How to Size Chandeliers for your room?

There is a broad range of chandeliers ranging in scale, finish and design, choosing the best match is a tough job. In this article, we're going to dive deep into how to select the right size chandelier that adds a great ambience and style to your home.

Anything too large can end up overpowering your room and giving it a cluttered look. You want to reach for a light that is in command, but you can keep out of the way when you need it. It looks gorgeous in the daytime and at night. It makes your living room look bigger, but it doesn't get lost in the ceiling. 

This is a really simple guide. Start calculating the scale of your space in feet. Like, width + length. If you have a medium-to-large living room of 20ft by 12ft, the estimated right size of your chandelier should be about 32 inches. This is the length + the width added in the legs, and the same amount taken in the inches. We’ve got a handy tip for you. After measuring the size of your chandelier, you can compare it to size charts on the chandelier you’ve been eyeing on Ankur’s website! 

Choosing the right size chandelier is not a simple job, as there are so many variables and sometimes we don't even know where to start. What's the best size for a chandelier? A small chandelier can easily be lost if it is a large space and cannot provide a strong design feature, whereas a large chandelier can be too distracting in a small space. The right chandelier is proportional to the height and width of the room as well as the furniture size in the room.

Here are a few general rules that apply to most of the spaces:

1. How to calculate the diameter of the chandelier

Measure the length and width of the space, add them up, and that will be the estimated diameter of the chandelier in inches.

For example, 16 feet (Room Length) + 8 feet (Room Width) = 24 feet; the chandelier should be around 24 inches in diameter.

2. How to assess the height of the chandelier

Measure the room’s floor to the ceiling length in feet, multiple that by 2.5. That would be the estimated height of the chandelier in inches. This rule applies specifically to the living room and the dining room, although it does not generally apply to spaces such as the foyer and the entrance.

For example 11 feet (room height), 11*2.5 = 27.5 feet (room height). The chandelier should be around 27.5 inches in height.

3. How to decide how high the chandelier should be hung?

If you are hanging a chandelier on an open floor, the bottom of the chandelier should be at least 7 feet away from the floor. If you are hanging a chandelier over a dining table, the bottom of the chandelier should be 30 to 36 inches away from the tabletop.

Now that we are familiar with basic guidelines around sizing a chandelier for a room. Let’s take a look at some of the other rules that may apply to different types of rooms.

Dining Room

1. If you are hanging a chandelier over your dining table, you can use the dining table itself to assess the chandelier‘s size. It is usually recommended that the width or diameter of the chandelier be between 1/2 and 2/3 of the width of the dining table.

For example, let's assume you have a dining table with a width of 32 inches and a length of 66 inches.

2. If you want a round chandelier, it should be between 16 (32 x 1/2) and 21 (32 x 2/3) inches in diameter.

3. If you want a rectangular chandelier, the width should be between 16 and 21 inches and the length should be between 33 and 44 inches (same 1/2 to 2/3 of the length of the dining table).

Ankur’s Retro Black Cage 5LP Chandelier is a great addition to dining rooms to make mealtimes more classy and luxurious!

Two-story entryway with a staircase

Besides the general rule that the bottom of the chandelier should be at least 7 and a half feet away from the floor. What you also need to remember for two floors is how it looks from the second floor. In general, stair chandeliers would be a good space option.

The general rule is the use of the second floor as a reference point. Hang the chandelier slightly lower than or at the top of the stairs. This way, when you're at the top of the stairs, the top of the chandelier would be at your eye level.

Another way to approach this, as many interior designers advocate for independent placement, is to simply make the chandelier a focal point or to position the chandelier on another architectural element. For example, if there is a wide transparent window above the entrance, it should be centred in the window for the best visual result from the outside.

We suggest our one-of-a-kind Solar System Chandelier to add life to empty stairwells!

Long Hallway

The height of the chandelier for the corridors should be determined by the width of the corridor. Multiple the width of the hallway in feet by 2.5 would be the diameter of the chandelier in inches.

For example, the width of the hallway is 8 feet. The diameter of the chandelier should be around 20 (8 x 2.5) inches. If you want to decorate your long hallways with a chandelier. We at Ankur, recommend that you have them

1. Centred in the middle of the hallway

2. Spaced between 8 and 10 feet apart 

3. At least 7 and a half feet from the floor to the bottom of the chandelier.

Choosing the correct size of the chandelier for a room can be a little difficult. If you get one that's too small, it's going to get lost; if you get one that's too big, it can completely overwhelm the room. We hope that our precise guide helped you in your home improvement journey. Browse through Ankur Lighting’s unique range of chandeliers to suit and match every home’s decor.