Ever walk into someone’s bedroom and instantly think: “God, this feels expensive”? Nine times out of ten, it’s not the duvet or the wall colour – it’s the light fixture. Trust me.
I spent months stressing about bedding and wall colour for my teeny bedroom… only to realise my boob light was giving off that institutional vibe. I live in a house that is not enormous. My bedroom is maybe ten feet by twelve feet.
It’s cozy. When I moved in, there was one of those builder-basic ceiling fixtures.
You know the ones.
It’s basically a lightbulb sitting inside a giant frosted glass bowl. Anyway, the lighting made my whole room look blah. I was scrolling through those bedrooms-on-instagram-that-make-you-question-your-dirty-floorbedding situation and wondered how the heck people make their rooms look so dang…sleepy.
Enter my friend Emma. Girl has great taste. Like, walk-in-the-door-and-she’ll-tell-you-if-your-outfit-slaps great taste.
And she was disgusted by my light. Well, laughed at me, but you know what I mean. Within thirty seconds of entering my room, she’d whipped around and proclaimed: “You need a chandelier.” Still snorting with laughter over here.
Are you kidding me? Emma. In my Ikea bathroom.
But…but…I didn’t laugh when she showed me hers. Swapped out a boob light for a brassBeauty Modern Matt brass chandelier with goldMrs Greenberry linen in her spare bedroom and it wasONA Firenze 3 Light CrystalCeilight-x.com. no joke – toDieBuyNick antique chandelier with gold toned crystals day! Honestly.
It was life changing. First of all, DIY.Installation was not my forté. I attempted and failed ( miserably).
Lesson here: leave this to the professionals, even if they charge you for wine.You could literally tell a difference as soon as she flipped the switch. The bedroom went from feeling blah to fancy. Okay, fancy might be strong.
But it had glow. Those crystals reflected light onto the walls so nicely. It made the gold details on my vanity pop.
All of a sudden, my Target dresser didn’t look like a Target dresser anymore because the light brought focus to all the finishes in the room instead of letting them compete with each other. Before shopping, I wish someone had told me: scale is everything. Specifically: scale of the fixture to your room.
I did way too much research before my purchase and read “they say the diameter of your chandelier should be roughly equal to the width of the room, in feet”. Um, what? Like, those are party lights, people.
I’m not throwing dinner parties in my bedroom. Not true! As long as you’re sticking with bedside tables and floor lamps for lighting in your bedroom, you can totally go a little larger with your light fixture.
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In a bedroom, I love around 15-24 inches. Any larger and it feels bulky. Any smaller and it feels timid. “How high should a chandelier hang over a bed?” Um, spend way too long agonising over this one too.
Are my ceilings too low? Will I bang my head every time I make the bed? Bedroom chandeliers usually range from 66-72” from the ground.
Meaning they’re literally designed to not hit you when you’re lying down! Another thing I wish someone told me about before my purchase: Your bedroom needs a dimmer. Trust me!
Once I installed one of those (thank you, Dave, another wine bottle), I found myself spending all sorts of time in there just sitting and enjoying the soft glow. Totally makes spending time in there reading in bed way more relaxing. Before everyone gets too wild aboutHeight: let’s chat about installation.
Note: I hated installing mine.and telling me how to do renovations, I installed that chandelier by wire. Just kidding. My neighbour Dave installed it and then told me how to do renovations for the rest of my life.My friend Chris installed my ceiling fan at lowe’s “for parts”, so I felt very educated at that point.
But for real: my ceilings are standard eight feet, and I worried the chandelier would hang too low. But at 66-72 inches from the ground, most low-swing bedroom chandeliers are purrfecto. And speaking of installation: invest in someone who knows what they’re doing!
Or maybe this is just speaking to me, but DIY.Installation was KIND OF A NIGHTMARE for me. First off, do NOT try to assemble one of these bad boys yourself. Buy pre-assembled if you’re worried about it!
Second: do NOT attempt to install yourself unless you are very good at finish DIY projects yourself OR know someone who can help you! My partner is way more handy than me, but this wasn’t our forte either and after THREE hours of hanging from my kitchen chair trying to install this while also trying to unscrew wires with my teeth, ha! I texted Dave desperate for help.
Got the thing installed, but not without injuring my pride (had to forfeit another wine bottle nugatory tension”.Thirdly… As for style: go classic, friends. Mine is basic because I knew I would change things up in here eventually and didn’t want to worry about the light matching everything. And boy did I change things!
Swapped out bedding. Moved furniture. Painted an accent wall.
But my light still works! So until you know what your style is going to be, stick to classic shapes and lines with your light fixture.
You can alwaysModern Chandelier with White Ceramic Faux Globe finish things out with funky pins/chains/etc later!
Cleaning: holy smokes, they DO gather dust but mirrorballeasy to maintain. I couldn’t tell you how often I dust mine, butBobby Pin Pendants | MightyFinebut it’s easy because it’s just glass! I use a microfiber cloth to quickly wipe it down every few weeks.
The hardest part is remembering to turn the power off first. Had a slight mishap when reaching around the bulbs to clean one time… Price point: you do not need to spend thousands of dollars on this. Mine was hovers between $100-$200 and there are cheap, fake-crystal options out there, but I’d recommend springing for at least a mid-range price point so it feels substantial.
Full disclosure: mine was about $180, dimmer light switch included, AND a bottle of wine for Dave’s troubles. Also.please tell me there’s someone else’s name on every single item in my house right now. Will someoneSleepytime Chandelier swipe lefttilight change your life?
I sure hope so. Let me know if you go for it! !
