Who This Is For: Anyone choosing a candle style chandelier for a dining room, hall or living room who wants the right style, size and height.
Key Takeaways
- Farmhouse: Iron and Brass With Honest Lines
- Classic: Pearls, Crystal and Drape
- Modern: A Line of Candles, Reduced
- Size and Hanging Height
- Finish and Mixed Metals
- Bulbs and Dimming
- Care and Maintenance
- A Quick Checklist
- Is It Right for Your Space?
Choose the style of candle chandelier by the architecture of the room, then choose the size by the table or the floor beneath it. A black iron ring suits beams and plaster. Pearls and crystal suit panelling and mouldings. Slim gold lines on acrylic suit a clean modern room.
The candle chandelier is the oldest form in lighting, and it has never gone away. It works because it does not pretend to be anything else. Each arm holds a small flame shaped bulb, and together they give a warm, many sided light that feels like a gathering.
Below, we group our favourites by the kind of home they suit, with the sizes and details you need to choose with confidence. Each is shown lit in a styled room, so you can picture it in yours.
Farmhouse: Iron and Brass With Honest Lines
Farmhouse rooms are about structure. Beams, timber tables and tall windows call for a fixture with a clear, graphic frame. Dark iron looks right against pale plaster, and slim brass arms add a lighter, warmer note.
The Iron Ring
The Farmstead is a black iron ring on slim spokes, with candle style E12 sockets. A one tier version comes in 12, 18 or 24 lights, at 26, 38.2 or 50 inches (66, 97 or 127 cm) across. For a taller room, choose a two tier version in 30 or 42 lights.
Downrods of 7.9 and 11.8 inches (20 and 30 cm) connect and adjust, and the fixture runs from a regular wall switch.
For a lighter touch, the Wren is made from brass, with slim curved arms and candle cups, in a gold or black finish. Choose 4, 6 or 8 lights, at 29.9, 37.8 or 41.7 inches (76, 96 or 106 cm) across. It stands 16.5 inches (42 cm) high, excluding the chain, and takes E14 candle style sockets.
Classic: Pearls, Crystal and Drape
Classic rooms have cornices, panelling and ceiling roses. They can carry something more ornamental, as long as the details are fine and the colours are soft.
Pearl Swags
The Francine is a wrought iron ring with pearl strands in layered swags, made from iron with pearl strands. Choose white or black. The 6 light is 24.4 inches (62 cm) across and 28.4 inches (72 cm) high, and the 8 light is 30.7 inches (78 cm) across and 28.7 inches (73 cm) high.
E14 bulbs are included, and a wall switch moves between warm, neutral and cool white.
The Juliette is more sculptural. Five candle arms rise around a centre one, with curved clear crystal and a teardrop. The frame is gold plated metal. It is 30.9 inches (78.5 cm) high and 28 inches (71 cm) wide, and the gold chain adjusts to 70.9 inches (180 cm). It takes E12 candle bulb sockets.
Modern: A Line of Candles, Reduced
A modern room can carry a candle chandelier, if it is stripped back. The best versions keep the idea of the flame and lose the ornament. Look for clear materials, slim arms and one metal.
Candles That Float
The Ottilie has six gold candles on clear acrylic arms, so the flames read as a floating ring. It is made from copper with a gold finish. It is 28 inches (71 cm) wide, 24.8 inches (63 cm) deep and 27.1 inches (69 cm) high, on a chain that adjusts to 70.9 inches (180 cm).
Bulbs are not included, and LED candles suit it well.
For something with more weight, the Corvina is solid brass with clear ribbed glass candle shades. The 6 light is 23.6 inches (60 cm) across, the 8 light 31.5 inches (80 cm) and the 10 light 37.4 inches (95 cm). Bulbs are not included, and it is a heavy fixture, so plan the ceiling fixing carefully.
Size and Hanging Height
Size is where candle chandeliers most often go wrong. Over a dining table, the fixture should be about 12 inches (30 cm) narrower than the table, and no wider than two thirds of its width. Hang the bottom 30 to 36 inches (76 to 91 cm) above the surface.
In an open room with no table, add the room length and width in feet, and read the total as inches for the diameter. A room of 12 by 14 feet (3.7 by 4.3 m) suits a chandelier of about 26 inches (66 cm). Hang it so the lowest point is at least 7 feet (2.1 m) from the floor.
Browse all our candle chandeliers, or the wider chandeliers collection for more shapes.
Hall, Stairs and Bedroom
A candle chandelier is not only for the dining room. In a hall or stairwell it should hang where it is seen from the door and from the landing, so choose a size that suits the height and not just the floor. In a bedroom, a smaller four or six light fixture hung over the foot of the bed or in the centre of the room feels romantic without feeling grand.
Finish and Mixed Metals
Match the finish to the hardware in the room. Black iron sits well with black window frames and dark taps. Gold and brass sit well with warm timber and cream paint. Pearl white lifts a dark room and softens a hard one.
You do not need to match everything. A black chandelier over a table with brass candlesticks looks intentional, as long as each metal appears at least twice. Keep to two finishes, and let the chandelier be the larger of the two.
Bulbs and Dimming
Check the socket on the product page first, since candle fixtures use E12 or E14 bases, and match the bulb to it. Choose LED candle bulbs in 2200K to 2700K, which give a soft, amber glow close to a real flame.
Always fit a dimmer, and choose bulbs marked as dimmable. A candle chandelier at full brightness looks harsh. At 30 percent it glows like a table of candles.
Care and Maintenance
Candle chandeliers have many small surfaces, so a little regular care goes a long way. Switch off and let the bulbs cool before you clean. Dust the arms and cups with a soft, dry cloth, and use a soft damp cloth on glass or crystal, then dry it straight away.
Twice a year, check the fixing and the chain, and make sure each bulb sits firmly in its socket. For a high ceiling, use a stable ladder and a second person. If a fixture is very large, have a professional do the work.
A Quick Checklist
- Match the style to the architecture: iron for beams, pearls for panelling, acrylic for clean lines.
- Choose the diameter by the table, not by the room.
- Hang the bottom 30 to 36 inches (76 to 91 cm) above the table.
- Match the bulb to the socket, and use a dimmer.
- Check the weight before you fix to the ceiling.
Remember that scale is relative to the room as much as the table. A tall hall with a staircase can carry a much larger fixture than a dining room of the same floor area, because the eye reads height as space. When in doubt, hold a cardboard disc at the planned diameter and drop height, and see how it feels from the doorway.
Is It Right for Your Space?
A candle chandelier suits any room that has a table, a staircase or a ceiling with some height. In a small room with a low ceiling, choose the smallest version or a semi flush fixture.
For help with size, sockets or dimming, write to us at info@norafurnish.com.
