There are many types of lighting that go into making a house look more like a home. You can add outdoor lighting to spotlight a landscaping fixture or to cast light on the side of your home. You can add lighting under the cupboards in your kitchen that shine down onto your counter tops for a beautiful effect as well. One of the most popular ways, though, that people dress up their houses and help make them look more like homes is by adding chandeliers.
Chandeliers most often belong in only two places within a home. The first place a chandelier belongs is in the entry way or foyer. This is especially true if you have vaulted ceilings at your entry way. Then the second place to hang a chandelier is in the dining area above the dining table. Sometimes that means there will be a third location with a chandelier if you have both a formal and an informal dining area.
There are multiple types of chandeliers that you can choose from, and you just need to decide what style is best for you and your personal taste and situation.
We will start by discussing chandeliers with lights that point up towards the ceiling. These types of chandeliers belong in locations like entry ways and foyers. This is because entry ways and foyers call for soft, indirect light which can be achieved by hanging a chandelier with upward facing lights which bounce their light off the ceiling and wall.
Next are chandeliers with downward facing light. These types of fixtures work best in places that require more direct light, such as dining areas. Indirect light does not work as well for these types of areas because you need to be able to see the details of your food as you eat and engage in other social activities in the dining area.
There are also single and multi-tier chandeliers that you can choose from. More often than not you see multi-tier fixtures being used in entry ways and foyers, while single-tier chandeliers are usually being used in both formal and informal dining rooms. The reason for this is that usually entry way chandeliers are much further away from people as they enter and walk through your home, so the fixtures can be larger and can act as more of a decoration. Dining chandeliers, on the other hand, are very close to the occupants of your home, so you do not want something too large and ornamental hanging right next to their faces.
These rules are common guidelines, but are in no way necessary to follow. People interchange these guidelines often and end up with beautiful, stylish looking homes. So take this advice, but use your own judgement for what will look best in your home.