It may be the biggest design trend to hit man caves since the La-Z-Boy chair.
Hexagonal LED fixtures that blanket the ceiling in aggressive streams of light and resemble cyber-age honeycomb have caught on in male-oriented leisure spaces across the country. Known as “Hex” lights, the look has become popular in places like barbershops, home gyms, luxury garages and tool sheds.
They are “an in your face kind of bold male vibe,” said Craig Spjute, 34, a pest control business owner and online fitness coach based in Highland, Utah. In October, he had the lights installed in a home gym where he broadcasts training sessions.
Mr. Spjute’s hex lights are mounted on a black ceiling, a decorating technique that makes them appear as if they are floating and accentuates their futuristic effect. His wife and business partner, Sydnee Spjute was initially skeptical of the look but has since grown to appreciate it. “They look a lot better than I thought,” said Ms. Spjute, 31, who had been worried the fixtures would “feel too busy.”
Hex lights “scream gym, bodybuilding, man cave,” said Fabbio DeBartolo, the founder of Finest Home Gym, which is based in Miami and Toronto, Ontario and designs luxury home gyms and entertainment rooms. Mr. DeBartolo, 31, who installed the lights in Mr. Spjute’s home, said the design is “overwhelmingly” popular among his male clientele.
His company specializes in lights made by HexGlow, which is among the more premium hex light producers on the market. Mr. DeBartolo sells them as add-ons to build outs for around $4,000. He said the lights have been a growth driver for his business, with hex light sales doubling since he started installing them some 18 months ago, primarily in man caves, golf simulators and garages, as well as commercial spaces.
Juan Tavarez, 43, said the fixtures have helped make his Oceanside, N.Y., salon, the Christian Barbershop, a sort of refuge for clients, many of whom have a more recent awareness of interior design. “Seeing something nice, something to look at, gives you a peace of mind — it’s important now,” he said.
Lighting can be “a gateway element into design,” according to Chaudry Ghafoor, the founder of the Masculine Home, a Washington, D.C.-based interior design firm. He noted that hexagonal fixtures have an “engineered” look and said that the lights “are purposeful or function-driven, and men tend to respond well to that.”
Much of the look’s success can be traced to social media where the fixtures have appeared in the backgrounds of videos and images. Mr. Tavarez said he first saw the lights on YouTube, in a video posted by another barber.
The trend is also more accessible than ever. The proliferation of LED technology has made this kind of “strong, novel visual impact,” more affordable for the average person, said Natalia Lesniak, a lighting designer in New York City. While hex fixtures used to be primarily available through specialty dealers that charged thousands of dollars, now there are kits on online platforms like Amazon for a few hundred dollars.
Spencer Hoyt has incorporated the hex design in numerous common spaces at Bunker Lofts, a hobby storage development on the edge of a golf course in Lafayette, La. Mr. Hoyt, 46, said the lights offer a “wow factor” despite being easy to install and cost-effective. When the development opens in 2027, the lights will greet owners as they make their way to units to “play and tinker on toys,” Mr. Hoyt said, such as cars, boats and golf simulators.
That an illuminated hexagonal pattern would be so widespread may have been hard to conceive in 2012 when the artist Leo Villareal installed “Hive (Bleecker Street),” a light sculpture, on the ceiling of the Bleecker Street subway station in Manhattan. At the time, Mr. Villareal said his work — a matrix of hexagonal lights that pulsed with color — was the only modern light installation he had seen to prominently feature the geometric shape.
Recently, Mr. Villareal has noticed hexagonal lights resembling his artwork hanging on the ceiling of car detailing garages in his Sunset Park, Brooklyn neighborhood.
“It has been interesting to see that this somehow resonates for people,” Mr. Villareal said, adding that he considers it a compliment.
There is a reason, however, that the lights have not crossed over into cozier parts of the home. Hex lights, according to those who own them, offer unparalleled functionality for technical work like mechanics and car detailing. The shape spreads bright light evenly, illuminating any small imperfection in a fade haircut or a teensy scratch on a Maserati.
It’s why Ryan Kanallakan — a founder of Rak’d Audio, a company that makes Bluetooth speakers from used ammunition cans — decided to install hex lights in his workshop about six months ago. Mr. Kanallakan, 28, who is based in Jerseyville, Ill. said the fixtures’ inclusion in the background of his TikTok videos has given his business a noticeable boost in engagement on the platform.
But the hex lights’ tech-y brightness has some limitations. Said Mr. Kanallakan, “If you had them in your living room, it would be hard to relax.”
- Credits: The New York Times
- Author: Misty White Sidell
- Photo: James Ewing
