If you ask any interior designer which light is the most neglected yet has the highest possible impact, the answer is pendant lights.
Compared to most other lights, the pendant lights are somewhat undiscovered.
Their true potential is rarely explored by the homeowners, who tend to overlook their importance. In the living spaces of Dubai, where an apartment area is already cramped, a pendant light gives a curated look to the living room or dining room (wherever you place these lights).
In this blog, we will discuss pendant lights, exploring how they are more than just a decorative option, and provide some tips and tricks to help you elevate your space with them.
Knowing The Pendant Lights
Well, the simplest definition of a pendant light is that it is a light hanging from the ceiling through a rope, rod, or chain. Mostly, people choose a central location from where they are hung, think of the center of a room. Other suitable spots for it could be right above the coffee table or even on the top of a seating space.
Now that you’ve learned that pendant lights hang from the top, offering illumination to the entire space, let’s discuss how to choose pendant lights for your home.
Tips To Choose The Right Pendant Light
Finally decided to get a pendant light for your home? Great decision!
Now follow these tips, and you’ll never go wrong with having a pendant light or a pendant lamp in your living space.
A. Choose The Mood
First things first, you need to choose the mood of the space you are lighting up with the pendant lamp.
If you are aiming for a flattering vibe that is warm and cosy, go for warm white light ranging around 3000k.
However, if you are installing the pendant light in a functional area, such as the kitchen, opt for a cool white color temperature, which should be higher than 4000K. This way, you’ll be able to keep the space bright and shiny at all times.
B. Go For Dimmable Options
Gone are the days when you would simply turn the lights on and they would remain at a fixed brightness until you turned them off.
Now is the age of dimmable lights.
This means you have the option to adjust the brightness of the pendant lamp to your convenience. If you have one in your study room, you can make it as bright as possible while you complete your assignment, ensuring you don’t doze off midway. And when you really want to wind down, reduce the brightness and have a moment to yourself.
Oh, and they are super affordable. Don’t think that you’ll end up burning a hole in your pocket by getting them.
In fact, they are so economical that you’ll even see your electricity bill not really getting impacted by the usage of LEDs in the pendant lamps.
C. Do Some Measurements
Just because you were scrolling through Instagram and saw an aesthetically pleasing picture of a pendant lamp doesn’t mean it will look good in your living space.
Instead, you need to make your decision based on the dimensions of the room where you’ll be placing it.
- Ensure that you choose compact pendants for a ceiling that is less than 8 feet tall.
- Dubai villas typically feature a double-height ceiling. Such ceilings require multi-tiered pendants or cluster lights to strike the right balance of light in the rooms.
- For an open-plan apartment, it is necessary to avoid pendant lights hanging low, as they may block eye lines.
- Your pendant light’s diameter must be at least ⅔ the width of the surface below it.
- If there is a duct on the ceiling, maintain a clearance of at least 30 cm to prevent dust buildup.
- If layered lighting is your style, you’ll install multiple pendant lights throughout the space. For that, leave at least 90 cm of space between each pair of pendant lights.
D. What’s Your Ceiling Color?
Well, this is the most ignored tip of all!
Knowing your ceiling color and then choosing a pendant is a MUST!
If you have a dark ceiling, it will absorb a lot of light. Comparatively, the light colored one will reflect it. Hence, your choice of pendant lamp should be in accordance with the color of your ceiling.
A dark ceiling must be adorned with lighter shade pendants and vice versa. A light with metallic finishes (mostly brushed gold or glass) is an excellent choice as it bounces light around.
If you want glamour without a lot of drama in your home, you can choose multiple smaller pendants to be placed across the room rather than a large, giant one that overshadows everything else around it.
Pendant Lights or Chandelier: Which Is A Better Choice?
A lot of people find themselves in a pickle when they have to choose between pendant lights and a chandelier.
Chandeliers, when compared to pendant lights, have multiple bulbs connected to a single source, are more suitable for ambient lighting than accent lighting, and are generally more expensive. If you prefer downlights over up lights, pendant lamps are the ideal choice.
Final Thoughts
If you had a choice, would you wait for golden hour to arrive every day so you can take Insta-worthy pictures, or would you choose affordable pendant lamps and make your home shine perpetually? Well, the latter is always a better option. Pendant lights offering a warm glow, a dimmable option, and not breaking your bank are surely worth a shot, especially if you live in Dubai and want your apartment to have a homely feel!
