Line drawing of a hanging pendant lamp with a rounded, floral design made of layered petal-like shapes.
Smile woman with blonde hair, wearing a beige top with balloon sleeves, white jeans, and gold earrings.

Meet Helen Bilt

HelenBilt is a custom lighting company whose work lives at the intersection of raw, natural materials and luxe modernity. Crafted in Helen Gifford’s Sag Harbor studio on the East End of Long Island, she’s been featured in publications from The New York Times to Architectural Digest France.

What sets a HelenBilt lighting project apart isn't just the finished piece. It's the way she thinks. British born, raised in Brunei and Montreal, and educated at Parsons School of Design, Helen brings a genuinely global sensibility to every client engagement allowing the interiors to feel intentional and alive, not assembled.

Helen is best known for designing lighting that lives alongside significant and valued art. She understands scale, tension, and negative space the way a sculptor does, not just a fabricator. If you have a serious collection, or want your lighting to feel as considered as the art you've chosen, that distinction matters. 

  • "A professional team that delivers on their promises."

    —Former Customer

  • "Every detail was thoughtfully executed. We're thrilled with the outcome."

    —Former Customer

WHAT MAKES HELEN DIFFERENT?

A woman standing on a step ladder, hanging a chandelier on the ceiling inside a room with large windows, dressed in a black top and striped apron.

Made by Hand

ALWAYS CUSTOM

Every piece, including her signature Urchin, Concord, and Vidro series, is designed, built, and curated by hand in Sag Harbor. When you commission a Helen Bilt piece, you're not selecting from a catalog. You're beginning a conversation with a designer who will use everything she knows about your space, your collection, and your life to make something that couldn't exist anywhere else.

A modern entryway with a dark floral mural on the wall and a cluster of hanging spherical pendant lights with woodgrain pattern.

Residential Design

One-of-a-Kind

For residential clients, that means lighting that doesn't just illuminate. It shifts how a room feels at different times of day, anchors a living space around its best features, and holds its own next to furniture and finishes you've invested in carefully.

Living room with white tufted furniture, a round gold coffee table with books and desserts, a floral chandelier, and a view into a dining area with a table set for a meal and large windows.

Retail and Restaurants

CREATIVE UNIQUE

Helen's ability to work across European and American design culture is a practical asset. She understands how light shapes a customer's experience, dwell time, and perception of quality, and she builds that understanding into every fixture and placement decision from the start.

Modern dining room with a wooden table, surrounded by light-colored chairs, three glass globe pendant lights hanging above, large windows with curtains, and decorative plants on the table.
White chandelier with multiple spherical, spike-like elements hanging from the ceiling in a modern room.

Helen Bilt's work has been recognized in national and international publications across design, shelter, and lifestyle media, including Interior Design, Metropolitan Home, House and Garden, The New York Times, Architectural Digest France, MAP Magazine Australia, and shelter publications in Germany, Greece, and Holland.

Select Press:

Terrys, March 2020
Behind the Hedges, April 2020
Palm Beach Illustrated, March 2017
Cottages & Gardens, June 2011

IN THE PRESS