What is a pendant light?
A pendant light is a hanging light fixture that’s suspended from the ceiling by means of a cable, chain or metal rod. Pendant lights are available in a vast range of different shapes and styles – from classic lanterns to ceiling pendant bars, cluster pendants or rise and fall pendants – and in many different materials including antique brass and glass, contemporary metals, colourful ceramics, and even concrete.
What is a chandelier?
A chandelier is an ornate style of ceiling light that dates back many centuries, and is naturally associated with a sense of luxury and grandeur. Traditionally chandeliers featured multiple lights on branched supports, with a multitude of hanging crystal prisms to refract the light.
Today’s modern LED chandeliers come in a range of different styles and materials, from spectacular glittering glass and crystal chandeliers, to elegant contemporary metal designs, and chandeliers with individual mini lampshades.
Read more about chandeliers in our guide Chandeliers: an illustrated history
What’s the difference between a pendant light and a chandelier?
Pendant lights and chandeliers share a number of similarities. Both offer plenty of practical ambient light, and both can make a strong design statement. However, there are also some key differences between these two types of ceiling light. A pendant light generally features a single hanging light or a small group of lights, while a chandelier normally has multiple lights. Meanwhile, chandeliers are intended to be the key focal point in a room and are significantly more ornate and decorative in style than pendant lights.
Where is the best place to hang a pendant light?
Pendant lights can look good in any space – and they work particularly well in hallways and kitchens. Here are some of our favourite examples of the best places to use a pendant light…
1) Hang a striking pendant light in the entrance hall
Image by Claire Totman Designs.
A pendant light is a great choice for lighting an entrance hall, and a well-chosen pendant light can make a real statement. Hallways can sometimes be a little on the dark side, and pendant lights offer plenty of practical ambient light, making the space feel more open and inviting – and creating that all-important first impression. (Find more tips in our guide How to light an entrance hall.)
View Pooky’s collection of hallway pendant lights here.
2) Suspend a row of pendant lights over a kitchen island or table
Meanwhile, pendant lights are the perfect choice for lighting a kitchen island or kitchen table. As well as providing essential downlighting and creating a focal point, they’re also great for helping to delineate the dining area within a large or open-plan space.
Odd numbers work particularly well and will create a balanced look: a row of three or five pendant lights makes a fabulous statement over a kitchen island. Read lots of tips for kitchens in our guide: How to light a kitchen island – inspiration and ideas for pendants and more.
The kitchen island above features a trio of our Priscilla pendant offering an understated, contemporary look.
View our full range of kitchen island pendant lights.
Browse more hanging lantern pendant lights
Meanwhile, if you have a smaller kitchen table, a single pendant light makes a great feature placed centrally overhead: as a general rule of thumb, you should aim for the bottom of your pendant light to sit around 30-34 inches from the top of the table. The Equilibrium rise and fall pendant light, shown above with the Ted ceramic shade in bottle green, is fully adjustable, so you can set it to the perfect height for your space.
3) Choose a striking pendant shade
Pendant shades are a great way of adding your own personal touch to a pendant light or chandelier. Our pendant shades are available in a range of beautiful, high-quality materials to complement your choice of ceiling light – from fun floral shades to ceramic, rattan, and glass.
Where should you hang a chandelier?
A chandelier is the ultimate show-stopper of the lighting world, bringing a sense of glamour and decadence, and adding a real wow factor to a space. Chandeliers can look fabulous in any room in your home (even the bathroom!) – and they’re particularly good at elevating social spaces such as the sitting room and dining room.
And you don’t need a huge house for a sensational chandelier – as proven in our ideas-packed guide Where to place a chandelier - in any size home or space.
Here are some of our favourite examples of the best places to hang a chandelier…
1) Make a chandelier the focal point of the sitting room
A beautiful chandelier makes a great centrepiece in a sitting room, either suspended centrally from the middle of the ceiling or aligned with an architectural feature, such as a fireplace. The very romantic Sycamore chandelier in bronze, above, features an array of individually crafted leaves and crystals, creating a focal point with a touch of romance.
Another way of doing it is to hang a chandelier low over a table or even the bath! With its gorgeous hot air balloon shape, featuring hundreds of shimmering pieces of glass with differing cuts and shapes, the Lachrymose chandelier is big, bold and beautiful – just as a chandelier should be.
2) Suspend a chandelier over the dining table
The dining room is the most natural home of the chandelier: place one over the centre of the dining table for a talking point. But they’re not just grand and eye-catching: chandeliers can create a lovely warm, intimate feel. The Saturn chandelier, above, casts a soft and elegant light.
View all of Pooky’s chandeliers here.
From modern to traditional designs, pendant lights and chandeliers can transform a room and add personality and character to any space. View our full range of beautiful, affordable ceiling lights.
See also:
Where to place a chandelier - in any size home or space.
How to light a kitchen island – inspiration and ideas for pendants and more.
Chandeliers: an illustrated history
