Chandeliers

When you think of lighting design, the definitive feature, the grande dame, the belle of the ball, has to be the Chandelier. There is no better statement piece, no more attention-grabbing feature. Hang one over your dining table to create a glittering conversation piece or in the hallway to greet you as you come in. In one fell swoop, you can elevate your bedroom into a boudoir by adding the right chandelier.

Crystal chandeliers are not just a centrepiece, they are an opulent call to the imagination. They allow you to make more impact with just one piece than you could make with a handful of petite, precious objects. They look especially good over a dining room table or in a spacious hall or entryway. You aren’t limited to clear crystal and it’s rainbow of refraction, you could also go for coloured or smoked glass.

It might be true that not many of us spend our evenings bathed in candlelight any more but that doesn’t mean that the timeless appeal of the candelabra chandelier has gone. They typically are many armed and sport lights that are either artificially lighted candles or stylised flame lights. All of the look but none of the danger of a real candelabra.

They come in a range of sizes, so you don’t need a ballroom to bring the style into your home. If you are looking for a simple room with a few accent pieces, then they look especially good in a pared-back, elegant dining room.

For those wanting a room that is straight out of the swinging sixties, with its space-age inspirations, a modern chandelier will be perfect. Sharp lines and polygon forms are a way to complement your interior tribute to the beginning of the technological age. A cascading array of glass orbs or a fixed descending arrangement or cylinders tesselating downwards is a great modern chandelier choice.

There are other lovely options in the modern category that add slightly more of a sense of ordered disorder. A sputnik chandelier should be your first port of call, these chandeliers are a three-dimensional version of a twinkling star drawing. They have lights mounted at the end of metal, or sometimes even wooden, spokes and they are a potent symbol of mid-century interior design. They blend seamlessly into a glamorous dressing room or a 1960s inspired lounge.

Modern options are particularly versatile because they are typically easy to clean, fit and are available in lots of different sizes.

Metal cage chandeliers are the result of an increasing contemporary appreciation of the underlying structure that contributes to design. An intricate cage allows a shiny filament style bulb to cast small, delicate, carefully placed shadows that give shape and character to your room. Whether you go for a cage chandelier that more closely resembles an actual cage or a less enclosing style, you will benefit from an undeniably trend-forward feature to bring your home up to the minute. Like many contemporary models of chandelier, these come in a good range of sizes and shapes to suit your space.

A bedroom chandelier is a perfect way to spoil yourself. Lie in bed and look up at the rainbows that prisms of glass cast across your wall or a gently shimmering effect from a chandelier made of tiny shards of silvery steel. There is no single item which could cast your bedroom in such a distinguished light.

Chandeliers are a beautiful, elegant statement piece which no level of spartan discipline should prevent you from installing. You have one space to make your very own and in your one life, you can choose to appoint it as a palace.