I still find it mildly amusing that ‘pendant lighting’ has become a thing, a trend.  To me, pendant lighting is just normal lighting or at least it used to be.  When I was a youngster it’s all we had in our home.  I’m pretty sure it was all everyone had in their home – a simple bulb hanging down from the ceiling with a shade over it.  When I was young the most exciting thing I remember in lighting was my Grandparents having under the counter lights!  No one else I knew had these, so I admired the soft glow they let out in the evening.  Lights, back then, just didn’t seem to be a thing.

Nowadays all that has changed.  The big trend a few years ago seemed to be spot lighting, but now pendant lighting has made a comeback.  Personalities and unique ideas can now be expressed through hanging LED pendant lights with Edison style bulbs on show or statement shades in a cluster.

And I’ve jumped on the bandwagon.

Isn’t our new pendant lighting fabulous?  So we may currently have a few too many holes in the ceiling and the unsightly Artex on the walls desperately needs skimming and plastering, but I have been instantly amazed by these lights.  They have totally transformed our dining area.  Our newish rustic farmhouse table was the sole highlight of this space in recent months, but these lights have created a whole new atmosphere.  They look so fantastic they really are a feature all in themselves and not just a practical light providing solution.

Now I’ve jumped on the inventive lighting bandwagon I am not ready to get off.  Here are 5 ways to use pendant lighting around the home:

1. Bedside tables – low hung exposed Edison bulbs over each bedside table looks so cool in an adult room.  You don’t have to stop at one either, perhaps try hanging two or three in a cluster together.
2. Dining room – this is exactly what we have done above and it looks great. I think two hanging lights look the best over an eight seater table.  A smaller table may suit just the one, but you could go for an oversized shade.
3. Kitchen – industrial style pendant shades seem to be all the rage over kitchen island worktops just now.  They’ll provide some much needed light close up when prepping home cooked meals.
4. Living room – instead of plonking a lamp in the corner, why not add a low hanging bulb with a cool geometric pendant light to create a unique ambience?
5. Centrepiece – pendant lighting is easy to add as the centrepiece to any room in the house. They’ll also look great as a feature piece for a minimal hallway, just make sure you have tall or normal ceilings and not bungalow-low style ones like us or you’ll walk into them!