Hand-Blown Glass Chandeliers: How to Choose the Glass Colour and Metal Finish

A glass chandelier is the one fitting in a room whose colour changes with the hour. By day it reads as an object, coloured by the walls and the window. At night it is lit from inside, and the glass becomes the colour of the light passing through it. Choosing the glass colour and the metal finish is therefore a lighting decision as much as a decorative one. This guide sets out how we approach both with designers, using three of the hand-blown glass chandeliers we make to order in our workshop.

Start with the light, then choose the colour

Hand-blown glass is coloured through its whole thickness, so the tone you choose filters every lumen the chandelier gives. The practical question is how much of the room's light the piece needs to carry. Our glass customization page offers sixteen colours, and they fall naturally into three families.

Light-giving: clear, frosted white, champagne

Clear and frosted white pass the most light, so the chandelier can be the main source over a dining table or kitchen island. Champagne adds warmth without losing much output, and sits easily against oak, limestone and plaster.

Atmospheric: amber, smoke grey, olive green, sage green

These tones soften the light and warm it. Amber under 2700K lamps turns honey-gold; smoke grey reads cool and architectural by day and quietly warm at night. In a dining room they work best with a second layer of light, such as wall lights or recessed spots over a sideboard.

Saturated: burgundy, bottle green, deep teal, mauve, dusty rose

Deep colours glow rather than illuminate. The chandelier becomes the colour statement of the room, so specify it the way you would a piece of art, and plan the working light separately. Blush pink, lilac, sky blue and seafoam sit between the families: luminous, but distinctly coloured.

Three designs, three ways glass carries colour

The Quinn: a cloud of ribbed globes

The Quinn gathers hand-blown, softly ribbed globes into one dense cluster on a brass chain. The ribbing multiplies each lamp into small highlights, which is why it suits the atmospheric tones: in amber it reads golden, and the clear edition gives a brighter, lighter sparkle. The 60 cm (23.6″) suits a round table of about 90 to 120 cm (35 to 47″) or a bedroom; the 80 cm (31.5″) suits a table of 120 to 160 cm (47 to 63″) or an entrance. Both are 52 cm (20.5″) deep on a 100 cm (39.4″) chain and take eight E14 lamps (E12 for North America). From $1,980.

The Petalo Linear: colour as a continuous line

The Petalo Linear layers individually hand-blown petals along a brushed brass frame, 120 cm (47.2″) or 150 cm (59″) long and 24 cm (9.5″) deep. An integrated warm white LED bar runs the full length, so the glass glows evenly with no bulbs in view, which makes it one of the most forgiving pieces for a saturated colour. The 120 cm suits a dining table of about 180 to 240 cm (71 to 94″); the 150 cm suits 240 to 300 cm (94 to 118″). It is listed in burgundy, is also made in olive and orange, or any of the sixteen colours. From $3,500.

Laguna Listelli: a palette in one fixture

Laguna Listelli is a tiered linear chandelier of hand-textured glass strips on a solid brass frame, 160 cm (63″) or 200 cm (78.8″) long, 40 cm (15.7″) wide and 55 cm (21.6″) high. As standard it mixes seven colours, arranged so no two neighbouring strips share a tone and every side reads balanced from below. It can equally be made in a single tone, a two-colour palette chosen to the scheme, or any mix from the sixteen. The 160 cm suits a table for ten to twelve; the 200 cm a table for twelve to sixteen or an island of 2.5 m (8 ft) or more. Sixteen E14 lamps (E12 for North America). From $6,850.

Choosing the metal finish

Every glass chandelier in the range can be made in six finishes, at no extra charge: Brushed Brass, Aged Bronze, 24K Gold, Oil Rubbed Bronze, Midnight Black and Brushed Nickel. A few pairings we return to often:

• Brushed Brass with amber, champagne and burgundy, for warmth that carries from frame to glass.
• Aged Bronze or Oil Rubbed Bronze with smoke grey, olive and bottle green, where the frame should recede into a darker scheme.
• Brushed Nickel with clear, sky blue, lilac and seafoam, for a cooler and more graphic line.
• Midnight Black, in stainless steel, with clear or smoke grey, to draw a sharp outline against pale walls.
• 24K Gold for hospitality schemes where gold is part of the brief.

Choosing the glass colour adds no time to production. A changed metal finish adds about a month, and we confirm the exact date before work begins.

Drop, ceiling and dimming

Rod or chain suspension is included, whichever suits the room. Drop extensions are $10 per 50 cm section, up to a 3 m total drop, and a sloped-ceiling adaptation is $50. Dimming is fitted free on ceiling lamps; tell us the dimmer type on site and we match the driver. Send us the floor-to-ceiling height and the height you want the lowest glass at, usually 75 to 90 cm (30 to 35″) above a table, and the piece arrives cut to that drop.

How each piece is built and checked

Every globe, petal and strip is formed by hand, so shape, thickness and tone vary slightly from one to the next, and no two chandeliers are identical. Each piece is made to order in our workshop: production begins about two days after the order and takes two to three weeks, including wiring for the destination country, a lit bench test and export packing. For US projects, the electrical components are UL-listed.

Before dispatch, we film the finished chandelier lit on the bench and send you the video, free of charge, so you see the actual colour you specified, glowing, before the crate is closed. Pieces are packed for long-distance freight and delivered DDP to the United States and the European Union, with duties and import taxes covered, and every fixture carries a two-year warranty.

For architects, designers and procurement teams

For projects with several rooms or repeated fixtures, our trade program gives access to trade pricing, project quotations and documentation on request. You can build a specification yourself on the glass customization page, choosing the chandelier, colour, finish and drop, then order it directly or send it to us first. Or write to contact@casalolalights.com with the room, the ceiling height and the scheme, and we will come back with the right piece, colour and finish for the space.