Discover The Joys Of Pendant Lighting

Pendant lighting is eminently practical. You probably already know how pendant lighting can bathe a room with warm, inviting light.

So instead, we’re going to peruse pendant lighting through the eyes of a lighting designer to help you find the statement pendant that will tie your space together.

How to use pendant lighting throughout your home

Because pendants hang suspended from the ceiling, you might think they only work in tall rooms. However, professional lighting designers would disagree. Pendant lighting can work just as well on a shorter cord, filling a room with light without encroaching on the space.

In home lighting design, pendants regularly feature in:

Entries and hallways

Single pendants in a short hallway provide a warm welcome, while a row of matching pendants is ideal in longer entries. In taller entrances and stairways, varied clusters amplify the space while lighting every corner.

Kitchens

The kitchen is perhaps the most popular pendant lighting location (tied with dining and living rooms). Suspended over kitchen islands or workspaces, and cleverly balanced with work lighting, pendant lighting in the kitchen creates a statement in an open-plan design.

Dining rooms

The dining table is where you find the most variety. First, endless pendant styles are available, from naked bulbs to linear pendants, circular LEDs to contemporary chandeliers, modern angular pendants, or timeless classics. And in the dining room, you can play with height, suspending lighting lower to create a warm bubble at mealtime.

Living rooms

Here is your chance to make a statement. Suspending a singular pendant in a living room can immediately tie the interior design together, providing a central focus that simultaneously lights the room with even warmth.

Increasingly, we’re seeing pendant lighting in bathrooms, bedrooms and office design as well. The key is choosing the right pendant lighting design.

What to consider when selecting pendant lighting

Style

“Pendant lighting” is not just one style. Effectively, any light suspended from the ceiling can be considered a pendant, and lighting designers have continuously sought to push creative boundaries through the ages.

The most popular pendant styles today are:

• Glass pendants
• Multi-light pendants
• Circular LED pendants
• Shade pendants
• Pendant clusters
• Globe pendants
• Cord pendants
• Lantern pendants

Which style you choose depends on your aesthetic preferences and the desired lighting effect.

Materials

Balancing materials and pendant style is the secret to tying a room’s aesthetic style together. Consider how the material, colour and finish interact with the other elements in your room. Whether that’s choosing a dark matte finish for a clean, modern accent, or a rattan drum shade for chilled-out coastal vibes.

Cord length

Pendant lighting tends to hang lower in dining rooms, kitchens, and offices, to accent the room’s focus. While in living rooms, entry hallways and bedrooms, a good rule of thumb is positioning the bottom of the pendant 7 feet (a little over 2 metres) off the ground. This provides bright, even lighting without obstruction.

Picking the proper pendant lighting

As with all aspects of lighting, pendant lighting is as much a personal choice as a design demand. Start by browsing our extensive range of pendant lighting online. Or pop into the Urban Lighting Design showrooms in Annandale and Willoughby, where you can experience the impact of our contemporary pendant lighting styles.