Lamp Shades For Chandeliers

A chandelier, a lamp with more than one light bulb, may hang from the ceiling or may stand on a table.

Traditionally, the chandelier held candles, ‘chandelles’ in French, with no shades. Once electricity replaced candles, chandeliers were made to hold light bulbs, and these could have shades over them.

Lamp shades for chandeliers come in sets and tend to be smaller than stand alone lamp shades. A chandelier can have anywhere from 2 to dozens of lamps, but most come in 4 or 6 lamp sets.

Over a dining room table is where you most often find chandeliers, and some can be quite large. If your chandelier has six lights, you need six lamp shades. These most often will be matching sets, but you could choose to have, for example three pairs of lamp shades of three different colors and combine them. Lamp shades are most often made of fabric or paper, but the shades may also be beaded or otherwise decorated. They come in all the colors of the rainbow and in any fabric pattern you desire. You can match your chandelier lamp shades to your wall paper, to your curtains, to your tablecloth, or to your bedding, for example.

The color and thickness of lamp shades for chandeliers will determine how brightly the light shines through them and also will set the color tone for the room when the chandelier is lit. If the color of the lamp shades is dark, the room will look smaller. If a bright cheerful color is chosen, it will light up your room much like when the sun shines into it. When you select your chandelier shades, you may also find some with pendants or beads dangling from the bottom edge. The fabric or paper stretched over the metal or wooden frame may be single fold or gathered and there may be trims at the seams or covering the frame wires. You can combine theses features with the rest of the decoration of the room in which you hang the chandelier, for example matching the trim to the ties or tassels you may have on your curtains.

A chandelier should always be attached very carefully to the ceiling light cable, with a second support, usually made of chain or sturdy chord. You should use caution when cleaning or making changes to your chandelier, to avoid accidental falls. As with all lights, always turn the light switch to off before touching the chandelier or the bulbs. It is common that one or two of the lamps of a chandelier burn out first. Some people try to turn the bulb to see if it will light, assuming that there may be an incomplete contact at the base. You should not do this while the chandelier is lit.

One of the most visible features of any room is its light fixture, particularly if it is hanging right in the middle of the room, so your chandelier can naturally be the centerpiece of that room’s decoration theme.