Pendant lighting is quickly becoming a favorite household element for designers and homeowners alike. There are now more varieties, styles, sizes and colors of pendant lamps available than ever before. In any home improvement store, consumers are guaranteed to find a large section with a multitude of light fixtures hanging from the ceiling that includes several options in pendant style lighting.
Pendant lamps are appealing not only for the ambient lighting they provide but also for the wide array of styles they are available in. When decorating a kitchen or bathroom, it is tempting for homeowners to choose the old standby of a ceiling fan or single ceiling lamp fixture. In an article for CNN, Susan Arnold from This Old House said, “I encourage clients to think more creatively in their choices, suggesting they consider a pendant lamp or chandelier instead.”
When choosing a pendant lamp fixture for any room in the home, there are a few key considerations to make. First, what is the overall style of the room? If the room, a kitchen for example, lends itself to a sleek, modern feel, then a wood-slat pendant lamp may not be the right choice for that room. However, a glass geodesic dome pendant lamp may be the perfect fit. Many rooms are reliant on the lighting fixtures to complete their narrative. A study is just a study until a Moroccan Cylinder Pendant Light from Shades of Light (shadesoflight.com) is installed. Then, it is transformed into a virtual getaway to another world in which inspiration abounds.
It is also important to consider the use of the room. Any room that is task oriented, such as a kitchen, studio or office, can benefit from the direct, highly focused lighting of such pendants as the Kichler 2641 Galaxie Single-Bulb Indoor Pendant. For a living room or dining room, which has the basic purpose of entertaining family or guests and typically expected to feel cozy and inviting, the lighting of the room needs to be hospitable as well. Lighting that is to bright or glaring will subtract from the room’s intended atmosphere. The Huffington Post Lighting Guide suggests that, “Pendants that are inverted (they look like upside down table lamps) streams light up to the ceiling, providing ambient or mood lighting in a space.”
Finally, when choosing pendant lighting for the home, it is essential to keep the logistics in mind, i.e. size, wattage and type of bulb needed, length of cords, outlet proximity and height of fixture. In some rooms, it is advantageous to hard wire the fixture into the ceiling allowing it to be controlled by a wall switch or remote. In other rooms, it may be preferable for the lamp to plug into an outlet and have a mobile hanging apparatus, especially if the room’s furnishings are likely to be rearranged on occasion. Preparatory planning and lots of window shopping will save many headaches when it comes to the installation of perfect pendant lighting in the home.