How Low Should My Pendant Lights Hang?
Pendant lighting is a strong option for accent lighting and one of the common questions that people wrestle with is how low their lights should hang. The length of the pendant is obviously a function of how long the cord is from the ceiling to the bulb. In considering how long they should be, you will want to think about where you want the bulbs as the source of light to be and how low you want the lowest point of the fixture to be, including cages or shades.
How low your pendants should hang depends on three things;
- Which room is your light in?
- Is it over a table or a counter?
- Do you need to walk under it?
Which room is your light in?
Different rooms require different pendant sizes. A light that works perfectly in your dining room will have to be adjusted to work over a kitchen counter since dining room lighting fixtures typically hang lower than those in a kitchen.
Lights in an entryway can typically be longer especially if your entryway is two floors high.
In a living room or bedroom we recommend a height of 7 ft from the floor to the lowest point. This is more achievable with higher ceilings more than 9 ft high.
Is it over a table or a counter?
How low your pendant light hangs is also affected by the height of what is under it and how it impacts sight lines in the room. Over a table we recommend two and a half feet of space between the table and the bottom of the bulbs on your light fixture. This is so your sightline when seated isn't interrupted by the light fixture. You want the light to help create ambiance but not to obstruct conversation.
Over a counter we recommend three feet of space between the bottom of the bulbs on your light fixture and the counter. This is so when you are standing by the counter your sightline isn't interrupted by the light fixture.
The lights we build at Loewen Design Studios are constructed assuming a standard 8 foot ceiling but are more than happy to adjust any lengths so it properly fits in your space. If you want or need something different from the default, just contact our customer service team at hello@loewendesignstudios.com.
Do you need to walk under it?
If you need to walk under the light because it is in a hallway or walkway, we recommend making sure you have 6’ 8” of space under the light fixture as this is the height of any standard door frame. While this should allow for adequate clearance under the light fixture, if your family is particularly tall you might want it a little higher. Once again, if your ceilings are something other than 8’ and you prefer to customize the default lengths, feel free to reach out and we can make those adjustments for you.
Most of the lighting fixtures we make at Loewen Design Studios can be adjusted to walk underneath them. The only exception is the farmhouse style lights. We generally don’t recommend them in these settings because the cages will hang too low and shortening them changes the proportions.