PENDANT LIGHTING

How do you hang pendant lights?

If there’s nothing beneath, the base of your pendant light should be about 5 to 5-1/2 feet above the floor. If you’re hanging multiple pendants, choose an odd number of fixtures—trust us, it just works best that way—staggering each one’s height with a minimum 2 inches variation.

Here are some additional suggestions from our designers for hanging pendant lighting over a surface:

Over any dining table or kitchen island:
• The bottom of the dining room or island light should be 30 to 36 inches above the tabletop or countertop.
• Your ceiling light should be about 2/3 to ¾ as wide as the surface beneath; you may need multiple pendant lighting elements to achieve that width.
• If you’re hanging pendant lights in a row, place them 24 to 30 inches apart, measured from the center of each fixture.
Bedside: Leave 12 inches between the base of the pendant light and the surface of your night table.

Before investing in pendants, make sure that when you hang them, you won’t block the line of sight as you look across the room. For more tips on lighting design and choosing lights, read our lighting buying guide.

Do pendant lights give off much light?

Overall, it’s not “how much light” there is, but more how their light is distributed in the space. In lighting design, pendants can serve a dual purpose. When they have a glass or other type of transparent shade, they provide ambient light that illuminates a whole room. With a more opaque shade, they provide downward-focused light that’s great for taskwork.

What kind of light bulb does a pendant light use?

On the product page for each of our pendants, we list the type of bulb you’ll need to use for each. Here are some tips on color temperature, brightness, and more:

• Pendants often look best with lights that have a warmer color temperature—more on the red side than the fluorescent blue side. Stick with something between 2,700 K and 3,000 K.
• For brightness, we recommend going higher on lumens and installing a dimmer so you can adjust the brightness. If that’s not an option, choose a brighter bulb with more lumens for a kitchen island or other task-oriented setting, and fewer lumens for a dining room or bedroom.
• If your pendant has a clear shade, then the bulb can become part of the design. Consider a bulb with a visible filament to add a fun design detail.
• If you’re using a pendant with an opaque shade, choose a frosted bulb to avoid creating circles of bright light on a surface.

Where is the fixture on a pendant light?

The junction box on a pendant light attaches to the ceiling, just as a chandelier or any other overhead fixture does. Wires strung through the chain carry current down to the bulb.

Do you have more questions? Click the Designer Chat icon, or contact your local Design Center—we’re happy to help!