As I sat at my kitchen table this morning watching the young squirrels in the backyard do somersaults, I started thinking what a wonderful thing eclecticism is.

Here I am eating German-style bread with British marmalade, drinking Japanese green tea, sitting on rush chairs made in Haiti, leaning my elbows on a Victorian table, resting my feet on Mexican tiles, and reading the paper by the light of an American-made Schonbek crystal chandelier inspired by seventeenth-century French styling.

The crystal chandelier has been a force in decorating since the sixteenth century, and has always been in fashion at the highest levels of high society. But in recent years crystal chandeliers have reached a new level of popularity, largely thanks to eclecticism.

Eclecticism is not new. In previous centuries, crystal chandelier styles have crossed many boundaries, and luxurious homes were often filled with art and artifacts from all over the world. But there was a classic look to these interiors nonetheless. Eclecticism today has gone beyond the classic look, to the point where a Versailles crystal chandelier is perfectly at home in an eccentric little kitchen like mine, a room that encompasses design influences from a dozen countries and several centuries.

As practiced today, eclecticism requires a lot of daring. Since you’re combining many unrelated furnishings and accessories, you experiment. In my opinion, it’s wise to consider your crystal chandelier the focal point and the other objects in the room expendable or exchangeable. My husband and I have moved a lot of furniture around to get the ambiance of a room just right. Our only rule is that the objects in the room have to click with the crystal chandelier, for whatever reason. This system has worked well for us.

Another good thing about eclecticism is that you can practice it over many years. No room need be frozen in appearance. From this point of view, you can introduce a crystal chandelier into the mix at any point, and see what happens. You may end up throwing out a chair that doesn’t look right anymore. But you probably have relatives and/or friends who can take the chair off your hands, and it can start a new life with them.

Wednesday, August 9, 2006

“A man’s home is his castle” is a saying we all know. Perhaps a woman’s home can also be her castle. In any case, this idea must be deep in the culture, because many people build their homes very consciously to look like castles.

Castles attract crystal chandeliers.

The last time we had a Room Design Contest, I discovered that the grand prize winners had a fondness for castles. They’d built their house entirely of stone, made their front door resemble the entrance to a castle, and added a few slit windows as a comment on the fortification look.

Their home was full of Schonbek crystal chandeliers.

Real castles, of course, are not cozy or comfortable. So these homeowners were content with a few castle-like details and, very sensibly, did not go all out with the theme. Instead of cold, hard floors, they had radiant heat. They walk barefoot in winter on warm floors. Instead of dark and gloomy chambers, they indulged in enormous windows.

If you look at their dining room, foyer and bathroom, you get a unique feeling in each space. This is because the ceiling heights and the molding treatments are all different. At the same time, every space shares a certain classicism, and there’s a predominance of earth tones. These homeowners, interestingly enough, chose just one style of crystal chandelier, and matching   sconces, for all these rooms: Versailles by Schonbek.

The airiness of the rooms, they felt, was reflected by the airiness of the chandelier. Versailles has an open cage construction that dates back to the seventeenth century. There’s no central column holding everything together. Rather, this crystal chandelier is supported by its ornate framework. The delicately beveled French pendeloques that ornament the chandelier also contribute a feeling of airiness.

While my thoughts were with castles, I surfed the Net a bit and discovered that there are quite a few castles for sale or for rent all over the world. You can rent a castle in France that appears to be full of crystal chandeliers.

But why not spend the money instead to fill your own home with crystal chandeliers? Then you can enjoy them every day.

Monday, August 7, 2006

I spent the weekend cleaning, both the house and the crystal chandeliers.

I realize that cleaning is so unpopular, it’s considered desirable, if not essential, to pay other people to do it. But I do it myself since my house is small. As for cleaning the crystal chandeliers, it’s a pleasure I don’t care to share.

Actually, I’ve discovered a new phenomenon by doing my own cleaning. You’ve heard of runner’s high. I’ve experienced cleaner’s high. This can be achieved by the sheer activity of cleaning, no mood-enhancing substances added, by a person with the proper attitude.

Cleaner’s high can be explained as a combination of the physical effort involved and the delight that comes from focusing your attention on beautiful things you’re fond of, such as your oriental carpets, your velvety upholstery, your carefully chosen tiles and wood floors, and above all, your crystal chandeliers.

I probably don’t clean as often as I should. Then again, this makes it more fun when I do. A crystal chandelier, in any case, only needs to be cleaned every six months, nine months or even once a year, depending on the conditions in the room where it lives and the type of crystal.

No one can tell you exactly how often to clean your crystal chandelier. Your chandelier itself will tell you. The crystal will begin to look a bit dull.

It’s usually thought that a crystal chandelier in the kitchen will need the most frequent cleaning. But I’ve found the opposite to be true. This may be because my husband and I live on take-out. But we also have a Versailles, with French crystal pendeloques, and I’ve been told that this type of flattened and beveled crystal tends to show dust. But again, my handcut pendeloques hardly ever show dust. I occasionally clean this crystal chandelier just to communicate with it. So the timing of cleaning, as you see, is very individual.

I realize I’ll never succeed in popularizing cleaning. But if you do want to try personally cleaning your crystal chandelier, there are excellent cleaning instructions on this website.