Nothing ornaments a massive space better than a glorious chandelier, but it’s not as easy as it seems knowing which size and style to get. There are many choices, and the size of your chandelier will have a huge effect on its splendor. Too big will look ominous and gaudy, but too small will look puny and pathetic. The size of the room ultimately determines the size of the chandelier.
Airy chandeliers look larger than they really are. Something about the lighter mass makes them appear to inhabit more of the air. This is always good because a chandelier that is a little too big looks way better than one that is a little too small.
This wrought iron chandelier from the Crystorama’s Soho collection is a perfect example of an airy chandelier. It is thin and delicate looking with its subtle stands of golden teak Swarovski crystals.
Here is a classic silver airy chandelier from Progress Lighting.
It’s actually pretty simple to figure out what diameter your chandelier should have approximately. Take the dimensions of the room in feet, add them up, and there is your diameter in inches. A 20 foot by 20 foot room will call for a chandelier with a 40 inch diameter.
Fifteen candles float overhead upon the Pemberton chandelier from Sea Gull. This airy design is lithe and heavenly as a lotus gliding on the wind. If you want a more powerful presence, you might prefer a heavy chandelier.
The heavy iron wrought chandelier is a showy masterpiece complete with golden teak hand cut crystals. The heavy style chandeliers are great for rooms with tall ceilings. If your foyer has smaller square footage but a very tall ceiling, a heavy chandelier will grab more focus. It will not seem too large for the room, but it will also not get overlooked by hanging in such a tall space.
The Provence is another example of a heavy chandelier. As you can see, they have a much bolder style than the airy chandeliers. Another detail that helps with tall ceilings is multiple tiers on a chandelier. Perhaps you’ve seen those ten story high foyers in art museums with the cylindrical multiple tier chandelier cascading all the way from the ceiling to the bottom of ten flights of stairs. This uses the same principle to excess.
A rustic chandelier can also be a lot of fun. When decorating the grand living room of a log cabin, this style lends to that country ambiance.
Debating between antique and modern? Antique pieces like this natural alabaster chandelier have that engrossing gilded beauty that so many people imagine when they envision the perfect chandelier for a parlor or master bedroom.
The Highlands chandelier also utilizes the beauty of the Victorian era with its coiled multiple tiers. It has fifteen lights that glisten beneath elegant shades. One thing that is key when hanging a chandelier in a large room is to leave 7 feet of space between the hanging fixture and the floor. Your taller friends might even want 7 1/2 feet for a little extra security. Tall doorways, arches and chandeliers make everybody feel safer. I think it has something to do with making us feel smaller, like we are children again.
A chandelier right from the ballroom in Beauty and the Beast, the Etta collection chandelier meets all our expectations of old world beauty. The modern chandeliers can be quite impressive however. At the turn of the millennium, designers have invented a new kind of elegance to grace our ceilings. Sea Gull makes the following contemporary chandeliers.
There is the Laurel Leaf collection chandelier with clean lines and multiple tiers. Before buying a chandelier, consider how its finish will look against the backdrop of your other decor.
The nine-light Eternity chandelier has a polished futuristic style. My favorite thing about this chandelier is how the frame slopes down into the lights like a ski mountain.
The Roslyn chandelier made of steel and finished in bronze creates an illusion of wide candle sticks being suspended by level black lines. The contemporary styles use many geometrical shapes and unconventional light ideas, but a good old fashioned crystal chandelier has the potential of becoming a family heirloom.
The Aloha chandelier resembles a pineapple, an exotic and tempting fruit covered in spikes. The frame appears finished in English bronze. Its prism crystals cast rainbows about the room.
The last time I saw something as grand as the Maria Theresa chandelier was probably in an opera house. This chandelier is tediously crafted with hand cut wood polished crystal, each piece laboriously finished by an artisan.
This second even more majestic Maria Theresa chandelier from Crystorama comes draped in wood polished crystal as well. The masterpiece looks like a wonderland of frost. These are fantastic for a ballroom or a huge entryway.
A large room without a chandelier is like the universe without any stars. Once you find the perfect one and see it in your mind’s eye lighting up the space, you’ll never want to see the room again without it.
