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How to Choose a Candle Holder

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Vanessa Weber

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A good candle holder will complement your home decor and provide an interesting focal point, even if you don't actually have your candles lit. Whether you want to add a splash of color, a hint of originality or a romantic luster, candle holders go far beyond simply displaying a naked flame.

Candle holders are also an inexpensive and highly effective way to personalize your home interior design.To help you choose the best models to match your style, let's take a look at some top design tips for decorating your home with candle holders.

Which Candle Holder is Best for Your Candle?

Different candle holders are designed to fit different types of candle.

To help you to match your candles to a fantastic new holder, here's some of the most popular candle sizes and which style holder you should look out for to show them off at their best.

  • Tealights - Tealights are small shallow candles that typically come with their own protective metal or plastic tray. They have a short burn time of 3-5 hours, with a 1.5 inch diameter and a 0.75-1 inch height. Team them with small tealight candle holders or votive ones. As long as the holder isn't too large to show off the light from the flame, tealight candles can be used with almost all small candle holders. They look especially good in small colored glass holders, as well as in mix and match sets.

  • Votive candles - With a 1-2 inch diameter, votive candles are very similar to tealights, but they are quite a bit taller - around 2-3 inches. This gives them a longer burn time of approximately 10 hours. Most votive candles can be used in tealight holders and vice versa, which gives you greater flexibility. If you are creating candle clusters, you'll want to have at least a couple of votive or tealight candle holders in your selection.

  • Pillar candles - With a long burn time of 50-60 hours, pillar candles are fairly substantial measuring approximately 2-4 inches in diameter and anywhere between 3-9 inches tall. The best candle holders to show off your pillar candles include lantern styles, in particular hurricane models, large spiked candlestick holders and glass wall sconces. These models mimic the proportions of the pillar candle and display it perfectly whether lit or not.

  • Taper candles - The quintessential classic dinner candle, taper candles are as their name suggests, tapered. Long, around 6-18 inches tall with a base between 0.5-3 inches that gradually thins out towards the wick, they tend to burn for around 10 hours. Taper candles cannot stand alone, they need to be placed in a suitable holder before lighting. The best candle holders for taper candles are both traditional and modern candlestick sets and candelabras. These holders best emphasize the long, elegant form of your taper candles.

How to Choose the Best Candle Holder for Your Home Decor?

Looking for the perfect candle holder to complement your home decor? Look no further. Here's our guide to choosing the very best models for your look.

Modern

For a modern look, we recommend looking for candle holders with clean lines and simple forms. Candlestick sets made from glass and iron work great with a contemporary, industrial look, whereas dark glass candle holders work well with a sleek, modern style.

You could also try out a very simple, oversized candle holder or one with asymmetrical form or crafted from an unusual material, such as concrete or copper pipes. One large candlestick holder in a bright accent color tends to work well in modern settings as a centerpiece, or you could put together a matching set of three in various different heights.

Two In One Ceramic Wax Warmer
Modern Metal And Glass Candle Holder
Contemporary Metal and Glass Lantern
Modern Metal Wall Sconce
Contemporary Tabletop Candlestick
Oversize Metal Lantern

Elegant

If your home is elegantly styled, you'll want to enhance your look with the beauty of tapered candles and candlestick holders or candelabras. Ceramic, painted wood and glass candle holders in muted tones all add to a feeling of harmony and proportion which is so important to the elegantly-styled home.

Add a tall candlestick to each end of your mantle, or place a three candle, equal height candelabra at the centre of your console table, for a classic look that discreetly draws in the eye.

Elegant Ceramic Candlestick Set
Wooden Candlestick Set
Glass Votive Holder Set
Small Ceramic Candelabra
Tall Metal Five Candelabra
Wooden Candelabra

Romantic

Taper candles and candelabras on your dining room table hint at romantic dinners. Ornate candelabras or candlestick holders with gold detailing also add hints of romantic luxe. Floral motifs, vintage-style patterned glass and a mix-and-match set of tealight holders in feminine shades can all be used to complement a romantic decor.

