You've got a contemporary home that many would die for. You've spent a great deal of time choosing the perfect furniture, window coverings, and décor items, and now all that's left to choose is the perfect contemporary chandelier.
Too often people make the mistake of thinking a chandelier has to be a traditional item. We think Crystal Chandelier, Tiffany, or even wrought iron. But the modern home doesn't want to take a step back in time. The modern home wants to add a contemporary chandelier that will make the right statement and part of that statement is at least a little bit of glamour and glitz!
There is no better way to make a bold statement while illuminating a room. In the past few years we've seen the trend of recessed minimalistic lighting begin to disappear with bold open view lighting becoming the popular choice. And you can see why!
The great think about contemporary chandeliers is there are no rules. Any material goes, any styles goes, any size goes, and any maker goes. So whether you want to spend a few thousand and buy a Giogali or Murano chandelier or you want to spend under a hundred and buy a chandelier from Ikea. All are a fashion savy choices!
Your chandelier should help set the mood for your room. Relaxing, romantic, sophisticated, cold, or inviting. What do you want your room to say? And of course it can also serve as a terrific focal point for the room.
There are a wide selection of contemporary choices from sleek and modern to casual and rustic to relaxed to traditional contemporary, to Arts and Crafts modern. You can choose to compliment the furnishings in your room or contrast them.
Chandeliers that have down light provide better task lighting while chandeliers that provide up light, lamp shades, or diffusers provide better ambient light. You'll need to decide what kind of light you need in the area you will be placing your chandelier.
The right size chandelier will depend on the size of the room you are going to be placing it in. A good rule of thumb is that the chandeliers diameter in inches should equal the room diameter in feet. So if your room diameter is 30 feet then your chandelier diameter would be 30 inches.
Of course the style also plays an important role in how large it can be. A graceful, slender chandelier will take up less space visually even though it may be the same size as a bolder ornate chandelier.
A chandelier that has many arms and measures 24" to 36" looks great in a standard size room but if you have a room that's 10 feet or less you should stay to a chandelier that's under 24".
If you are placing a chandelier over a dining room table it should be 12" less than the width of the table so as to get the feeling of being overcrowded. The chandelier should hang around 30" from the top of the table. This lets you be able to see your guests across the table without interfering visually.
Chandelier sockets can use a maximum of a 60 watt bulb. So you'll need to figure out how much light you actually need in the room. Smaller rooms usually do well with 5 to 10 larger rooms while bigger rooms often need 10 or more. Dimmers are also a great way to control the lightening.
There are so many different chandeliers to choose from that a quick search online will reveal plenty of choices. There are some terrific websites offering a wide variety of stock. But here are some favorites from a range of prices.
Ikea offers the Trunna lighting chain that used LEDS. It's a steel frame with a really quirky design and it looks great in a small spaces. Best of all it's cheap running around $25.00.
Artecnica wond the Best Product Design award at the New York Gift Fair for their Garland Light. This 1.6 meter garland of flowers wraps around a conventional light bulb and it's a work of art. In fact so much that its featured in the New York Museum of Modern Art. It runs around $125.
Studio Italia is a contemporary chandelier that has 6 arms and it's available in white, black, red, and clear. It runs around $1500 and it's quite the show piece.
The Special Lights collection includes some dramatic chandeliers like the Toorak with its 20 satin glass shades and arms that extend. It sells for around $1900.
Stuido Italia has added the Giogali chandelier to their collection with the contemporary consumer in mind. This has very unique styling with a chrome frame and wrought crystal links that hang off it. It's available in a variety of different styles and starts around $2500.
And lastly De De Ce has introduced the hand made Come Rain Come Shine chandelier from a Brazilian village. It unique body consists of metal rods that are connected and bound with ribbon then covered with crochet work which then has hand made fabric flowers attached. It takes around 3 months for your custom chandelier to arrive and they sell for around $5000. This really is a one of a kind!
Your contemporary room is going to look fabulous with a contemporary chandelier to add the finishing touches. So are you ready to go shopping?
