How to Install a Chandelier Over a Dining Room Table

A chandelier installed over a dining room table can make an immediate impact on the look and feel of a dining room--but, if it isn't installed properly--your good intentions can quickly be transformed into an eyesore. Off-center or low-hanging chandeliers are instantly recognizable--and they cannot only distract your dinner guests--but for some, they can be a head injury waiting to happen. Here's how to make sure your dining room chandelier makes a lasting impression--but not for all the wrong reasons.

Things You'll Need

• Screwdrivers
• Wire strippers
• Wire connectors
• Electrical tape
• Ladder
• 12-2 NM cable
• Romex stripper
• Old-work ceiling fan/chandelier bracket
• Tape measure
• Pencil

Instructions

1. Remove the dining room table and chairs from the dining room before taking your measurements. Leave the remaining furniture against the wall for the time being.

2. The first thing you have to do when deciding where your chandelier will be installed is to find the center of the dining room in relation to your dining room table. This can differ depending on the size of the room. For instance, in a smaller room, if you have a large armoire or another large piece of furniture along the wall, you may want to make that the point from which you begin your measurement. If you take the measurement from wall to wall, and you have a large piece of furniture against one wall, you will be marking the center of the room and NOT the center in relation to where the table will be positioned.

3. Use the plastic box cover that comes with the ceiling fan/chandelier bracket as a template for the access hole you will be cutting in the ceiling. Once you have the access hole cut for the box and bracket, run a circuit from your electrical panel to the dining room for the new chandelier, or if you have an available circuit, you can pick up a feed as long as it can support the additional load.

   If you are replacing an existing ceiling light with a chandelier, then the feed will already be in place, so you can skip this step.

4. If you are replacing an existing light fixture, you will have to remove the ceiling box if it is NOT rated for a chandelier. Most pre-existing boxes are not. Turn off the power to the existing circuit, remove the fixture and remove the ceiling box.

5. Install the ceiling box and bracket as per the included instructions. Leave about 8 to 12 inches of cable hanging out of the box.

6. Use the Romex stripper to remove the outer sheath on the cable (if it is a new circuit).

7. Secure the chandelier's mounting bracket to the ceiling box.

8. Strip about 3/4 inches of insulation from the ends of each wire in the ceiling box.

9. Assemble your chandelier and hold it up to the ceiling to gauge the proper chain length for installation. For an 8-foot ceiling, the chandelier should hang no lower than 30 to 34 inches above the tabletop. For ceilings higher than 8 feet, add 3 inches to that height for each additional foot.

10. Make the appropriate adjustments to the chain and wire length on the chandelier.

11. Make your wire connections, black to black, white to white and ground to ground. Wrap each wire connector with electrical tape for added protection, and carefully stuff the wires back inside the ceiling box while you secure the chandelier to the mounting bracket.

12. Install the chandelier's canopy and chain and insert the proper light bulbs into the fixture's sockets.

13. Turn the circuit back on and test your new chandelier.