Think You Don’t Have Room for a Chandelier?
Check out these clever ways to incorporate a statement chandelier into your home, however petite its dimensions
Chandeliers often hang in grand city townhouses and huge country estates, but they also translate to more modest abodes. In fact, if you can’t imagine you’d ever have space for one, think again.
Choosing the right room and position is key, as is finding the perfect design. Although antique chandeliers are typically large and dripping with crystal, contemporary takes on this classic can be neater and niftier, fitting into even small spaces without compromising on the glamour.
Choosing the right room and position is key, as is finding the perfect design. Although antique chandeliers are typically large and dripping with crystal, contemporary takes on this classic can be neater and niftier, fitting into even small spaces without compromising on the glamour.
Bypass the ceiling. Look for other locations for a chandelier besides the ceiling. This creates the opportunity to squeeze a chandelier into a corner, recess or bay. This one hangs from a window frame.
Bedazzle a corner. A right-size chandelier brings sparkle and an ambient glow to a bathroom without much ceiling to spare.
Read more about this home
Read more about this home
A vintage chandelier from the Round Top Antiques Fair in Texas helps take the chore out of doing the laundry in this utility room.
Farmhouse sink: Kohler; paint: Albemarle Blue, Benjamin Moore
Read more about this colorful house
Farmhouse sink: Kohler; paint: Albemarle Blue, Benjamin Moore
Read more about this colorful house
Embrace low ceilings. Chandeliers and high ceilings can be natural bedfellows, but a low ceiling simply means you need to choose a light that’s in proportion. Here, for example, the glass part of this design is broader than it is deep, and the hanging chains could be shortened if required.
If positioning a ceiling light above the end of a bed, ensure that you maintain enough headroom to sit there while you get dressed.
If positioning a ceiling light above the end of a bed, ensure that you maintain enough headroom to sit there while you get dressed.
A drama over the stairs. The double-height space above stairs is often an ideal spot for a chandelier, but there’s no need for a lofty ceiling on the upper floor. This home shows how hanging a huge chandelier low turns it into a dramatic statement piece, viewed up close on the upper floor and admired from below on the ground floor.
Chandelier: Curry & Co.
Chandelier: Curry & Co.
Illuminate a table. If you have space for a dining table, whatever its size, then you have space for an equally proportioned chandelier, which can be hung above. The soft light a chandelier creates is perfect for warmly zoning the dining area.
Rig up flexibility. Maybe space constraints mean a chandelier would fit technically, but would feel obtrusive during day-to-day life. In this case, choose a height-adjustable cord so that the chandelier can be lowered when illuminated, but be winched up and out of the way when not in use. This can free space in a small room and prevent the piece from dominating.
Chandelier: Rocky Mountain Antler Co.
Chandelier: Rocky Mountain Antler Co.
Move it outside. Find an outdoor chandelier — working or not — and suspend it in your garden or under a pergola to bring indoor style to your outside space.
Shrink to fit. Introduce all the glamour of a twinkling chandelier — but in a scaled-down format. Find a miniature version that feels true to bigger designs in its shape and materials, but is a fraction of the size.
Have fun. Alternatively, put it in a wholly unexpected place: the garage, the shed, even the henhouse!
More: Ready to Install a Chandelier? Here’s How to Get It Done
More: Ready to Install a Chandelier? Here’s How to Get It Done