How to Select the Perfect Vintage Chandelier For Your Home

There are numerous ways in which you can use vintage furniture pieces to change the look and feel of your home or put the finishing touch on a particular home design. However, during the course of furnishing your home, it’s all too easy to forget to take lighting into account.

Lighting can have a dramatic impact on how your furniture appears, and can completely change the aura and tone of a room depending on several key factors, including the amount of light present, whether it is natural or not, as well as the direction the light is coming from. By installing a beautiful vintage chandelier , you will have much more control over the quality of your lighting, giving you the ability to amplify or bring out the best aspects of any space.

So much attention is often paid to investing in certain pieces of furniture such as stylish chairs, tables, beds, and sofas that it’s easy to forget that your pieces aren’t going to look nearly as attractive as they did in the showroom if the proper lighting conditions aren’t present. What’s also important to note is that through the use of the right lighting, beautiful pieces can be made even better, bringing out their best qualities and creating a truly elegant atmosphere.

In this guide we will go over the various qualities that make vintage and antique-style chandeliers so appealing, as well as which styles are best suited for particular home styles. By taking the time to understand all of the benefits chandeliers bring into your home, and how they complement your furniture and other decor items, you can make the best decision possible as to the lighting in your home.

The Beautiful Qualities of Vintage Chandeliers

Vintage style chandeliers stand out among home lighting options and decor items in general for their striking beauty and practical applications. The various ways in which chandeliers throw and reflect light, as well as their unique and intricate designs make them valuable as both high-quality lighting fixtures as well as decorative elements.

One of the most sought after aspects of vintage chandeliers that make them especially attractive is their use of crystals, which automatically creates an air of elegance as they shimmer and glow, bouncing and reflecting the light afforded to them. This is a design element you really can’t find in other varieties of furniture and decor, giving chandeliers a special niche that only they can fulfill. If you are looking for a truly luxurious and effective means of lighting a particular space in your home, a high-quality chandelier is exactly what you need.

Another interesting aspect of antique chandeliers that make them so valuable is their highly stylized designs, that provide a certain quality of uniqueness to the space in which they occupy. In terms of furniture and home decor, chandeliers are among the most elaborate and unique pieces you will find, and that is especially true when it comes to antique-style items. The sheer variety and ingenuity that you will find in their designs easily infuse your home with a general air of customization and special attention to detail.

Chandelier Designs That Complement Any Home Style

It’s that unique element that makes chandeliers such effective lighting fixtures as well as powerful decorative pieces as well. There are a wide variety of different kinds of chandeliers, some of which are suited better in certain styles of home decor arrangements. Depending on the look you are trying to create, you should not only be aware of the design and history of the chandelier you have in mind, but also how it emits its light.

When you take lighting into consideration, you need to be aware of the natural light sources you are working with. Once you reach this point and understand how the light falls in your home at certain times of the day, you can better judge which kind of chandelier is best for you. Not all styles of vintage chandeliers disperse their light in the same way, though in general, they all provide even light that covers a majority of the space in a certain room, including harder to reach nooks that lamps and sconces may miss due to their positioning.

Globe Chandeliers

These chandeliers are often simplistic and elegant, utilizing crystals and geometry for a unique and regal appearance. Globe chandeliers often tend to be extremely versatile, fitting a wide range of different kinds of styles. Whether you are arranging a traditional or French country style home, or something a bit more boho or modern, one of these chandeliers would fit right in.

Teardrop Chandeliers

A cousin of the globe chandelier, these pieces are also quite versatile though they exude somewhat of a more whimsical aura. Teardrops look perfect together in clustered for an artful design element, or arranged in a row along a hall or over a stairwell. Their size and design makes it easy to incorporate them into a variety of different areas of your home.

Cage Chandeliers

A cage chandelier is just what it sounds like. In most cases it consists of a simple lighting fixture surrounded by an artistically designed metal or beaded cage or cradle. These chandeliers are perfect for setting a more serious or refined atmosphere, and work well in home office spaces, dens, or paired together in dining rooms and halls. Here at Eloquence, we carry beaded crystal cage chandeliers that have an elegant flair and look incredible in a variety of settings.

Wagon Wheel Chandeliers

Wheel chandeliers have been around for ages and have long been used as elegant additions to living rooms and other large home spaces. They are typically on the larger end of chandeliers and often feature a spoked wheel with a set number of individual lighting elements that are installed on the wheel itself.

