Decorating With an Antler Chandelier

This rustic accessory is a natural fit for a log home.

Photo: Heidi Long / See more here.

Antler chandeliers are highly sought-after log home light fixtures. Though they look fantastic anywhere, the great room is where most owners seek to hang them. Choosing the right size for the space, however, isn’t always as easy as the decision to buy one. And though there are formulas to calculate size, be careful: These formulas likely were developed for traditional stick-framed homes and may not be accurate when it comes to outfitting your log home.

“Most chandelier-sizing formulas tell you to add the length and the width of your room and then change that to inches instead of feet,” says Melinda Wilson, who with her husband, owns Terry Wilson Antler Designs in Kemp, Texas. “If you follow that formula, in a 20-by-20 great room, you’d add them together to get 40 feet, then convert that to inches for a 40-inch-diameter chandelier. In a log home, that chandelier would be way too small. The first question we ask is how high a client’s ceilings are, not the length and width of the room. Height is more important.”

Examples of Antler Chandeliers in Log Home Decor:

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Home and Photo Courtesy of Golden Eagle Log Homes

See more of this home here.

This is good advice. In a modern traditional home, ceiling height is usually no more than 10 to 12 feet. In a log home, ceilings that soar to 20 feet or more are commonplace. Other factors of scale, such as log diameter and exposed trusses, come into play, too. These features are not found in stick frame construction.

To be the focal point you want it to be, a shed-antler chandelier should be able to hold its own with other elements of the room, and that means you probably need a bigger fixture than you think. Melinda’s own post-and-beam home boasts ceilings that exceed 25 feet high and the room is approximately 20-by-20.

“The best advice I can give is before you buy anything, show a lighting design professional your floor plan, or, better yet, invite them to view your home, if it’s already built,” Melinda says. “Getting that firsthand perspective will help them guide you to a shed-antler chandelier that really works for the space. And when in doubt, go bigger.”

Shop Some of Our Favorite Antler Chandeliers:

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