Entryway and stairwell chandeliers: how big, how tall and how low.

An entry chandelier is seen from more angles than any other light in the house: from the front door, from the stairs, from the landing above and from outside through the windows at night. A dining chandelier is sized to a table. An entry or stairwell fixture is sized to the volume of space around it, and hung to clear the people walking underneath.

That makes three numbers matter: diameter (from the floor area), fixture height (from the ceiling height) and clearance (from the floor, the door and the stair treads). The formulas below handle all three, and the charts turn them into sizes you can shop in our modern chandeliers, Hammerton Studio chandeliers and ET2 collections.

Base = length + width in feet, read as inches. Two-story = 1.25–1.5× the base.

At 2.5–3″ per foot of ceiling. Check walkway clearance first.

Hang it where it reads from both floors. In a two-story foyer, the bottom of the fixture usually sits around the second-floor level or a little below, so it is seen from the landing and from the door. If there is a window above the door, center the fixture in it so it shows from the street at night.

Pick a vertical or tiered shape. Tall forms fill the vertical space that a wide, flat ring leaves empty. The ET2 Unity Vertical is 63″ tall with an OAH up to 183″, and the ET2 Moonscapes 5-Light is 55.75″ tall with an OAH up to 175.5″.

Check the OAH maximum, not just the minimum. Some statement chandeliers have short suspensions. The Hammerton Rock Crystal Starburst tops out at 76.9″ (Medium) or 81.4″ (Large), so it suits a 10–12 ft ceiling better than an 18 ft foyer. The Parallel Two-Tier Ring goes to about 125″.

Measure to the tread directly below. The 7 ft clearance is from the lowest point of the fixture to the stair tread underneath it. Because stairs climb, the same fixture can be 9 ft above the bottom step and only 6 ft above a higher one. Mark the spot on the stairs before choosing the drop.

Use length, not width. A long, narrow stair hall suits a vertical pendant or a cascade more than a wide chandelier that crowds the railing. The ET2 Serpentine 60″ Vertical is 21.25″ across and 59″ tall; the Studio M Trance 3-Light is just 10″ across and 39.25″ tall with an OAH up to 160″.

Think about the view from above. On a landing you look down onto the fixture. Glass clusters and sculptural LED look good from every angle; drum shades show their tops. Hammerton describes its Gem Cluster Pendant as able to fill a stairwell or double-height entry.