Empire Chandeliers

These chandeliers provide a feeling of grandiosity to the space in which they occupy. Often consisting of two or three circular tiers and many strands of beaded crystals, they are the perfect addition for large dining spaces, halls, or expansive foyers.

Crystal Chandeliers

Many styles fall into this category, as crystal is a popular facet of vintage style chandeliers in general. Glass crystals shimmer and reflect the light created by the chandelier itself, creating a variety of interesting and stunning lighting effects depending on the design. Crystal chandeliers can dramatically enhance any space in your home by creating fiery lighting effects that seem to create the illusion of movement.

Statement Chandeliers

There are also quite a few incredible vintage chandeliers that defy easy classification. These unique or statement pieces offer the greatest amount of flexibility and artistic rein in terms of how you can utilize them throughout your home. Oftentimes statement chandeliers are richly decorated with rococo patterns and designs that are extremely intricate.

Identifying a High-Quality Chandelier

There are certain elements you want to look out for if you are searching for a beautiful vintage-style chandelier of your own to install in your home. While it’s not necessary to search specifically for a true antique, there are certain factors you want to consider depending on your specific needs.

Generally speaking, a finely crafted modern reproduction is going to offer a different quality of light than an antique chandelier. The color of the glass in most antiques also tends to differ due to age and the consistency of the material used. If you are more interested in your chandelier as an artistic statement, an antique piece may be right for you. Otherwise, vintage reproductions offer a great variety of style and improved lighting aspects that make them desirable as both decorative pieces as well as effective lighting options.

The intricacy of the design, glass color, and the material of the frame should all be considered when selecting your chandelier. These aspects are ultimately what will determine where it will look and function best.

When thinking about the lighting needs of a particular room in your house and how a chandelier could rectify the situation, there are a few elements that you should look into that will help make your decision. Vintage chandeliers share a handful of common elements that narrow down how they can be used, making the decision process simpler.

The primary aspects you want to look at are its size, crystal work, and the material used to construct the body. If you are having trouble deciding on the specific style of chandelier you want, breaking them down into these simple classifications may help. Ultimately what you are looking for is a chandelier that will feel appropriately sized in the space you are placing it in, and whether its composition will match that room’s decor.

For example, if the chandelier you have your eyes on has a large and elaborate iron frame that sports a rusted patina, it may look out of place in a modern setting or smaller area such as a hallway or foyer. Likewise, a small and ornate spherical chandelier dominated by glass crystals might not look all that impressive hanging above a large dining room table all by itself.

The size of your chandelier will also play a role in the light it is able to provide. While most high-quality chandeliers of the same size provide a somewhat similar amount of light, there are noticeable differences when you begin to play around with the size. The size is the most important element to get right in terms of the lighting factor for a particular room, but it’s also an aesthetic issue as well. A too-small chandelier in a large living room or open space will look puny and out of place, just as a larger model will appear overdone in most dens and bedrooms.

If you are specifically trying to achieve a rustic look in your home, a weathered chandelier would make a great addition. Take account of the material of the chandelier you are thinking of purchasing and how it will complement the material elements of the room you want to enhance. Country style homes are the perfect places for traditional wood and metal-bodied pieces, while traditional homes may benefit more from the use of crystal.

Finding the Right Chandelier For Your Home

Whether you are searching for a few small crystal chandeliers to improve the lighting of your foyer, or a grand chandelier to act as the eye-catching centerpiece of your living room, you will be able to find the chandelier for you right here at Eloquence. Not only do we have quite a few beautiful vintage pieces on hand that would look incredible as additions to your home, but we have a substantial line of high-quality reproductions that capture the spirit of the originals.

You can’t underestimate the importance of lighting when decorating and furnishing your home. The quality and overall aesthetic of a certain piece of furniture can be changed by something as simple as the way shadows fall on it throughout the day. If you took the time to find a gorgeous bookcase or sideboard, you don’t want it hiding in the shadows most of the day. Chandeliers help bring out the natural beauty of your home and offer aesthetic quality in their own right with their array of stunning designs.

Here at Eloquence, we make it easy to furnish your home with elegant vintage-style options that are meticulously designed to represent the essence of the pieces from which they are inspired, enabling you to infuse your home with luxury the way you want it. You will find that our selection of chandeliers will make beautifying your home that much easier, but if you have trouble finding exactly what you need, you can always reach out to us at 310-876-0661. We would love to help you select the chandelier that’s right for you as well as offer insight into the history and specifications of a particular piece.