While most often seen as table lamps as an accent piece, Tiffany style lighting can also be used as more permanent lighting. Many manufacturers make Tiffany ceiling light fixtures in several different styles. These lights can help set the tone for an entire room or can just accent the style that you’ve already established.

Like other types of ceiling lights, Tiffany style lights come in two basic styles, flush mount and pendant.

Flush Mount Lights

Tiffany flush mount fixtures are meant to replace more traditional flush-mount lighting fixtures. These lights often match the designs found on table lamps, so they can be used to tie a room together or to pull in the look without the use of a table lamp.

Many styles have a stained-glass “bowl” that attaches upside down to the fixture directly on or near the ceiling. In other styles (such as in Dale Tiffany’s “Shells” light), the fixture is more semi-flush-mount and hangs a short distance from the ceiling. Since the shade is often made of colored glass, this style of light might not let as much light through as a more standard fixture, so keep this in mind if you need more light in your room.

Flush mount ceiling lights can be found in just about any Tiffany style. There are models available that are stained-glass, blown glass, reverse-painted, crystal, and even combinations. The major manufacturers make matching ceiling fixtures to their most popular styles.

Pendant Ceiling Lights

Pendant-style ceiling lights can be either larger lights like you would use over a table or smaller individual pendants that could be used in series or even individually for a spot of light and color. Some pendant lights come with two or three lights as one unit.

These pendant lights are often tulip-style lights where the bulb is exposed on the bottom. In these cases the light output isn’t reduced by the shade, so they tend to be pretty effective at providing additional light. Most often Tiffany-style pendant lights are stained-glass, although blown-glass fixtures are also available.

As with other types of Tiffany-style lights, it’s important to research the quality of a manufacturer before making a buying decision. Although the price is often attractive, the lower-end companies will make their stained-glass shades using simple epoxy to join the glass. Sometimes even the glass is of low quality and the colors may fade over time.

With the higher-end manufacturers, their quality is a known factor. For example, Dale Tiffany makes all of his stained glass shades using the same copper-foil techniques that were first put into use by J.C. Tiffany over 100 years ago. The soldering used in this method assures that the shade is as strong as possible so that the fixture will be durable and lasting. Also, they have very strict quality standards which means that each soldered joint will be uniform and clean.

Obviously these top manufacturers ask a higher price for their light fixtures, but since the glass is hand-rolled and the joints are hand soldered, you’re paying for expert quality. This quality is even more evident with their reverse-painted fixtures where they employ only the most-skilled painters to ensure that every Tiffany ceiling light is a unique work of art.