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DINING ROOM PENDANT LIGHTS: STYLES, COLOURS AND IDEAS
Pendant lights are one of the most popular lights for dining rooms. Commonly suspended from the ceiling, they act as a centrepiece to the dining room table and create a warm and cosy atmosphere that’s perfect for dinner parties and dates.
Pendant lighting comes in many colours, styles and themes, and we’ll look at some of them in this guide.
In this guide
Expert contributors
Types of pendant lights
There are many types of pendant lighting available. Whether you’re looking for subdued or eye-catching, there will be a style for you. In this section, we cover some of the most popular types of pendant lights:
Drum pendant
Drum pendant lights get their name from their circular shades. They are a popular style as they can direct light, meaning they reduce the amount of glare within the room. They are often used to give a dining room a warm ambience and a cosy sense of style.
If you’re planning on using a drum pendant over the dining table, be wary of the size of the shade—you don’t want it to block people’s eyelines.
Cluster pendant
Pendant clusters are one of the most common ways to hang pendants. They range from three lights to 10 or more, and offer a lot of flexibility in terms of positioning. You can cleverly adjust the length to create different patterns and looks.
You can buy cluster pendants as a single unit or create one yourself by hanging several individual pendants.
Linear pendant
Linear pendant lights are a stylish way to light a wide area, such as a rectangular table. They offer a rustic look, which is incredibly popular at the moment.
The benefit of linear pendants is their flexibility. You can purchase a pre-made set of linear pendants or simply hang a row of pendants you’ve bought individually.
Use our range of coloured Prolite LEDs to create a funky and unique ambience. They are available in a range of colours, including:
- Yellow
- Green
- Pink
- Magenta
- Blue
Price: £7.50 each
Track pendant
Pendant track lights are similar to standard track lighting. This is where fixtures are attached to a track containing electrical conductors, as opposed to being installed in individual lighting positions.
It’s one of the easiest ways to use several pendant lights at once. All the lights run from one track to a single electrical outlet, rather than be powered separately.
Glass globes pendant
Globe pendants (also known as bubble pendants) are bulbs encased in a sphere of clear glass. Often seen in hip cafés or restaurants, they give a room a vintage feeling, especially when combined with an LED filament.
It’s easy to incorporate glass globe pendants into your dining area. However, make sure to install them high enough so that no-one bumps their head, and consider fixing them over the dining table to stop them getting damaged.
Our range of Osram LEDVANCE E27 glass globe pendant fittings are available in:
Price: £26.40 each
Pipe fitting pendant
Pipe fitting pendants are one of the most unique-looking pendants around. Rather than dangle from a cable, pipe fitting pendants hang from steel pipes.
Pendant colours and materials
By pendant “colour”, we mean the colour of the pendant’s shade or its fitting (the cable from the mains to the bulb). Often a pendant’s colour is simply the colour of whatever material it’s made of.
In this section we’ll look at both the colours and materials of pendant fittings and shades.
Pendant fitting
Gold/copper/brass
These classic metal styles are extremely popular pendant fittings, providing both a rustic feel and a timeless elegance.
LampShopOnline offers a vintage E27 Pendant in either gold, copper or brass. It’s fully suitable for standard and dimmable LED. The kit comes with 1.8 metres of cable, a ceiling rose, a lampshade ring and fixings.
Price: £11.94
Black metal
Black is a highly favoured option for pendants as it’s neutral and can be used with any other colour. It can be matched with lighter colours for a striking look (as seen in the picture) or with other dark colours to create a complimentary effect.
Metal in interior design has become increasingly popular over the last decade, mainly because of its timelessness and its ability to give a room a rustic yet industrial feel.
Price: from £35.00
Shade
Orange glass
Orange lights are the closest in colour to a standard candle, which naturally creates a warmer, more inviting atmosphere.
