How to find the right pendant lighting
With so many different types of pendant lighting to choose from, it can be hard to decide on pendant lighting fixtures for the rooms in your home. But before you find a style or design you fall in love with, you have to make sure you have the correct measurements for the room you’re installing the pendant lighting in.
If you get pendant lighting that is too big for a small room, it will make the room feel smaller and more cluttered. If you get pendant lighting that is too small for a large room, the room will feel vast and unevenly distributed.
A general rule of thumb is this: the larger the room, the larger the pendant lighting should be. Smaller pendant lighting is most effective in smaller spaces, such as over a desk in an office or over your bathroom sink. You can also group pendant lights together, which looks great above a dining room table or your kitchen island.
Additional pendant lighting tips to keep in mind:
- Pendant lighting should hang 12 to 20 inches below a typical 8-foot ceiling, and for every foot that your ceiling is higher, add 3 inches to that range. This will ensure your taller guests won’t run into any of your hanging ceiling lights.
Example: A 10-foot ceiling should have pendant lighting that hangs 18 to 26 inches below.
- Keep at least 30 to 36 inches of room between any pendant lights and table surfaces. This will ensure you’re able to look at friends and family members without the light fixture getting in the way.
- Lighting accessories such as dimmers and switches can help adjust the lighting to either be mood lighting or functional task lighting.
Here are a few of our favorite areas in a home or office that look great with pendant lighting fixtures:
- Above a table
- In your hallway, entryway or foyer
- In your stairwell
- Over your kitchen island
- In the center of a room
- By the sides of a bed (either master, kids or guest bedrooms)
- Over the foot of a bed
- In the bathroom
Helpful tip: Don’t get too hung up on finding the perfect size of a light fixture if you absolutely love a particular pendant light. Most pendant lighting fixtures come with adjustable chains or extension rods so you can find the ideal hanging height for the light in your room.
