| Decorating a Chandelier |
From "Ask DIY"
episode ADI-111 |
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Q: I'm not crazy about my chandelier but can't really afford to change it. Got any bright ideas for sprucing it up?
A: (Nancy Golden, Ask DIY Decorating expert) Give these ideas a try: - Choose fun and decorative lampshades. Any of the discount home stores have a great assortment. Consider beading, satin, paper, or even a black-and-white-checkered shade made of bone (figure A), which creates a primitive look.
- If you don't want to race out and buy decorator shades, embellish an inexpensive white shade that you already have. One idea: hot-glue some rickrack or other trim around the edges of the shade (figure B). Fringe or tassels are other possibilities.
- Use up some of that broken or mismatched costume jewelry by clipping or gluing it onto a plain shade (figure C). If you don't have any on hand, search garage sales and thrift stores.
- Consider dangling some rock crystals from the bottom of any shade to reflect light. You can cut them from old chandeliers, or buy an inexpensive version at a craft store
- For the holidays, drape inexpensive beaded garlands over the arms of your chandelier. It's fun and festive -- and you can remove them easily when the holiday is over.
- Consider patterned light bulbs, particularly for chandeliers without shades or with glass globes. Patterned bulbs reflect and refract the light differently than their plain counterparts and are beautiful even with the lights out.
- Give a glass-globe chandelier a romantic, ethereal look with costume jewelry. Wrap strings of beads around the neck of the chandelier. Then drape some faux pearls from arm to arm of the chandelier, attaching the strands with florist's wire. You could do the same with crystal beading. This is a great look for a chandelier in the master bedroom. If you like, add some silk flowers, using some florist's wire to attach them, too.
- Replace the plain white candle sleeves that come with some chandeliers with gold ones.
- For the holidays, add French wire ribbon to a chandelier, anywhere you want.
- Make a fabric "sleeve" to hide the cord and chain of the chandelier. Just put right sides together on a length of material 5 inches wide and sew a long tube, leaving both ends open. Turn it right side out and "scrunch" it over the chandelier cord, preferably before you ever hang the chandelier.
Safety alert: If you must take down the chandelier to install the fabric sleeve, abide by all the safety rules for working with electricity. More questions for Nancy:
Q: How far down from the ceiling should my light fixture hang? My wife and I have a big difference of opinion on this one.
A: When you're hanging a fixture over a table, you want to hang it 6 feet off the floor. If you're hanging it over a higher surface, like an island in the kitchen, hang it between 30 and 36 inches above the surface.
Q: I'm never sure what wattage to use in my dining-room chandelier. Can you help?
A: Look at the fixture itself. It will specify a recommended wattage. Whatever you do, don't go higher than that! Ideally, use 60-watt bulbs if you can and then put them on a dimmer so you can create mood and atmosphere.
Q: I can't stand the color I picked out for my bedroom walls. It looks different from the color chip I picked out in the store. What happened?
A: Even designers have trouble with this! You can't really figure out what paint will look like from that little chip. So buy a quart of the color you want and paint a large patch on your wall. Then wait 24 hours, so you can see the room in all different lights. That way you'll know exactly the decision to make on that color. Web site resources for Decorating a Chandelier: Dress Up a Chandelier from HGTV.com Hanging Votive Chandelier from HGTV.com Fabric-Covered Chandelier from HGTV.com Apple Chandelier from Southern Living.com Chandelier Decoration from Craft Yarn Council.com Recycle a Chandelier and Use Designs to Make It Your Own from the Detroit News.com Liven Up Your Chandelier from Decorating-Your Home.com
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