Chandelier style 'can be tailored to any room'

People seeking properties for sale in Ascot or other locations in Berkshire may seek many things in a home, with spaciousness being a major attraction for some.

As well as copious floor space, high ceilings might also appeal, ensuring a room used for entertaining never feels claustrophobic, no matter how many people are gathered there.

But whatever the new home looks like, those who would love to give it a greater sense of grandeur with a chandelier can do so, as there are numerous varieties available and they can even be tailor made.

Karen Walker, founder of custom chandelier firm Roastdesigns.co.uk, noted that when her company started out, large chandeliers from the high ceilings of halls were the norm, but increasingly they started tailoring the design to enable them to be fitted in other places, such as bedrooms and sitting rooms.

She explained: "What we've done is got a lot more creative about carving out the space underneath the chandelier. So we can work with lower ceilings and also work with different designs. So we're going wider and shorter - keeping the statement and beauty of the pieces, but allowing them to be incorporated into lots more spaces."

And this approach has been "very popular", Ms Walker stated.

For people with the means to spend, it might even be an attractive idea to fit chandeliers in several rooms throughout the home, providing a bit of extra sparkle and beauty that will look good even when it is dull and dark outside, as is the case at this time of year and will be again once the lighter days have come and gone.

Chandeliers may not be the only lighting feature householders will be keen to install this year.

Spokeswoman for independent lighting consultancy Light IQ Natalie Timmerman recently predicted that LED lighting will be popular in 2012 because it offers bright light with lower energy use and requires less maintenance than normal bulbs, as such lights have a far longer lifetime.