If you’ve ever looked at a home featured on The Design Files, you’ll know we’re partial to a pendant light.

Go-to choices are the paper styles by Akari, HAY, and Twentytwentyone that impart a soft glow, but there’s a whole range of timeless designs to finish your living space, dining area, or bedroom.

Some rooms call for more direct lighting, achieved with cone and dome-shaped pendants made from ceramic and metal materials, like the Italian-made Pau 1 Light Pendant from Beacon Lighting; Nordlux NoNo 49 Pendant from Lights Lights Lights; or the &Tradition Flowerpot VP7 Pendant from Cult in your colour of choice.

For a more relaxed or coastal look, opt for a style in raffia, rattan, or even Zeoform Micro Pulp (an eco-friendly material crafted solely from plant fibre and water) as seen in Natura Pendant by Tigmi that adds natural warmth and texture.

If a pendant light is going to be your room’s focal point, look for a piece with a sculptural quality, like the sumptuous Oi Soi Oi UFO Pendant Cashmere crafted from silk and cotton ribbon, or the handmade Mellow Pendant Light by Melbourne handblown glass lighting studio Haus Lights.

A minimalist interior or kitchen benefits from linear-style pendants that gently ‘hover’ over a space without intruding, like the House pendant by Sundown Lighting or their more playful Kich style formed from contrasting and alternating shades of Australian hardwood timber.

The above 24 pendants are the classics but there’s plenty more to explore in our Design Directory.

The perfect pendant light for you will strike the ideal balance or height, size, colour, and materiality. There are no ‘rules’, but generally speaking, the larger and lower your pendant is, the more intimate and defined a space will feel.

Visit our Design Directory to discover TDF’s top picks in furniture, lighting, rugs, benchtops, tiles, and more!