Choosing the Right Pendant Light For Your Home

How Pendant Lighting Can Complete Your Home 

Flip through any interior design magazine or luxury home brochure and you’re sure to see pendant lighting livening up the space. They add character, style and instantly enhance any room. But, where to start?

Here, we’ve created a helpful guide to assist you in choosing the right pendant light for your home.

Pendant Lighting Explained

Pendant lighting is a specific type of light fitting that hangs away from the ceiling by a cord, chain, rod, or other suspension function. Pendant lights are popular fittings that help make a statement and can be used for all kinds of purposes.

Different Types of Pendants

Pendant lighting comes in all shapes and sizes and can be used for all kinds of light sources to brighten up your home. From practical task light for your kitchen to soft, ambient lighting in your dining room, there’s pendant lighting for every room and every situation.

So, let’s explore some of the most common types of pendant lighting to give you some ideas for pendants to use in your home.

Drum Pendant Light

 

Also known as cylindrical pendant lights, drum pendants are shaped like drums. They’re either open or closed at the bottom and offer either task or ambient lighting.

You can find drum pendant lighting in all sizes and colours to match your home’s aesthetic, often working well over dining room tables.

Often, drum pendants are used as a bold statement piece. But with so many options in terms of styles and colours, you can find drum pendant lights to match both traditional and modern style homes.

Globe Pendant Light

Globe pendant lights are sometimes also called spheres, orbs, or bubble pendants. These pendant lights are characterised by a round shape, usually made of glass, but not always. 

Common part of mid-century modern interior design, globe pendant lighting is sleek and contemporary. Hang a large globe pendant in your living room or hang multiple across your kitchen island for a chic, modern look.

Shade Pendant Light

Shade pendant lights are probably the most common type of pendant lighting used in modern homes. These light fittings are essentially upside-down bowls of varying sizes and made with a variety of materials. 

You can find shade pendant lights in an industrial style made with metal or you can go for a more minimalist bowl pendant for a Scandinavian approach. Esteemed for their elegance and practicality, there’s a shade pendant light for every room in every aesthetic.

Exposed Bulb Pendant Light

Perfect for minimalist, rustic, or industrial décor, exposed bulb pendant lighting is extremely popular and super trendy. These types of pendant lights don’t have any shade or material surrounding the bulb. Therefore, the bulb itself is the statement.

Generally, filament light globes are best for exposed bulb pendant lights but regular LED globes work too. If you love a DIY home project, exposed bulb pendant lighting is for you.

Modern Pendant Light

 

If clean lines and abstract art is more your style, try a modern pendant light to accent your space. Whether you’re going for a simple Scandinavian design or a more unconventional aesthetic, lighting designers tend to push the boundaries on pendant lights that stand out.

With intricate shades and odd designs, modern pendant lights make lighting interesting. This type of pendant is made to stand out, so if you love all things bold and beautiful in your home, a modern pendant would certainly suit.

Natural Pendant Light

Made with natural materials like wood or bamboo, natural pendant lighting is another popular trend, especially if your home is full of greenery, neutral colours, and a boho vibe.

From grand pendants that you can hang as a statement piece in your dining room to smaller natural-style pendants to line your staircase, it’s the perfect complement to beachside homes and décor inspired by nature.

Multiple Pendants

While you can always hang multiple individual pendants in a row along your entryway or over your dining room table, some pendant lighting comes pre-made in multiples.

For example, some extend out into a row of three lights all coming from one point in your ceiling while others are chandelier-like installations that have multiple light fittings in one stunning statement piece.

Amazing for entryways, large open spaces, and along any of your task-oriented areas like kitchen benches or bathrooms, multiple pendants are both stylish and practical.

Mini Pendant Light

As you’d expect, mini pendant lights are simply smaller versions of regular pendant lighting. Often installed in clusters or as an interesting statement piece, mini pendant lights can either provide tasks lighting with a tightly focused area of light or small amounts of ambient lighting in an interesting way.

How to Choose the Pendant Most Suited to Your Home

Now that you have an idea of the types of pendant lighting available, it’s time to decide on the best pendant lighting to complement your home and interiors. To do so, we’ll be thinking about the function of the lights, the materials used, and the style of the pendant lights.

Function

First, let’s consider the function. In other words, what do you need this pendant light to do for the space?

The two main functions offered by pendant lighting is task lighting and ambient lighting.

Task lighting is your more practical type of lighting. They help you complete tasks that require quality light. Kitchens often need task lighting to ensure you’re safely cutting vegetables and cooking your food completely. Workspaces and bathrooms also usually require task lighting.

On the other hand, ambient lighting helps set the mood of a space. After all, you don’t want harsh, bright light while you’re eating dinner or relaxing before bed. Ambient lighting is soft and engulfs the entire space in just enough light to set the tone.

Materials

Once you decide what function your pendant lighting will serve in a particular space, you’ll next want to consider the materials of your pendant lighting. What would best compliment your home’s current aesthetic?

For example, if your home is filled with neutral tones and décor inspired by nature, you won’t want to choose a pendant light that’s made with steel or metal. On the contrary, if you’re space is industrial with exposed brick and ducting, a natural pendant light won’t really make sense.

In short, you’ll want to think about the materials used within your pendant light and whether they will complement the space.

Style

Finally, consider the style of your home before choosing pendant lighting. 

If you want pendant lighting for your mid-century lounge room, go for a stunning glass globe pendant light. If you want pendant lights in your white and wooden kitchen, perhaps a natural pendant light would be best. Going for a more industrial design? Metal pendant lights or exposed bulb pendants would look amazing.

Get creative and push the boundaries but in general, you want your pendants to complement your décor.

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Overall, if you want to upgrade your lighting and make a statement along the way, pendant lighting is the perfect option. With so many types, functions and styles to choose from, they’re iconic in any room of your home.

Shop our full collection of pendant lighting today!

If you still have questions or you are unsure where to start, contact our helpful team and they will be happy to assist you