Light up your life in style
From the bedroom to the kitchen, a dramatic hanging fixture can bring more than just light to your space. Karlyn Kubin reports.
There are countless ways to bring your style and aesthetic into your home, but perhaps none is as important as the essential and ever-needed light fixture. Overhead lighting can be overlooked, especially when there are so many fabulous lamps we can use to spice up a room, plus countless other must-have home accessories available to dress up a space.
However, the impact that good lighting can have on a space is worth the time and effort it takes to find just the right piece.
Besides the obvious function of lighting up dark corners to display your room (and the aforementioned must-have decor within it), lighting can impact how you see colour (you want that paint colour you spent two months agonising over to pop), and can affect your emotion and moods. There’s a reason that seasonal affect disorder is most common in autumn and winter months when it is often brought on by changes in your biological clock, caused by, you guessed it – a ‘‘reduced level of sunlight’’.
There are many ways to bring light into your home. A room’s lighting needs are determined by its use, though generally a balanced space has a mix of overhead, accent and task lighting.
While there are many beautiful lamps to place by your sofa and chairs, and plenty of accent choices to showcase your art and bookcase decor, let’s focus on the showstopping effect of an impactful hanging light fixture.
From the bedroom to the kitchen, and the dining room to the living area, a dramatic fixture can bring more than just light to your space.
I adore finding fixtures that add a unique element to my rooms, whether that be a structural component or a natural texture. It is safe to say, we’ve certainly come a long way from Thomas Edison’s invention of the light bulb.
Let us begin with the not-at-all humble chandelier. Unlike their single-bulb cousins, chandeliers feature many light bulbs, often in symmetrical branched frames, at least in the case of those with a more traditional aesthetic.
Like so many things we know and use today, the candle chandelier entered the scene in medieval times, when they were used by the wealthy.
Primitive versions gave way to more ornate pieces that were used just as much for decoration as light. Faceted crystals were added later to better reflect the light. A long-time staple in traditional design, chandeliers tend to be a more extravagant and eye-catching lighting solution and are often used in places of prominence.
In addition to being aesthetically impactful, they provide a greater amount of light, and are ideal for large spaces and high ceilings.
While pendants are the reliable team players of the home, I think of chandeliers as showy statement pieces, perfect for a foyer or formal dining area – it is essentially another piece of art for the room.
Of course, there are other ways to fit a chandelier into your home – there are many sizes, shapes, and styles for a plethora of different spaces. Smaller options are often used in shops to add a bit of drama and elegance to bedroom furnishings.
If you don’t need or want the drama of a chandelier, pendant lights are another stylish and multi-functional option. They can offer direct, taskoriented lighting – like when grouped over a kitchen countertop – or a more subdued ambience when strung in a group in the middle of a room, be it a bedroom, dining room, living room, or sun room.
When placed at the right height, they can make your room feel instantly cosier and more welcoming without causing eyestrain from too-low lighting.
The style options for pendants are vast – from natural woven fibres to modern minimalist metal – and they are perfect to complement existing design elements without overwhelming your space.
Lantern-style fixtures, while technically a subcategory of pendant lighting, offer a nice inbetween of the direct and practical pendant lighting and the far-reaching light of the eyecatching chandelier. Often more formal than a pendant but more relaxed than the chandelier, it is the ‘‘baby bear porridge’’ of lighting fixtures.
You will find lanterns of every shape and size and in seemingly endless styles, from rustic farmhouse to French countryside to transitional/ modern.
Some of these fixtures take after the chandelier, offering multiple light sources, and some offer the task-oriented light of a pendant, so be sure to know what you need when looking to buy one.
Many people most often use lantern fixtures in their kitchens and bedrooms for just the right amount of glow and style. I also love using lanterns as outside lights for sun rooms and enclosed porches, and lantern-inspired fixtures for outdoor sconces. – TNS
When placed at the right height, pendant lights can make your room feel instantly cosier and more welcoming.