Romantic Styled Glass Candlestick
Stylised Rose Glass Candlestick
Golden Ornate Plastic Candlestick
Small Mercury Glass Votive Candle Holder
Flower Shaped Stainless Steel Golden Candlestick
Brass Taper Candlestick

Eclectic

Bring together a range of shapes, sizes and colors. From a selection of mismatched clusters of votive and tealight holders on your buffet, to exotic, eastern-inspired lanterns on your fireplace hearth, eclectic candle holders are bold and stand out, just be careful not to overdo it. The eclectic look takes a little more styling than you may realize at first sight.

Look for different shaped candle holders in colors thatharmonize with your existing decor, then add in one or two opposing colors that will really stand out. This is a fun look to play with and you can easily update your candle clusters by simply changing out a few of the colors once in a while for a seasonal update.

Moroccan Tall Iron Lantern
Glass Votive Holder Set
Assorted Flower Ceramic Tealight Holder Set
Tall Metal Lantern
Coastal Motive Glass Votive Holder
White And Blue Pillar Ceramic Candlestick

Minimalist

Even minimalist homes can be enhanced with a few carefully placed candle holders. Look for large single statement pieces with very little in the way of detail. For example, clear hurricane holders work well with their clean lines and utilitarian appeal.

You could also select a large, simple iron or ceramic candle stick holder to use as a centerpiece. Simplicity is the key and, here, we think it's best to go with a bold statement piece that has a very basic design and a regular form.

Minimalist Metal Tabletop Candlestick
Minimalist Tall Glass And Iron Candlestick
Pillar Metal Candlestick
Contemporary Iron Candle Holder
Industrial Minimal Iron Candlestick
Minimalist Stainless Steel Candlestick

Rustic

No rustic decor is complete without candle holders! For a really traditional, cottage look, we recommend opting for simple, old-fashioned lanterns in your hall or kitchen, with wooden turned candlestick holders on your fireplace mantle and on your dining table.

Wall mounted sconces are also a fantastic way to bring out the best in rustic design and they leave your surfaces free for other decorative items such as photos and trinkets, while lending an air of authenticity combined with a large dose of days-gone-by.

Wood And Iron Wall Sconce Holder Set
Three Candle Wood Sconce
Metal Lantern Holder Set
Rustic Ceramic Pillar Candlestick
Tall Wooden Lantern
Small Wooden Rustic Candlestick

How to Decorate Your Home with Candle Holders?

Here are some of the best ways to decorate your home with candle holders:

  • Clusters - Create candle clusters to brighten up a dark corner of a room or make a focal point wherever you have the space. Either focus on one color (you can use various shades) and different sizes and textures, or opt for more harmonized forms with different colors. This works well with tealight and votive candle holders due to their small size which won't overwhelm your space.

  • Sets of three - For a harmonized, balanced look, pick up candle holders in sets of three. These sets often come in various sizes and look great placed in a triangular formation. Place them in an inconspicuous corner or in the centre of a round table. For an air of quirkiness, place them at one end of your mantle rather than the traditional centre or both ends layout.

  • Centerpieces - Invest in a candelabra with three or more candle holders to mark the centre of your dining table or fireplace mantle. Designs vary hugely, so you could play it safe with an elegant, traditional model or opt for a more contemporary piece with varying heights.

  • Statement pieces - Choose a statement piece candle holder that really speaks to you. It could be simple, it could be intricately ornate, but it needs to stand out against your decor without looking out of place.

You could go for a large free standing candelabra with multiple candles, or a brightly colored candle holder that picks up an accent color from your decor. Crystal, metal or wooden, statement candle holders will get the conversation flowing at dinner parties and lend an air of sophistication, as well as provide a focal point for your entire room.

Vanessa Weber

Vanessa Weber

Vanessa is a New York-based designer specializing in architectural lighting. Whether you are planning an event, want to illuminate your backyard retreat or simply need advice on what lamp to purchase for your bedroom, Vanessa will be more than happy to share her knowledge and expertise.

Foter Magazine is a premier architecture, decoration, interiors and design website. We inspire and guide you to make your home a more attractive place.

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