Create a soothing bedroom with the right ambient lighting
Lighting is an essential ingredient in setting the mood of a room. For the bedroom, where the goal is to create a place of rest and relaxation, ambient lights such as pendant lights casts an inviting glow and makes the room feel like a sanctuary.
What is Ambient Lighting?
But what is ambient lighting, exactly? Essentially, it’s a general light that creates a glow surrounding a space. It’s very different from task lighting, a direct light used primarily for certain tasks and adds visibility to an area or accent lighting, which is used to spotlight a specific element in a home.
Indeed, with careful placement and dimming controls, ambient lighting can have a significant impact on the bedroom’s look and feel. Adding a few choice lamps to your bedroom allows you to have a calm ‘glow’ which is more soothing on the eyes.
10 Designer Pendant Lights & Floor Lamps
A pendant light emitting soft ambient light by the bed creates the right mood for winding down just before you fall asleep.
| Designer Lights | Price |
| Louis Poulsen Panthella Lamp | $995-1,590 |
| Nao Tamura Turn Lamp | $910-1,350 |
| &Tradition Caret Lamp | $480 |
| CB2 Scrunch Table Lamp | $349.95 |
| Hay Paper Cube Floor Lamp | $468 |
| Louis Poulsen VL Studio Floor Lamp | $605-1,840 |
| CB2 Brace Ombre Floor Lamp | $949.95 |
| Sol Luminaire A-Emotional Tean04 Lamp | $1,299 |
| Lasvit Spacey Eclipse Pendant Light | $5,850 |
| Lasvit Neverending Glory | $3,114 – $4,680 |
1. Louis Poulsen Panthella Lamp $995-1,590
One of Verner Panton’s most iconic designer table lamps for Louis Poulsen, the Panthella table lamp, available from Grafunkt ($995-1,590), casts soft, glare-free light directly downwards.
Its hemispheric shade is made of opal acrylic, which is white on the inside and has the effect of softening and warming up the light it casts. Light also reflects on the translucent shade and bounces around in the area, casting a mesmerising glow.
2. Nao Tamura Turn Lamp $910-1,350
Ambientec’s Turn by Nao Tamura is a sculptural designer lamp which looks elegant switched on or off. Available from Proof ($910-1,350), its form represents how a block of metal is spun when creating the lamp’s shape.
With a surface that’s pleasing to the touch, Turn is also portable, which makes it incredibly versatile for the bedroom.
3. &Tradition Caret Lamp $480
A thoroughly modern designer lamp with a nostalgic inspiration, &Tradition’s Caret lamp from Cult Design ($480) reimagines the classic, green-shaded bankers lamps found in historic libraries.
Made entirely from lacquered steel, this portable light features a rounded base and a long, pyramid-shaped top that emits a soft, diffused light.
4. CB2 Scrunch Table Lamp $349.95
The unusual use of material makes for a unique lamp, as is CB2’s Scrunch table lamp ($349.95), which puts a twist on the traditional bedside lamp.
Inspired by vintage fabric and designed by Chicago-based Kara Mann, its weighted metal base is wrapped in cloth and paired with a coordinating shade for a maximalist pattern-on-pattern ‘80s mod look.
Read Also: How to choose a study or work desk lamp?
5. Hay Paper Cube Floor Lamp $468
A floor lamp is a great way to add ambient light as it has height, balance and visual warmth. Put it in a corner beside an armchair to create an intimate reading spot.
Hay’s Paper Cube Floor Lamp from Cult Design ($468) recalls Japanese lanterns. Designed by Bertjan Pot, Paper Cube is constructed from a strong Japanese paper material, made from recycled PET bottles, and has a flat-pack design that is easy to assemble. Finished with FSC-certified beech legs, the translucent shade has a closed volume that creates a soft ambient glow.
6. Louis Poulsen VL Studio Floor Lamp $605-1,840
Louis Poulsen’s VL Studio Floor Lamp, from Grafunkt ($605-1,840 depending on the size, finish and colour), makes for a great way to brighten up a dark corner. This iconic lamp by Danish Vilhelm Lauritzen has been brought back from the archives and emits a glare-free diffused light.
The triple-layered opal glass provides a very comfortable light distribution and radiates a pleasantly delicate glow to the surroundings with a handsome Housed in handsome matt black, wet painted, or brushed brass, the unlacquered brass, in particular, will develop a patina over time.
7. CB2 Brace Ombre Floor Lamp $949.95
The Brace Ombre Floor Lamp ($949.95) from CB2 is an elegant choice. A timeless design by Australian design collective VUUE, its tripod base is finished in brushed brass and hand-sprayed with deep bronze-tinted lacquer with a dark matte finish which rises and fades into shiny metallic for a gorgeous ombre effect.
Topped off with a luxe jute slub shade, the textured material emits a diffused light.
8. Sol Luminaire A-Emotional Tean04 Lamp $1,299
Pendant lamps are a marvellous way to incorporate ambient light as they give off light in all directions and therefore don’t create as many shadows.
A triumph of material manipulation, the A-Emotional Tean04 lamp from Sol Luminaire ($1,299) is made with painted stainless steel mesh. Designed by Arturo Alvarez More, the material is crafted in delicate pleats to form two overlapped layers, creating a lamp that is simultaneously dynamic and soft.
Read More: Ceiling pendant lamps for low ceilings
9. Lasvit Spacey Eclipse Pendant Light $5,850
Lasvit Spacey Eclipse Pendant from W.Atelier ($5,850) takes inspiration from the most perfect shape in the universe: the sphere. As such, its form is as comfortable to the eye as its form.
A work of art, its unique finish employs an ancient Northern Bohemian technique called lithyalin, which makes the glass look like a gemstone.
10. Lasvit Neverending Glory ($3,114 – $4,680)
Ambient lighting can be glamorous, as this Lasvit pendant lamp from W.Atelier ($3,114 – $4,680) proves.
Called Neverending Glory by Jan Plecháč and Henry Wielgus, the silhouette of this glass lamp represents iconic chandeliers from five of the world’s most eminent concert halls and theatres; La Scala in Milan, Palais Garnier in Paris, the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the Czech Republic’s Estates Theater in Prague, and the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow.
Consider it in a hand-blown translucent opal finish for the softest light-diffusing effect.