Posts Tagged ‘Chandeliers’
Buying a Schonbek chandelier is about more than just buying a pretty light. It’s about buying an elegant item for your home that can serve as a contemporary statement piece as well as an heirloom piece to be passed down to the younger generations in your family. Choosing the right type of crystal is the most important part of selecting the right Schonbek chandelier.
Schonbek offers many different types of crystals in their fixtures. Each one has unique features that embody the essence of a specific historical period in crystal construction. There are four key types of Schonbek crystal that are important to consider when choosing a chandelier.
- Swarovski Strass. Many consider Swarovski Strass crystal to be the best quality in the world. It is a flaw-free type of clear crystal that is manufactured in the Austrian Alps. Swarovski Strass crystal contains over 30% of lead content, which means that it’s a type of crystal that truly sparkles. It is machine-cut with absolute precision and coated with an invisible coating that makes it easy to clean so that you can retain that amazing sparkle.
- Swarovski Spectra. This is another option that gives you the brilliance and high quality of the Swarovski name. Schonbek chandeliers featuring Swarovski Spectra crystal sparkle brilliantly in the light. However, they are slightly more affordable than some of the other Schonbek options, which makes them particularly appealing to many buyers.
- Heritage Hand-cut. This type of crystal really shows off the skill of Schonbek. It’s a high-quality hand-cut crystal that was once only used in high-quality optical equipment Schonbek recognized that the amazing refractive quality of this crystal would be excellent for chandeliers.
If you own a crystal chandelier, you might love the classical touch of beauty it brings to the room. You might also know that its beauty can fade as its sparkle becomes dulled by layers of dust and grime. Cleaning it might not sound like the easiest chore on the list, but depending on how dirty it is, it doesn’t have to be complicated. Here are three methods that will put back the shine with varying degrees of ease.
For all of these methods, you can either purchase a special chandelier cleaner, such as Sparkle Plenty, from a lighting retailer; or you can make your own solution of one part isopropyl alcohol to three parts distilled water.
Safety first – before starting, turn off the chandelier and give the bulbs plenty of time to cool down.
White Glove Method – This method can be a little tedious, but it doesn’t require taking the chandelier apart, and it creates very little mess. Put on a pair of white cotton gloves. Dampen one glove with your chosen cleaning solution, and keep the other dry. Working one crystal at a time, rub each one with the damp glove until it is clean, and then repeat with the dry glove to dry and prevent streaking.
Drip Dry Method – This is probably the easiest and quickest method, but also the messiest. First, cover the area underneath the chandelier with a drop cloth, some newspaper or an old sheet. Place a plastic bag over each light fixture and secure it with a rubber band to prevent any liquid getting into the sockets. With a spray bottle of solution, spray the chandelier from different angles, making sure to cover each crystal. Blot up any liquid that settles on any relatively flat surfaces, let dry overnight, remove the plastic bags, and you’re done!
Removal Method – This is the most involved method, but it is also the most thorough, and may be necessary if it’s been a long time since the chandelier’s last cleaning. The good news is, you only need to do this once to get it really clean. After that you can use one of the above methods for regular maintenance.
It’s a good idea to take a picture of the chandelier before you begin, so you’ll remember how to put it back together. Another good idea is to work on a section at a time, using the remaining sections as a guide to rehanging the crystals.
Line both sides of the kitchen sink with soft towels (if your sink only has one basin, you’ll need a dish pan or large bowl). Fill the first basin with water and gentle dish soap. In the second, place the cleaning solution mentioned above. Carefully remove the crystals and wash them in the soap and water solution. While they soak, dust the chandelier’s hardware and clean it with cleaning solution.
Once the crystals are free of spots, rinse off the soap and dip them in the second solution to bring out the sparkle. Wipe them dry with a soft, clean cloth, and place them on a soft surface until you are ready to return them to the chandelier. Once both the crystals and the hardware are dry, re-hang the crystals, referring to either the photo you took at the beginning or the sections you left untouched to make sure they’re hung correctly. When you’re done, turn on the lights and admire your chandelier now that it’s returned to its former glory!
Chandeliers aren’t just for grand foyers and formal dining rooms any more. In contemporary homes, this popular form of decorative lighting also shows up in bathrooms, eating nooks, hallways and bedrooms, in sizes and styles ranging from the traditional grandiose crystal model to the sleek and modern pendant lamp, with enough options in between to leave even the Phantom of the Opera scratching his head over which one is right for the job.
