How to Choose a Chandelier

With so many beautiful chandelier styles on the market today, choosing the one piece that complements your home and individual taste can seem overwhelming! Fortunately, our lighting professionals assist customers with this important decision on a daily basis. They have helped countless homeowners choose the right chandelier and now they are offering their helpful advice in this video.

(If you cannot see the video, click here to watch.)

To summarize, some important considerations to make before purchasing a chandelier include

• the size and style of the room it will be hung in
• your budget
• what you want your chandelier to do in the room
• uplighting or downlighting: the latter is better for aging eyes, while the former is good for people who don't want to look up and see bulbs

For rooms with lower ceilings (8 feet, for example), it's important to get a fixture that isn't too large. One that's too big for the space will actually make it look smaller, like it's caving in! High ceilings, though, can handle large chandeliers with multiple tiers.

If you are using a chandelier above a table, measure the width or diameter of your table in inches. Then, look for chandeliers that are between 2/3 and 3/4 of that width or diameter. Keep in mind that a fixture with a busy or complex design will actually appear larger, so if that's what is catching your eye, you'll want to scale your maximum width down slightly.

Assuming you have 8-foot ceilings, the bottom of the fixture should hang between 30 and 36 inches above the tabletop. But if your ceilings are higher, the suggestion is to add 3 more inches above the table for each additional foot of ceiling.

For ambient lighting, measure the length and width, in feet, of the room you wish to light. Then add the two numbers together. The result is the ideal chandelier width (in inches) for the space.

Read more about sizing your room for a chandelier.

In terms of design, simpler transitional chandeliers are in style, especially for less-formal rooms toward the back of the house. People tend to dress up the front rooms with fancier light fixtures, but still need to illuminate those rooms in the back too, since that's where most living is usually done! However, the elegant and classic crystal chandeliers will endure--and never go out of style, either.

If you're ready to find your new chandelier, click here to shop the vast selection on Lights Online. Or, read about the history of the chandelier!

Need more advice? Give our trained lighting specialists a call at 1-866-688-3562. 

Emma Harger-Young - Lights Online