Osram’s LEDVANCE 1906 Large Bubble E27 Pendant fitting is available in orange glass. Create a special vintage aesthetic by combining it with LED filaments designed to recreate the styles of older lights. You can use it with standard or dimmable LEDs.
Price: £22.00
Smoked grey tinted glass
Smoked glass is incredibly versatile, and suitable for decorative, ambient or even general lighting. These lights are often used as pendants above a dining room table as they are gently opaque and able to provide diffused lighting.
Combine them with retro-style LED bulbs and you will have a unique centrepiece in your dining room.
Price: £48.00
Style
When redesigning a living room, many people have a style in mind, and will often be looking to recreate the style that is used across the whole house.
In this section, we’ve asked our expert contributors to offer some advice on how to achieve some of the most fashionable and beloved styles.
Retro
Retro pendant lighting often creates a rustic look. “Fixtures that resemble lighting from the past will work great,” Arthur Smith says. “Think smaller, classic-looking pendants or even lights where the bulb itself is the focal point of the fixture.”
You can achieve this retro look with restored antique pendants, which you can find at many antique shops. Louisa De Paola says: “The use of antique bronze and glass is currently very on-trend.”
Modern
Modern-style pendant lights are often eye-catching and unique. Louisa De Paola suggests “hand-blown coloured glass or mirrored glass balls, as they work well grouped together to create a large statement piece.”
Industrial
Industrial is one of the leading styles for pendant lighting, combining the retro style with the contemporary aesthetic of the modern home. Arthur Smith recommends using “fixtures that have an industrial feel or that come in different geometrical shapes. As for colours, go for either a white or metallic finish.”
Dark metal fittings, like our Osram LEDVANCE pendant pipe fitting, are excellent for bringing an industrial look to any dining room, at an affordable price.
Ideas
In this section, we’ll look at some of the best bulbs for different dining room ideas.
Best pendant dining table lighting
When choosing a pendant light for the dining table, you will want something unobtrusive. You should also be conscious of glare, as it can cause discomfort if the light is in someone’s eyeline.
The Osram LEDVANCE 1906 Carved Pear E27 Pendant Fitting is an excellent choice for dining table lighting. It’s small and inconspicuous, and the smoke glass colour diffuses the light, reducing glare and creating a pleasant dining experience.
Price: £48.00
Best large pendant light
Large pendant lights are particularly good at filling bigger spaces, meaning you need fewer pendants to light a room.
We recommend the Osram LEDVANCE 1906 Large Bubble E27 Pendant Fitting. It has a diameter of approximately 300mm.
The orange light can create a warm atmosphere, which benefits larger rooms. The design mimics the vintage styles of the early 1900s.
Price: £44.40
Best small pendant light
The easiest way to reduce the size of a pendant is to completely remove the shade. One of the benefits of pendant lighting is that it still looks stylish and attractive without any shade. Combine it with an LED filament and you have a rustic yet modern look.
LampShopOnline offers a 1.8 metre vintage-style E27 Pendant. It can be cut to length and includes all the accessories you need to install the fixture yourself. Fully compatible with standard and dimmable lights.
Price: £11.94
Best pendant for a cosy atmosphere
The Osram LEDVANCE Globe E27 Hanging Pendant is a unique design. Rather than a single cable connected to the ceiling, this pendant uses a metal hanging fixture. It can take up slightly more space, but it is worth it for the style.
The smoke glass globe diffuses light, creating a warmer atmosphere that’s perfect for a cosy dining experience.
Price: £55.20
Pendant FAQs
How high should I hang a pendant light?
The base of the pendant light should hang about three feet above the table.
Obviously, the size of both the room and the table will be a major factor when you’re deciding what size pendants to use. A long rectangular table will require a few lights hung at regular intervals. A small round table would only need one pendant light or chandelier.
How many pendant lights do I need for a dining room table?
This depends on the size of both the room and your table. Usually, the pendant lights should be about half or two-thirds the width of the table in diameter, although this can vary depending on the shape of the light fixture, the shape of the table and so on.