To help narrow down your choices, you should focus first on selecting the right size. This is arguably the most important factor to consider; too large of a chandelier can make a space look gaudy and overwhelmed, whereas one that is too small can make the room look unbalanced, not to mention fall short of providing adequate light. Fortunately, size is probably also the easiest factor to determine. All you have to do is follow one of these simple formulas:
- In kitchens and dining areas, simply measure the width of your table and subtract 12 inches to determine your chandelier’s diameter. As for its height, it should be short enough (or tall enough, as the case may be) to hang 30 to 36 inches above the table (for ceilings higher than nine feet, add three inches for every foot).
- If it won’t be centered over a dining table, then just measure the length and width of the room, and add the dimensions together to determine the number, in inches, for the diameter of your chandelier. So for an 11×12 foot space, your chandelier should be 23 inches in diameter. It should also hang at least seven feet above the floor.
- Another method is to only measure the width of the room and multiply by two inches for every foot. In this case, a room with a width of twelve feet would require a 24-inch diameter chandelier.
As you can see, it’s not an exact science. These are only guidelines, and you can add or subtract a couple of inches either way. Other factors, such as the style that looks best with your décor and the amount of lighting you want the chandelier to provide, will help in determining whether to go with the smaller or larger end of the size spectrum. But if you follow these rules of thumb, you’ll be well on your way to choosing the chandelier that’s just right for your space.
Nothing in the home-decoration vocabulary signals elegance as much as the word “chandelier.” Even those extolling the clean lines of Mission furniture and declaring “drapes” a pretentious word for curtains cannot find a better word to describe the pendulous sparkle of this lighting fixture. A chandelier, especially crystal, firmly asserts its alluring character and quietly demands elegance in all elements of its surroundings.
Choosing a crystal chandelier is not strictly the province of the wealthy. Although prices can run into the thousands, handsome and charming chandeliers are available at a wide range of affordable prices.
Because the sparkle and shine of the fixture is affected by the quality of light-catching crystals, professionals often say that choosing a chandelier resembles choosing a diamond. Some of the C’s of diamond-selection apply to a crystal chandelier: clarity, cut, caret-weight (crystal-size and number) and color, adding up to the biggest C, cost.
There are also chandelier-specific C’s to keep in mind:
- Consistency: when the chandelier is lit, do you like the sparkle? And unlit?
- Circumference and height: chandeliers occupy a lot of space, both physically and visually. Too small, and the sparkle seems skimpy. Too large, and guests squint in the glare.
- Cumulative weight: large chandeliers can weigh up to 50 lb. Weight, more than any other factor, determines where you can hang the chandelier. Check on “hanging weight.”
- “Congruence” is shorthand for “how well does this distinctive lighting fixture fit into its surroundings?” This does not mean that a chandelier reminiscent of Versailles demands Louis-XVI furniture. (Friends inheriting a small crystal family treasure glazed the walls of their guest bathroom dark red, added a tiny polished mahogany dresser, bought champagne-colored towels, and quit right there.)
How, then, do you address the chandelier C’s successfully? Here are some ways to make an informed and happy decision about a crystal chandelier.
Cut, clarity, and cost all relate to the quality of crystals used. Fine chandeliers are composed of fine crystals:
- Strass: Manufactured and machine-polished by Swarovski in Austria. Crystal of the finest quality.
- Swarovski: Also used in jewelry and other ornamentation. Machine-cut for brilliance.
- Wood Polished: Hand-cut and polished. Finished with a wooden polishing wheel and marble dust. Craftsmen’s crystal.
- Venetian: Molded, not cut. Lower brilliance offset by a distinctive glow.
- Murano: Also Italian, hand-blown. Sometimes colored and fancifully-shaped.
Other types of crystals are also used. Some fixtures contain a mixture of kinds; some fixtures can be ordered in the kind of crystal you like best.
Circumference and height considerations make one wish that floor-samples could be taken home for a day. Your lighting professional can provide height- and circumference-guidelines for dining-room or foyer fixtures, but you will need to make the final decision about what is right for your home.
Congruence is also the area in which you make the final decisions. If the chandelier is part of an overall room redecoration, remember that a crystal chandelier always tends to dominate and define its surroundings. It makes sense, therefore, to choose the chandelier very early in the redecorating process. Knowing the fixture you want lets you think about paint, wall-, floor- and window-coverings and furniture in terms of light-reflection and texture as well as color. The resulting room will have a coherence lacking if the chandelier is chosen to “go with” the other elements.
Add a couple of little c’s and you’re done:
- control (a dimmer-switch varies your lighting-effects)
- cleaning (new products make maintaining sparkle and shine easy)
There’s nothing that says “elegance” quite like a crystal chandelier, call us today for expert advice on the perfect chandelier for your home.
