Our top 10 pendants
Great lighting is fundamental to your home’s interior. As well as providing illumination, it creates a distinctive mood, ambience and warmth – and pendant lighting is absolutely key to this.
To achieve both the right lighting levels and a cohesive look, we recommend layering different types of lighting throughout your home, beginning with pendants. This will make sure that your home not only looks it’s best, but that it works on a practical level too. But with so much choice on the market, how do you begin to choose a design which is right for your space?
Pendant lights can be widely split into two different categories, although these often overlap – ambient and statement.
Ambient lights act as a replacement for natural light in our homes and often come as pendant lights, which hang in the centre of the room for even illumination. Once you have the basics sorted, you can start to think about adding statement lighting to your interior for that ‘wow’ factor. Don’t be scared to show off your personality.
So, begin seeing your home in a new light. From sculptural shapes to iconic, mid-century designs – we’ve gathered together our top ten pendant lights, designs that combine ambience with statement style to create a home that is just right for you.
Astep Model 2065 Suspension Light
Designed in 1950 and relaunched in 2016, the Model 2065 Suspension Light is a beautiful and unique pendant light. Consisting of two joined opalescent saucers, suspended from the ceiling with an aluminium canopy – the 2065 has a futuristic graphic expression and a lightweight aesthetic.
This stunning pendant light was designed by Gino Sarfatti, the grandfather of an Italian lighting design dynasty and one of the most important, and innovative lighting designers of the 20th Century.
Louis Poulsen PH 5 Pendant Light Contemporary Hues
A sculptural Scandi icon designed around our needs – Poul Henningsen’s innovative anti-glare shade system is what launched the PH 5’s success. Inspired by his mother’s dislike of harsh unflattering lightbulbs, the PH 5 uses 5 curved aluminium shades, all of which indirectly disperse light in a different direction. This means that the PH 5 light eliminates glare whilst illuminating the whole room, a pretty clever piece of design.
Available in a full-sized version or a mini, and in a number of colour combinations – if you’re looking for a design icon, this is a great place to start.
George Nelson Bubble Lamps
In 1947, George Nelson became obsessed with a spherical white lamp, desperately wanting one for his new design office. So, he decided to make one. The birth of what would become one of the most iconic pieces of lighting in design history, George Nelson’s Bubble Lamps ooze mid-century modern style.
Giving off a subtle diffused glow, the Bubble Lamps come in a variety of shapes and sizes. They look as good by themselves as they do when hung in a cluster.
Petite Friture Vertigo Pendant Light
Sure to be a talking point in any room, the Vertigo Pendant from French design brand Petite Friture is a unique and captivating pendant. With its ultra-light fibreglass structure, stretched with velvety polyurethane ribbons, this pendant lamp comes to life swaying in the soft air currents that surround it.
Available in two sizes and a range of ribbon colours – this pendant can be adapted to perfectly suit your space.
GUBI Multi-Lite Pendant Light
An adaptable piece of lighting that gives you complete control - the GUBI Multi-Lite’s half-sphere shade splits and rotates around the light piece, giving you multiple options for illuminating your space.
Designer Louis Weisdorf said about his design: “I wanted a lamp that could do more. I imagined it would appeal to a lot more people if they were able to put their own mark on the lamp design and change it whenever they felt the need, without compromising on the lighting qualities.” We think he perfectly captured this idea!
Lee Broom Orion Globe Light
British lighting designer Lee Broom started out with a career in fashion, working for Vivienne Westwood before stepping into the world of lighting design. And his fashion influence can clearly be seen in his jewel-like pieces of lighting.
Hanging either horizontally or vertically, Lee Broom’s Orion lights can be combined in an endless number of ways to create unique lighting constellations, each with an eye-catching and graphic glamour.
Audo Copenhagen TR Bulb Pendant Light
Deceptively simple in its design, the Audo Copenhagen TR Bulb has been cleverly designed with flexibility in mind. Inspired by modern society’s increasingly nomadic attitude towards housing, the dimmable bulb is portable and can be easily taken from place to place. Fitting onto the majority of E27 fittings, it’s able to be taken down and reinstalled with little electrical expertise required.
We think it pairs pretty perfectly with one of Audo Copenhagen’s simple black or brass pendant fixtures.
Foscarini Aplomb Pendant Light
A jewel in concrete, the Foscarini Aplomb Pendant is an example of elegant industrial design. Taking concrete, traditionally heavy material and transforming it into a delicate and sculptural pendant fitting, designers LucidiPevere have created a modern classic.
Available in 3 sizes and 3 distinctive colour hues, the Aplomb pendant sits perfectly over countertops or workspaces, in a neat line or a more expressive cluster.
Flos IC Pendant Light
Inspired by a moment of stillness and balance, the Flos IC Pendant has been designed by Michael Anastassiades for lighting giants FLOS. A true modern classic, although only launched in 2014, this is a design which has already gained iconic status.
Elegant, contemporary and providing a diffused and ambient light, this is a pendant which captures your attention and invites wonder.
Tom Dixon Melt Pendant Light
A mesmerising centrepiece, Tom Dixon’s Melt Pendant has some serious style. Translucent when on, transforming to a mirror finish when off – this pendant has a distorted form which makes it appear different from all directions, constantly surprising you from new angles. And when clustered together, the Melt Pendant Light creates an utterly captivating chandelier.
Available in a number of metallic shades, the Melt Pendant Light is a British design success story which can be seen in homes, restaurants and hotels around the world.
We hope you’re feeling inspired by our selection of designer pendant lights. Share your own lighting setups with us via Instagram @nest_co_uk.
If you need a little help choosing the design that’s right for you or would like to find out more information about any of the featured pendant lights - contact our team on 0114 243 3000, email info@nest.co.uk or send us a message via Live Chat. We’d be happy to help you discover your very own forever design.
Image Credits: Lee Broom Orion Lights - Beppe Brancato, courtesy of Lee Broom
