Shed new light on a room with a chandelier

  • By Melissa Kossler Dutton Associated Press
  • Tuesday, November 6, 2012 4:38pm
  • Life

Some interior designers tout paint as the best way to change the look of a room. For Lisa Roberts, “It’s lighting. It’s more bang for the buck.”

With the holidays approaching, a new chandelier could be a fun and affordable way to make over the dining room, said Roberts, a Minneapolis designer who organized a chandelier fashion show at the home and garden show in that city earlier this year.

Michelle Jennings Wiebe, president of Studio M Interior Design in Tampa, Fla., agreed, saying a dining room should be about more than the table and chairs.

“You really need that piece that caps it off and makes it special,” she said. “It’s almost like a piece of artwork.”

Chandelier shoppers have plenty of choices these days. Chandeliers come in a variety of styles, and can range in price from a few hundred dollars to tens of thousands.

“We have a lot of fun picking them out,” Wiebe said. “It’s a way to make a special impression.”

New manufacturing techniques have led to the creation of designs and shapes that previously were not possible, said Joseph Rey-Barreau, an architect and lighting designer and a professor at the University of Kentucky in Lexington.

Trends include jewel tones, geometric-inspired pieces, retro fixtures and the use of lamp shades, these lighting experts said.

Roberts included several colorful chandeliers at her show. She favors deep jewel tones, and showed one piece made out of black cut crystal. A chandelier can add sophistication or whimsy to a home, she said.

The decor featured on the television show “Mad Men” has created more interest in midcentury modern, Wiebe said, and many of her clients are choosing slim, sleek pieces reminiscent of the 1950s and ’60s.

In Florida, shell, coral or other nature-inspired lighting also is a common choice, she said.

Shannon Cantor so appreciates the seashell-inspired chandelier in her condo in Redington Beach, Fla., that she put a variation of it in her second home, in Tampa. She said she and her husband wanted something they would enjoy looking at every day.

“We walk by it a lot,” Cantor said. “You want something that grabs your attention. It’s going to be there for a long while.”

Rey-Barreau called lamp shades on chandeliers “a very, very fashionable trend,” from lights surrounded by a single, round drum shade (a little like a hanging table lamp) to a group of mini drum shades covering each bulb. Some chandeliers have removable shades, so you can use them or not.

When helping clients choose a chandelier, Wiebe considers the size of the room and the style of the home. But she also reminds them that the fixtures have a job to do.

“First and foremost it’s for lighting,” she said. Will a table be used mostly for eating or will children be doing homework there?

Chandelier tips

Always put chandeliers on a dimmer switch: This makes them more functional and can help set a mood in the dining room.

Do the math: To determine what size chandelier is needed, add the width of the room to the length of the room in feet, and then convert that number to inches for a chandelier’s diameter. A 10-by-20-foot room, for instance, would require a chandelier with a diameter of about 30 inches.

How high: In a room with 8-foot ceilings, chandeliers are normally hung about 30 inches above the table. For every additional foot of ceiling height, raise the fixture 3 inches.

Family plan: When shopping for a chandelier ask whether it is part of a “lighting family.” Some manufacturers have developed series of fixtures designed to complement each other. The line may include other options for consideration for other rooms.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Life

Brandon Hailey of Cytrus, center, plays the saxophone during a headlining show at Madam Lou’s on Friday, Dec. 29, 2023 in Seattle, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lynnwood-based funk octet Cytrus has the juice

Resilience and brotherhood take center stage with ‘friends-first’ band.

FILE - In this April 11, 2014 file photo, Neko Case performs at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif. Fire investigators are looking for the cause of a fire on Monday, Sept. 18, 2017, that heavily damaged Case’s 225-year-old Vermont home. There were no injuries, though a barn was destroyed. It took firefighters two hours to extinguish the blaze. (Photo by Scott Roth/Invision/AP, File)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

Singer-songwriter Neko Case, an indie music icon from Tacoma, performs Sunday in Edmonds.

Dominic Arizona Bonuccelli
Tangier’s market boasts piles of fruits, veggies, and olives, countless varieties of bread, and nonperishables, like clothing and electronics.
Rick Steves on the cultural kaleidoscope of Tangier in Morocco

Walking through the city, I think to myself, “How could anyone be in southern Spain — so close — and not hop over to experience this wonderland?”

chris elliott.
Vrbo promised to cover her rental bill in Hawaii, so why won’t it?

When Cheryl Mander’s Vrbo rental in Hawaii is uninhabitable, the rental platform agrees to cover her new accommodations. But then it backs out. What happened?

The Moonlight Swing Orchestra will play classic sounds of the Big Band Era on April 21 in Everett. (submitted photo)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

Relive the Big Band Era at the Port Gardner Music Society’s final concert of the season in Everett.

2024 Honda Ridgeline TrailSport AWD (Honda)
2024 Honda Ridgeline TrailSport AWD

Honda cedes big boy pickup trucks to the likes of Ford, Dodge… Continue reading

Would you want to give something as elaborate as this a name as mundane as “bread box”? A French Provincial piece practically demands the French name panetiere.
A panetiere isn’t your modern bread box. It’s a treasure of French culture

This elaborately carved French antique may be old, but it’s still capable of keeping its leavened contents perfectly fresh.

(Judy Newton / Great Plant Picks)
Great Plant Pick: Mouse plant

What: Arisarum proboscideum, also known as mouse plant, is an herbaceous woodland… Continue reading

Bright green Japanese maple leaves are illuminated by spring sunlight. (Getty Images)
Confessions of a ‘plantophile’: I’m a bit of a junky for Japanese maples

In fact, my addiction to these glorious, all-season specimens seems to be contagious. Fortunately, there’s no known cure.

2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited (Hyundai)
2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited

The 2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited is a sporty, all-electric, all-wheel drive sedan that will quickly win your heart.

The 2024 Dodge Hornet R/T hybrid’s face has the twin red lines signifying the brand’s focus on performance. (Dodge)
2024 Hornet R/T is first electrified performance vehicle from Dodge

The all-new compact SUV travels 32 miles on pure electric power, and up to 360 miles in hybrid mode.

Don’t blow a bundle on glass supposedly made by the Henry William Stiegel

Why? Faked signatures, reused molds and imitated styles can make it unclear who actually made any given piece of glass.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.