Buying a chandelier on-line can be a daunting task, or for that matter purchasing one from a local retailer can also cause its share of stress. Regardless of your choice on purchasing locations, following the guidelines I am going to give in this series of articles should help you pick the perfect chandelier for your home or business. One of the problems with purchasing any home lighting is the overwhelming amount of choices and options that are available. You must decide on style, color, size, number of lights, weight, power consumption, spatial relationship with the room and furniture, just to name a few. Buying on-line has its advantages and disadvantages as you can well imagine, but having owned both types of stores it is my opinion that the on-line experience can be wonderful one. At the very least you won’t have to fight traffic, purchase fuel, bicker with a sales person, feel pressure to "buy now", or battle whatever weather conditions may exist. One of the more difficult problems to purchasing a chandelier on-line is getting the size and spatial relationship correct. Lets face it, looking at a 2 dimensional picture of a chandelier just can’t compare with seeing a 3 dimensional object, as it hangs in front of your face, but, there are some methods you can use for getting it correct, and actually these steps should be followed regardless if you are purchasing from a web based store or a brick and mortar store.

There are number of ways to tackle the size and spatial relationship problem, some being simple with very little work, and some more complex and somewhat time consuming. What method you choose will depend on the amount of time you are willing to dedicate, and just how perfect you believe it must be. If in your mind it has to be perfect then spend more time by using one of the more complex methods. This article will focus on (in my opinion) the simplest of all methods, which I have titled – "By the numbers".

By The Numbers

If you go to the local library and check-out some design books most will give you at least one way to calculate what the correct size of a chandelier should be. They will all vary somewhat but the results should be very similar. I have outlined the method that I usually use and find the simplest.

Step 1 – Find the dimensions of the room.

Get out a tape measure and measure your room. You will want the width and the length. If the room has nooks and crannies, or small awkward jogs don’t include them in the measurement, these areas will more than likely require some sort of accent lighting. Most chandeliers are designed to provide broad areas of light in larger spaces, so that is what you are trying to measure.

Step 2 – Find the dimensions of the light.

Find the dimensions of the light you are interested in (if you haven’t decided on one yet don’t worry, go to step 3). With most on-line stores this is pretty easy, there will be a specification sheet or paragraph showing the manufactures dimensions. You may have to sift through a few pages, but should find them. Sometimes there will be in a tab called "technical specifications". If you are going to a brick and mortar store you may have to take a tape measure with you, or ask to borrow one from the store clerk, or ask the clerk to look up the dimensions in the manufactures literature.

Step 3 – Do the math.

• After you have the measurements from steps 1 and 2 above divide the diameter of the light (in inches) into the longest length (in inches)of the room. You should come up with a number from 5 to 7. For example: you have a room that measures 11ft x 12ft and you are looking at a light that is 28in in diameter. 144in(12ft) ÷ 28 = 5.1 This light would be on the large end of the scale for this room but would probably work. A 24in diameter light would be perfect 144 ÷ 24 = 6. A 20 in diameter light would probably be on the small side but would probably work, 144 ÷ 20=7.2

• If you haven’t chosen a light yet. Use this widely accepted rule of thumb to help guide you to the correct size. For every 1 foot of room length the chandelier should measure 2 inches. For example: A 10 X 10 foyer would use a chandelier approximately 20 inches in diameter. 10ft x 2in = 20in

It is important to remember that these rules are very general, and as with most rules, there are always exceptions. The quantity and/or size of the furniture in the room can have an impact on the size requirements of the chandelier as well as the style of furniture. Even the wall color can play a part. If you have doubts about the effectiveness of this method wait for a week or two and read about the next method to be discussed "Modeling a Chandelier".