Go linear when the surface below is a long rectangle — a dining table, a kitchen island, a boardroom — because the fixture and its light both follow one line. Go round when the room turns on a single centre: a round or square table, a foyer, a stairwell void. Shape is a table-and-room decision, not a style one. How do the two shapes differ in footprint and light? A linear chandelier is a bar — long on one axis, narrow on the other — and it lays a strip of light along whatever sits under it, so every place at a long table sits in the same band. A round chandelier is a point: the light pools in a circle under its centre and thins toward the rim, which is exactly how people sit around a round table, everyone the same distance from the middle. That one difference drives the rest of the decision. A bar has a front and a back, so turned the wrong way across a table it reads as a mistake. A circle has no front at all; it can sit on a centre point and look right from every doorway that sees it. Which top is under it, a long rectangle or a round one? Read the surface first, then the room. Measure the outline of the table, island or counter, and take the shape straight across: Under the fixture Shape to pick Size that fits Dining table, 72 in long linear a 36 to 48 in bar Kitchen island, 8 ft long linear a 48 to 60 in bar Round table, 54 in across round a 27 to 36 in fixture Square table, 48 in a side round a 24 to 32 in fixture Foyer or stair void, nothing beneath round sized to the void, not to a table Breakfast bar against a wall linear a bar shorter than the counter Both rules are the same band: a bar runs one-half to two-thirds of the top's long side, and a round fixture measures one-half to two-thirds of a round top across. Past those bands the fixture stops looking like light and starts looking like a lid over the table. How does the ceiling decide between them? Hang height is identical for both shapes — 30 to 36 in from the tabletop to the lowest point of the fixture, never to the canopy. What changes is the body that hangs above that point. A bar is usually only a few inches deep, so it trims short and still looks intentional on a low ceiling. A round chandelier built in two tiers stacks the arms in two rings, so it needs more clear height before its lowest point lands inside the band. Three readings settle it: At 8 ft or below, favour a shallow bar or a single-tier round. For each foot of ceiling above 8 ft, the fixture can hang about 3 in lower — or keep the band and enjoy the extra air. Where people walk beneath the fixture, the lowest point clears 84 in (7 ft) off the floor, whatever the shape and whatever the ceiling. Which shape keeps the sightline open? In an open plan the fixture hangs in the middle of a view. A bar draws a hard line at seated eye height, and run across the traffic axis it hides the far side of the room. A circle at one centre keeps both sides connected, because the eye slips past on either side of it. If the table sits between doorways you want to keep seeing, lay the long axis of a bar along the wall rather than across the opening. If the room reads from one doorway to a single centre — a foyer, a stairwell, a bedroom — the circle is the calmer answer. What do linear and round chandeliers cost? Two different quantities set the price. A bar is priced by span: a longer fixture needs a longer frame, more suspension points and more weight to carry. A round fixture is priced by count: every arm costs a socket, a stem and a run of wire, and a second tier roughly doubles the number of them. The range below brackets both ends, priced from our own store: Tier Linear Round Entry Ravelle 48 in linear chandelier $898 Cannele round chandelier 36 in $1,148 Mid Aquitaine 48 in linear chandelier $2,000 San Marco round chandelier 48–60 in $2,390 Large Bonnington 72 in linear chandelier $5,549 Vouvray two-tier round chandelier 60 in $8,999 At a like span a round fixture tends to run higher, because the arm count piles up faster than the span does; a long bar closes part of that gap by buying length, never all of it. Size and count move the price far more than the shape itself. What should you measure before you order? The top's long side and its outline. Length, plus whether it is a rectangle, a round or a square. This single reading picks the shape. Floor to tabletop, then floor to ceiling. Subtract the first from the second; the difference is the drop the fixture has to work with. The top's width, front to back. Divide by three for the deepest body the surface will carry before the fixture looks pressed down on the plates. The ceiling box. A box rated to carry a luminaire of up to 50 lb sets the weight budget for the whole job; anything heavier needs support independent of the box. The walking path. Stand where people pass; the lowest point has to clear 84 in. The sightline from the main doorway. Decide whether the far side of the room or the fixture itself is the view worth keeping. How do you line it up on the table? Find the centre of the top, not the centre of the room — the furniture moves, and a ceiling box does not always follow it. For a bar, run the long axis along the table's long side, then centre it and leave an equal strip of bare top at each end. For a circle, centre it on the top's centre point and check the rim to the table edge all the way round. Sources U.S. Department of Energy — LED basics ENERGY STAR — certified light fixtures Whole Building Design Guide — lighting design NFPA 70 (National Electrical Code) — standard development page FAQ Is a linear or round chandelier better over a dining table? Match the fixture to the top. A rectangular table is lit more evenly by a bar along its long side, and a round or square table is lit more evenly by a round fixture centred on it. Can a round chandelier go over a long rectangular table? It can, and it will light the middle well, but the two ends thin out and the circle sits on the rectangle like a stamp. Past about 6 ft of table, a bar spreads the light better. How wide should a round chandelier be over a round table? One-half to two-thirds of the table's diameter. A 54 in round table takes a fixture 27 to 36 in across. How long should a linear chandelier be over a table? One-half to two-thirds of the table's long side, centred, with the bar's long axis running the same way as the table. A 72 in table takes a 36 to 48 in bar. Does the ceiling box depend on the shape? The box rule does not change with shape: a box rated up to 50 lb sets the limit, and a heavier fixture needs support independent of the box. A long bar spreads that weight over two or more points, while a deep round fixture puts it in one place. Hang heights, the ceiling-box weight limit and the walking clearance follow the published guidance in the sources above and the arithmetic of ceiling height minus fixture drop. Prices are our own published variant prices. Measure the finished room before ordering, and use a licensed electrician for hard-wired work.