Chandeliers, Sized and Matched From the Card

Chandeliers are specified by designers for the way they look, and then they are bought by someone who has to worry about the weight, the box, the dimmer, the lead time and the freight. I sit between those two people. The lines below are all SESCO lines, from modern integrated LED to Venetian glass, and any of them can be priced as an alternate to a fixture specified from a line I do not represent, with the differences called out.

I cover Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach, and I quote residential, hospitality and multifamily. The sizing rules are the same in a dining room and a hotel lobby; only the scale changes.

Sizing

Over a table, size to the table: one half to two thirds of the width for a round or square fixture, one half to two thirds of the length for a linear one. In an open room with no table under it, add the room length and width in feet and read the sum in inches for a diameter. In a two-story space add height: about a foot of fixture height for each foot of ceiling above eight. Hang the bottom 30 to 36 inches above a table, at least 7 feet above an open floor, and no lower than the second-floor line in a double-height space.

Weight, the box and the lift

The National Electrical Code allows a standard outlet box to support a fixture up to 50 pounds; anything heavier needs a box listed for the weight or independent support to the structure. Most large glass and crystal fixtures are over that line, and the weight on the cut sheet is the fixture alone, without the chain and canopy. On any fixture hung above about 12 feet, plan the access at the drawing stage: a motorized lift, a hook for a lift platform or a chain length that can be reached from a landing. A chandelier that cannot be cleaned or relamped is a chandelier that gets replaced.

Dimming and lamps

Every chandelier should dim, and the fixture has to be built for it. Integrated LED chandeliers carry a driver that has to match the dimmer, usually phase or 0-10V, and a mismatch means flicker or a dead low end. Socketed chandeliers need dimmable LED lamps the fixture is listed with, and the lamp shape and finish matter as much as the fixture when the source is exposed. Warm color belongs on a chandelier: 2700K, and dim-to-warm where the line offers it. In new residential construction the Florida energy code expects a high-efficacy source, which rules out the incandescent candelabra lamp that many traditional fixtures were drawn for. I check each fixture on the schedule for its dimming method before pricing.

The lines

Vonn is the first place I look for a modern integrated LED chandelier, ring or cascade, and the most common answer to a contemporary spec from a line I do not carry. L'Originale and Braga are Italian glass and classic chandeliers for traditional rooms. Pikart builds custom Italian pieces to the drawing when a lobby or a two-story foyer needs scale. Panzeri and Lumen Center Italia are the design-led Italian options, with Krila Design alongside them. Mullan is hand-finished brass and copper from Ireland. Tala pairs its decorative LED lamps with chandeliers built for them. St. Louis Antique Lighting is period reproduction and restoration. Bock, Better Designed Lighting and Evergreen build custom and hospitality decorative to a drawing when nothing in a catalog fits.

Lead time and freight

Imported decorative fixtures run 10 to 16 weeks in normal conditions and longer for custom finishes, and a large glass fixture ships crated and insured. When a spec has a lead time the schedule cannot absorb, I carry alternates at more than one price point and lead time, and I say which is which. Send the schedule and the required-on-site date and I will tell you what can make it.

What decides the spec