How do I Choose the Best Wrought Iron Candle Chandelier?

Many department stores and specialist lighting retailers — whether online, on the high street or in a shopping mall — sell some form of wrought iron candle chandelier. Choosing the best is a personal choice. It depends on factors such as your sense of style, the mood you wish to create, and the space with which you're working.

The appeal of a chandelier that does without electricity and returns to wax candles and living flame can be summed up with words such as intimacy, warmth and romance. For smaller homes, especially, an electric chandelier can be overpowering and even a little clinical, depending on the design. A candle chandelier can be both a focal point of a room and a way to have lighting in an area not specifically wired with a ceiling electrical box to accommodate an overhead lighting fixture.

There is a potential fire risk, so a candle chandelier isn't an ideal everyday light source, but it can bring a special atmosphere to dinners and festive occasions. If you're lucky enough to have a high-ceilinged atrium, a large chandelier with flames flickering from its arms will cheer visitors during winter gatherings. Many people who want to buy a candle chandelier, however, picture it hanging in their dining room.

When trying to choose the best wrought iron candle chandelier for your dining room, spend some time deciding how big of a chandelier the room can stand. Seating some of your friends and family at the table, make some rough measurements. You want to leave plenty of room between the crowns of their heads and the lower branches of the chandelier. Be similarly practical with other rooms. If your ceilings are low and everyone in your family is tall, it might be wise to rein in your ambitions.

Just as importantly, take pains to ensure that the new chandelier blends with the rest of the house. Consider your sense of style. If your house is full of heavy Victorian furniture and dark woods, then consider a chandelier in a black powdered finish, dripping with wrought iron swags. If your taste is primarily modern, then search for a sleek, uncluttered design owing little to the past. If your taste runs to marble and bling, then the best chandelier for you might be a lavish gilded one with Murano glass bulbs.

You should also consider the mood you want to create. If your heart is set on a romantic meal for two, then you want a chandelier that is pretty, delicate and not too imposing. If it's about festive cheer, then something more expansive might be called for. If you're fond of Halloween parties, heavy metal and horror movies, then look for a chandelier with a touch of Gothic attitude.

To find your perfect wrought iron candle chandelier, search the telephone book under Lighting Systems and Equipment for specialty retailers in your area, or take a stroll around your local department store. Before you go looking, stock up your cell phone with a few photographs of the room you're redecorating for visual reference. Alternatively, hunt online by typing “wrought iron candle chandelier” into your search engine. In particular, look for examples made in Murano or Florence, Italy, both traditional centers of chandelier-making.

A last trick to help you to choose the best wrought iron candle chandelier is to use photo-editing software to cut and paste an image onto a photograph of your ceiling. That gives you a better idea of just how a particular chandelier will look in the space. Afterwards, all that is left to do is to place your order, buy some scented candles and pencil a romantic dinner into your calendar.