Wooden chandeliers are an excellent example of primitive home décor items that offer rustic charm while seamlessly incorporating modern convenience. Most decorative chandeliers could be described as having primitive elements. But wooden chandeliers hold a special place in contemporary primitive decor due to both the material they are made of and their history. Prior to the invention and popularization of electric lighting that enabled the installment of simple lighting fixtures, there were several options for simple ways of lighting homes once the sun went down, and all of these methods used fire. One of the most beautiful of these methods was an elaborate structure hanging from the ceiling that was as much decoration as fixture: the candle-based chandelier. Since the invention of electricity, the chandelier has been elevated to a decoration only found in certain rooms in ordinary homes, while being used with greater frequency in the homes of the elite.

Wood holds a special place as a material used in primitive décor. It is marked as a cornerstone of rustic style due to its tradition as one of the oldest materials and is viewed by some as the natural, positive opposite of another popular material: plastic.

Plastic is modern, and is sometimes even used as a symbol of modern disposable manufacturing. Plastic is formed in a factory using molding technology that produces thousands of copies of a single mold with very little human interaction. Plastic usually has no particular value as an antique due to its mass-produced nature. In contrast, wood was once a living organism. It is often crafted by hand. Wood’s ability to sustain damage is actually to its benefit, as it is this quality that allows it to age in an attractive way, and gives well-maintained wood furniture value as antiques.

Moderately high-end wooden chandeliers can cost somewhere between two and three hundred dollars, making them somewhat affordable as an investment, but also not cheap. But wooden chandeliers are more than just simple decorations: they provide a unique ambiance not attainable by any other means, by virtue of the fact that, due to their unique shapes, they produce a different kind of lighting from traditional electric lighting. The light provided by these chandeliers throws soft shadows across the room in which they’re installed. Many people come to appreciate the unique lighting of a room’s chandelier as part of what gives that room its identity within the home. Wooden chandeliers are a very effective means of simultaneously adding both primitiveness and a gentle, timeless ambiance in any room in which they’re installed.