work,” Courtney said. “We look at this as our artwork,” John added.
In addition to creating lighting that hangs or is mounted on a wall, John also makes lamps. He even rewires older fixtures or transforms them into what the customer wants.
“We had someone who said, ‘This is a pendant light, but I need it turned into a wall sconce.’ The light belonged to her parents, who had passed,” Courtney said. “After John built it, she took a picture and said, ‘Every time I look at it, it looks like angel’s wings, the reflection on the wall. Like my mom and dad are looking down on me.’”
When the Daniels are working with a client, they help them consider all the factors that go into a well-lit space. “We ask what’s the size of your table, if it’s a dining room. You don’t want the light to overwhelm the table. Or if the room has tall ceilings, you need to account for that,” John said.
With his electrical background, John prioritizes safety, exceeding the specifications of the Underwriter Laboratories-certification (UL) necessary for electrical components. “Half the time our UL inspectors are asking John for his opinion: ‘I have this client — how would you have done this?’” Courtney said.
Recently John has expanded into making cabinet pulls and other homeware items from brass and a few with bronze. He’s even experimenting with other materials, like ceramics, glass, and leather.
As he adds each one, he forms a relationship with other small businesses. “We keep things U.S.-made and especially Texas-made,” John said.
The Daniels’ kids are away at school, but they do pitch in to the family business when they’re home on break. Their daughter helps with the website, and their son contributes ideas and helps build.
“This was my great-grandfather’s farm we’re on. We’re supporting our family like he supported his family, on the land,” Courtney said.
But John admits, “Farming’s a lot harder work.”
View their creations at jknoxdesigns.com.