How to Choose an Alabaster Chandelier: Size, Drop and Room

To choose an alabaster chandelier, size it to the room or the table first, set the drop second, and pick the form, finish and colour temperature last. Add the room's length and width in feet for a comfortable diameter in inches; over a dining table, keep the piece to one half to two thirds of the table width. Hang it 75 to 90 cm above a table, or with at least 2.1 m of clearance where people walk. This guide to how to choose an alabaster chandelier works through each step with real sizes.

In brief

• Room rule: length plus width in feet gives a comfortable diameter in inches.
• Table rule: one half to two thirds of the table width, and never wider than the table minus 30 cm.
• Drop: bottom of the piece 75 to 90 cm above a dining table; at least 2.1 m (7 ft) above the floor in a walkway.
• Form: a ring sits quietly over a table or seating; radial discs give more presence; vertical compositions suit stairwells and double heights.
• Light: 2700K or warmer, dimmable. Teeshaa's 60 cm rings are ready to order; larger sizes are made to order, typically 3 to 4 weeks.

What size alabaster chandelier do I need?

For a room, add its length and width in feet and read the answer as inches of diameter: a 3.6 by 4.5 m living room (12 by 15 ft) suits a piece about 70 cm (27 in) across. For a dining table, use one half to two thirds of the table width, so a 1 m wide table takes a 50 to 65 cm piece.

Alabaster is visually soft, so it can run a little larger than a metal or crystal piece without feeling heavy. Ceiling height pulls the other way: in a 2.7 m room a wide, shallow ring reads better than a tall composition. The table maps common Indian rooms and tables to Teeshaa's real ring sizes of 60, 80, 100 and 120 cm.

Room or table	Comfortable diameter	Teeshaa size
Dining table 1.8 x 0.9 m (6 x 3 ft), six seats	45 to 60 cm (18 to 24 in)	Halo Crown or Ring Style 1, 60 cm Small
Round dining table 1.2 to 1.4 m (4 to 4.5 ft)	60 to 90 cm (24 to 35 in)	60 cm Small or 80 cm Medium
Dining table 2.4 x 1.1 m (8 x 3.5 ft), eight seats	55 to 75 cm, or a linear piece	60 cm ring, or Essenzo Linear P4 / Linea H
Living room 3.6 x 4.5 m (12 x 15 ft)	about 70 cm (27 in)	60 cm Small or 80 cm Medium
Living room 4.5 x 6 m (15 x 20 ft)	about 90 cm (35 in)	80 cm Medium or 100 cm Large; Aura Chandelier, 100 cm
Double-height living room or foyer, 6 x 6 m and up	100 cm (40 in) and up	100 cm Large, 120 cm XL, or Halo Infinia, 4 ft nested rings

How low should a chandelier hang?

Over a dining table, hang the bottom of the chandelier 75 to 90 cm (30 to 35 in) above the tabletop. In a living room, foyer or anywhere people walk beneath it, keep at least 2.1 m (7 ft) from the floor to the lowest point.

Work from the finished ceiling, not the slab. Indian apartment ceilings commonly sit at 2.7 to 3.0 m, and a false ceiling with a cove often takes 20 to 30 cm. In a 2.7 m room with a 25 cm false ceiling you have 2.45 m, and a 2.1 m walkway clearance leaves 35 cm for the piece and its canopy: a shallow ring works, a tall composition does not. Over a table the maths is kinder, because clearance is measured from the tabletop, so a 75 cm table plus 80 cm of air leaves about 90 cm for the piece.

Villas and double-height volumes run to 5.5 to 7 m. There, set the centre of the composition near the eye line of the upper floor and let the lowest element clear 2.1 m. Teeshaa's rings hang on stainless wire with transparent cable, other pieces on a stainless rod, cut to the drop you give; the Halo Crown reaches a total height of 183 cm (72 in).

Ring, radial or cluster: which form suits the room?

Choose a ring when you want the ceiling to stay calm. A continuous alabaster ring over a table or seating gives even light with no centre. It is the form for low and medium ceilings, and for rooms where a fan shares the ceiling, because the ring can sit over the table while the fan keeps the middle.

Choose a radial form, discs on a frame, when the room is generous and the chandelier is meant to be looked at. The Aura form needs about 1 m of height on its own, so it suits dining rooms with 3 m ceilings and villa living rooms.

Choose a cluster or a vertical composition for a stairwell, a foyer or a double height, where spheres or columns at different heights read from the stair, the landing and below. For a long table, choose a linear piece instead; the linear pendant page explains why.

Finish, colour temperature and dimming

Metal finishes vary by piece. Most Teeshaa chandeliers offer Champagne Gold, Brass Gold, Black and White; the Halo ring pieces offer Matte White, Brushed Brass, Antique Brass, Champagne Gold and Matte Black.

Most pieces are integrated LED at 2700K. The Aura Chandelier offers 2000K, 2300K or 3000K; the Halo Crown can be ordered with an LED strip or with E27 lamps you change yourself. Ask for dimming when ordering: alabaster at half output shows more of its clouding than at full, and a chandelier dimmed for dinner is used far more than one on a single switch.

How to choose an alabaster chandelier by room

For a dining table or a living room with a standard ceiling, the Halo Crown Chandelier is the straightforward choice: a continuous 4 cm alabaster tube in 60, 80, 100 and 120 cm, the 60 cm ready to order and the rest made to order. The Halo Ring Style 1 offers the same diameters.

For a dining room with height to spare, the Aura Chandelier, about 100 cm wide and 91 cm high, lights the table and the ceiling at once. For a foyer or double-height void, the Halo Infinia Chandelier nests rings in a 4 ft format, made to order on enquiry. The chandelier collection shows the rest, including the Lunar Branch and the Essenzo Ring Suspension.

Mistakes to avoid

• Measuring to the slab. A 3 m slab with a 30 cm false ceiling is a 2.7 m room. Measure the finished ceiling and subtract the canopy before choosing a drop.
• Centring the chandelier on the room, not the table. If the table sits off-centre, or a fan takes the middle of the ceiling, hang the piece over the table and let the room be asymmetric.
• Choosing by photograph scale. A ring that fills a product image may be 60 cm. Lay a newspaper circle of the real diameter on the table first.
• Leaving the electrical point where the builder put it. Move it to the centre of the table during the false-ceiling work, and leave a few centimetres of cove depth for a remote driver.

Questions people ask

How big should a chandelier be over a dining table?

Half to two thirds of the table width. A 90 cm wide table takes a 45 to 60 cm piece; a 1.2 m round table takes 60 to 80 cm. Never go wider than the table minus 30 cm, or chairs and heads collide with it.

Can I hang an alabaster chandelier from a false ceiling?

Yes, provided the fixing goes through to the structural slab or a proper support, not the gypsum board alone. Teeshaa supplies the drop cut to your height, and the driver can be remote so it sits in the cove. Have an electrician confirm the anchor.

How much light does an alabaster chandelier give?

Soft, even ambient light rather than task light. A ring or radial piece lights a dining table comfortably for a meal; add a few dimmed downlights if you also read or work there.

The alabaster chandeliers page gathers every ring, radial and vertical piece with sizes and finishes, and the ring chandelier and living room chandelier pages go deeper on each. For a size outside the range, or a room that needs its own composition, bespoke commissions begin from the architecture and the stone.