Vintage Chandelier in the Dining Room

I knew I wanted a chandelier in our dining room.  A drippy, vintage chandelier.  I am pretty casual in my decorating style but I wanted the dining room to be a little more dressed up. Think jewelry for the space. Here is the process of putting a vintage chandelier in the dining room.

Finding a Vintage Chandelier

It felt like we looked forever for the right one. Instead of settling, we decided to just keep looking. FINALLY, we were shopping at the West Bottoms in KC, MO and one particular chandelier seemed to be smiling at us when we walked in!  It was the right scale, in good shape, brass, lots of lights, and drippy with crystals.  The shop had been opened for five minutes and we were walking out with our new dining room light fixture. And I’m in love.

It is from the 1940’s.  It was a little pricey, but not terrible.  I am thrifty in most everything I do for the house, so I am allowed to splurge every now and then, right? 

Getting it Ready to Hang

We took it to a local chandelier shop where we were able to purchase some extra chain in order to hang it as low as we wanted.  The guys at the store matched the chain almost perfectly to the original and let us know that the electrical was in good shape.

Steve hung the chandelier himself to save money.  He has hung and changed so many light fixtures over the course of four homes, but never one this heavy or delicate.

Putting the Chandelier on a Dimmer

The final step in the process of finishing this is to put the fixture on a dimmer.  Eight exposed lights with all the crystals makes for one very bright light!  With an open concept first floor, the chandelier can be seen from all rooms, including my kitchen.  I love having a focal point in the dining room that really draws your eye in.

As with most vintage items that I buy, I often wonder what the history is behind this piece.  Who else has enjoyed its lighting?  How many owners have there been?  Why did the timing work out that we ended up with it?  We will be enjoying this forever, no matter how many more homes we move to. I hope you enjoyed seeing our vintage chandelier in the dining room.