How High Above the Floor Should a Bedroom Chandelier Hang?
Who doesn’t love a beautiful chandelier? Sometimes called the crown jewel of lighting design, a chandelier captures the attention of anyone who walks into a room, conveying an immediate sense of luxury and sophistication. While chandeliers are perfect in foyers or over dining room tables, they are also appropriate for bedrooms.
The term chandelier describes any light fixture that hangs suspended with arms that branch out from the main body. While the word chandelier may call to mind ironwork and candles or beautiful crystals that catch and scatter light, you’ll quickly discover that these fixtures come in an incredible variety of styles to suit any aesthetic – whether it be elegant and opulent or modern and sleek. You can even consider a ring chandelier, which is simpler in design but still makes a stunning statement in your space.
How High Should a Chandelier in a Bedroom Hang?
The most basic rule when it comes to the height of a chandelier in your bedroom has to do with head clearance. You want anyone who comes into your room, even the tallest person, to be able to walk around comfortably without having to duck their head. This means implementing a 7-foot rule: the bottom of the chandelier should be at least 7 feet (84 inches) above the floor. When installing the light, step back and look at how it takes up space in the room; some people prefer to leave 8 feet of clearance above the floor, to give the room a more open and spacious feel.
With this as a starting point, you can factor in other considerations. For instance, if your bed sits very high off the ground, you might want to move the chandelier a little bit closer to the ceiling – just make sure that it doesn’t hang too close, or the chandelier can look out of place in the room.
If your bedroom has vaulted ceilings, then you will want to raise or lower the chandelier in order to leave at least 7 feet of clearance above the ground. On the other hand, if your bedroom has lower ceilings, you can select a short chandelier, which can be every bit as beautiful as a standard chandelier, yet is designed to hang closer to the ceiling in order not to crowd the space. Another option is to choose a chandelier that does not have a lot of visual weight: one with clean lines, thin arms, and even a transparent glass globe will feel like it takes up less visual space, and therefore look more appropriate.
What Width of Chandelier Is Best for a Bedroom?
Want a pro tip for choosing the right width for a chandelier in your bedroom? Here is a super easy formula to help:
- Measure the length of your bedroom with a measuring tape
- Next, measure its width
- Add the length of the room to the width of the room, in feet
- Change the sum to inches, and that is the right width for your chandelier.
So if your bedroom is 15 feet long and 10 feet wide, this adds up to 25 feet. Swap the number of feet for inches, and that gives you the ideal width for a chandelier (25 inches).
Other Bedroom Chandelier Hanging Tips
Once you’ve found your perfect chandelier and determined the right height to hang it from the ceiling, you will want to consider its placement in the room. This might mean simply installing it in the center of the room’s ceiling, or directly over your bed, to distribute light evenly throughout the space.
However, having one single ceiling light can leave dark corners in your bedroom. This can easily be overcome by adding other lighting to help with getting ready in the morning, setting the mood for intimacy, or shining focused light for a quiet evening with a book. To complete the lighting plan for your bedroom, consider a mix of wall sconces, table lamps, and even floor lamps.
Luxury and Comfort in Lighting
In your bedroom, a chandelier can add a sense of luxury and elegant comfort. Installed between 7 and 8 feet off the floor, a chandelier will become a focal point in the room without interfering with your ability to walk around in the space.
Be sure to choose bulbs with a warm and relaxing color (around 3,000 kelvins), and perhaps opt for fixtures with dimming capabilities, so you can adjust the brightness up and down based on the time of day or how much light you need to see.
Some designers even love to place more than one chandelier in a bedroom! By placing twin chandeliers on either side of your bed, over the nightstands, you can add a unique and balanced elegance to your bedroom.
Find the Perfect Chandelier for Your Bedroom
At Visual Comfort, we have a wide range of chandeliers that are perfect for any size of bedroom, as well as track lighting, wall sconces, and lamps to help you create a layered lighting scheme. Visit visualcomfort.com to learn more and start exploring.
FAQs
How many feet off the floor of my bedroom should a chandelier hang?
Leave at least 7 feet of clearance between the bedroom floor and the bottom of your fixture, so your tallest friends and family don’t hit their heads and so the room doesn’t look overwhelmed by the chandelier.
What are the easiest formulas for determining the right chandelier width and height for my bedroom?
Add the length of the room to the width of the room, in feet. Then choose a chandelier with a width that is the same number, in inches. When it comes to height of the chandelier, you typically want a ceiling fixture that is 3 inches long for every foot of height between your floor and your ceiling, making certain that you leave at least 7 feet of room underneath it for head clearance.