How to Choose A Chandelier

When it comes to light fixtures, nothing creates a statement like a chandelier. It’s all that glitters, the mood setter of the room, and sometimes a conversation piece among your guests. But first you’ll want to educate yourself all of the different chandelier designs, styles, and types, so that you can know all of the possibilities for adding a chandelier to your home.

Well, let’s take one step back, and ask, what is a chandelier? At its essence, a chandelier is a light fixture that hangs from the ceiling. While most commonly used in the dining room, chandeliers can be used to create a statement in any room such as the living room, bedroom, and patio. Chandeliers feature multiple lamps, often in multiple tiers, and are used for ambient lighting.

A similar style of light, the pendant light, may be confused with a chandelier. A pendant generally includes just one shade/light source hanging from a single wire/suspension system, while a chandelier has multiple shades/light sources, often connected by a branched frame.  However, even with this distinction, the difference between pendant lights and chandeliers seems to get very blurry when comparing larger-sized pendants. For most, a larger hanging light fixture is more broadly understood as a chandelier even if technically, it might be a pendant light.

Although the image of a traditional chandelier is often quite specific–a suspended light fixture with multiple arms and candelabras with beads and crystals hanging beneath–modern and contemporary chandelier design (by definition) rethinks the traditional concept of chandeliers in new and innovative ways.

Picking the right chandelier is all about picking the right type of chandelier for your specific lighting intent. Is the style or design of the chandelier your motive? Is it the type of lighting the chandelier will provide? Or maybe it’s the finish? Here you will be able to see the difference between the many different types of chandeliers.

One of the most exciting aspects of being in the market for a chandelier is the discovery of a style that you adore for your home. To match your home’s design, consider the following types of chandelier design and which one might fit your home the best.

After determining a chandelier’s design statement in a room, it’s best to consider how its lighting will function within your home.

1. Uplight Chandeliers: Uplight chandeliers focus light upwards, providing reflected ambiance around a space, rather than direct downlighting.
2. Downlight Chandeliers: Akin to the traditional style of chandeliers, downlight chandeliers provide unobstructed light below. Ideal when your room needs lots of direct, focused light as well as ambient light.
3. Ambient Lighting: With the exception of downlight chandeliers, most chandeliers aren’t ideal for providing task lighting–most work much better to create ambient lighting due to their emphasis on diffused, non-direct light.

While the easiest option is to go with the style that matches your home, another option is to find a chandelier that contrasts with its surroundings. You may find that a classic crystal chandelier is more dazzling in a modern space than a simple large bell shade.

With whatever type of chandelier that you choose, the key is selecting a style that will enhance the surrounding space and not take away from the theme of the room.

1. Positioning a Chandelier

In an interior space, the position of the chandelier should be as centered as possible. Here are three reasons why:

• Aesthetic: A well-designed chandelier is admirable from all angles. Placing the chandelier in a central position gives you a 360-degree view to admire all the beautiful elements.
• General Light: Artificial ambient light is more evenly distributed from a centered position.
• Symmetry: As most likely the only suspended object, a chandelier is best put in a central location for visual balance.

2. Installation Height

In a dining room, a chandelier should hang approximately 30 inches above a dining table surface so people seated around it can see each other and won’t get glare in their eyes. If you have a high ceiling (9 feet or higher), add about 3 inches for each additional foot of ceiling height.

In other rooms, you should always consider such line of sight and safe clearance when installing a chandelier. After all, a light fixture is much less appealing if it blocks your view or if you keep hitting your head on it.

3. Chandelier Brightness

The ideal lumen count for ambient lighting in a dining room–or any room–is determined by the space’s square footage. Per 100 square feet, a dining room needs about 300-400 total lumens. (For more information on recommended lumens for any room, you can go here.) So you would be smart to consider the lumen output of a chandelier as part of your selection process. In the interest of proper light layering, a chandelier may not be the sole source of ambient lighting in a space, but it will likely be the primary one.