Guides

How to choose the right pendant lamp size (and how high to hang it)

A pendant lamp can anchor a whole room — or quietly get it wrong. Most sizing mistakes come down to two numbers: the diameter of the shade and the height it hangs at. Here is the simple way we think about both.

Start with where it will hang

The same pendant reads completely differently over a dining table, in a hallway, or beside a bed. Over a table, the lamp is furniture — it should feel substantial. In a hallway or corner, it is closer to jewellery: smaller, lighter, more sculptural. Decide the location first and the size question mostly answers itself.

Sizing for a dining table

A comfortable rule: the pendant's diameter should be roughly half to two-thirds the width of the table. For a typical 90 cm-wide table, that means a shade around 40–55 cm across. Our Two-Tone Dome Pendant and the wide, shallow Terracotta Dome sit in exactly this range — deep curves that push light down onto the table rather than into your eyes.

Hang it so the bottom of the shade sits about 75–90 cm above the tabletop. Lower feels intimate; higher feels airy. If you can stand at the table and see the bulb, it is hanging too high.

Sizing for a kitchen island

Long islands usually want two or three smaller pendants rather than one large one. Keep 60–75 cm between shades and match their combined width to about two-thirds of the island's length. Narrow, textured shades — like our Linen Pendant or the Braided Jute Pendant — repeat beautifully in a row without feeling heavy.

Hallways, corners and bedsides

Here the pendant's job is atmosphere, not task light. Choose something with texture that looks good even switched off, sized 20–35 cm across, and hang it low enough to notice — around 180 cm from the floor in a corner, or 50–60 cm above a bedside table where it replaces a lamp entirely.

Ceiling height matters more than people think: for every 30 cm of ceiling above the standard 2.4 m, drop the pendant roughly 8 cm lower.

A note on handmade shades

Papier-mâché diffuses light differently from metal or glass — the glow is warmer and softer, and the shade itself becomes part of the light. Use LED bulbs (they stay cool and are gentle on natural materials) and expect the surface to show the small tool marks of the person who shaped it. That is not a defect; it is the point.

Every lamp in our lighting collection is made to order in Yerevan, and most can be made in a custom diameter or colour — so if your table needs a 47 cm dome in a specific shade of sand, that is exactly the kind of request we like.