Interior design withdrawal: How to pick the perfect chandelier

Photo by Wheeler Kearns Architects - More contemporary dining room photos

It's time to buy a new chandelier, and the choices are overwhelming.

So many shapes and styles and light sources. It helps to narrow things down. Are you attracted to ornate lighting dripping with rows of sparkling crystals? Or do your tastes run more toward angular forms – lights anchored within square lantern shapes or arranged upon linear frames? Advances in LED lighting have brought us so many options that resemble abstract art.

What follows is visual exploration of why certain styles work in their room.

When shopping for a chandelier, you usually settle on a group of choices, and then the narrowing down begins. A site like Houzz can be very helpful here. Not just for ideas, but because you'll learn by looking at lots of rooms that almost anything goes.

Search for images of “chandeliers in rooms,” and when you look at pictures, ask yourself if the chandelier is a focal point, or more of a functional piece that plays well with other elements in the room. Not every chandelier is made to be the room's star, as above. But when a chandelier is the focal point, the room's other features should be quieter, playing supporting roles while allowing the star to shine. In the room at the top of this post, for example, note the room's straight lines and the minimal use of decorative objects in relationship to the stunning "dandelion" chandelier.

A more functional chandelier should be compatible member of your design team, all working together for a gorgeous room. With the photos shown below, each chandelier manages to bring a bit of its own shine. I avoided picking rooms that seemed to have the lighting choices one would expect or where the overall design had the wow factor. In these rooms, each chandelier is a great fit that makes a significant contribution to the room's design.

If there's a light fixture that makes you smile and fills your heart with joy, there's likely a way to work it in – or to work in something like it.  If you want to put a decadent crystal number in an otherwise spare farmhouse-style dining room, you will see a photo online that shows how someone else has made that work. For those among us who are less daring, working with an interior designer can streamline the process by facilitating the selection of pieces that will work well together. If you're not in a position to hire one, however, study images online for guiding characteristics that can be instructive when selecting fixtures and furnishings for your own home.

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Spiralizer leftovers recipe: tri-color sweet potato hash browns

The slender leftover finger of spiralized Japanese purple sweet potato (shown) and similar fingers of white-flesh Japanese sweet potato and plain orange sweet potato are used in tri-color hash browns. All can be found at the Asian markets in Green Brook and Piscataway. Hand spiralizers, at least every one that I've seen, always leave long, thin pieces that peeve some people. Not me. I think having a rounded uniform length of vegetables can lead to all sorts of creative fun. 

Think of pretty, colorful coins in soups and salads. Today I made sweet potato hash out of three colors of sweet potato. I had previously used a length of parsnip in the recipe. The slightly sweet root veggie is a good complement for sweet potatoes.

This time I used a run-of-the-mill regular sweet potato and two types of Japanese sweet potato: one with reddish-purple skin and pale flesh and one with dusty reddish-purple skin and deep purple flesh. It's shown in the photo. 

When I first began testing hand spiralizers, I hand-processed (cut?) spirals from a purple flesh sweet potato. It was easy work because I had picked out the longest thinnest one I could find. I forgot that I had done that.

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