How to Choose the Right Pendants for your Master

Selecting the right pendant lights for a master bedroom takes a bit of careful consideration. I mean, once they’re installed, they’re a bit trickier to replace than a standard table lamp.

That’s not to say the process should cripple you. As I always say, sometimes the biggest lessons in decorating come from trial and error. But we don’t want your trial to be ALL error now, do we?

In today’s post I want to share some tips on how to choose pendants for a master bedroom. In the coming weeks, I’m going to be publishing a post showcasing different pendant varieties so you can shop your preferred style more easily. But before we even get to that, we need to cover off what you should think about before you even hit the stores (or retailer websites).

So strap yourself in and let’s get your bedroom pendants sorted once and for all.

1. Lets Start with the Pendant Style

And first lets think about the style of your master bedroom. What kinda vibe do you have going on in there? Is it a coastal scenario? Does it feel luxe? It might not actually be decked out in one particular interior design style. Fear not, because a blend of styles actually makes for the best kinda interior. But do think about the mood in the space, because this will dictate the style of pendant you bring in.

The image above from Beacon is a nice example of a bedroom that, while not in a distinct style, feels sophisticated. It’s moody. There’s a sense of relaxed elegance in there. It almost has a bit of a high-end, hotel suite vibe going on. It’s really important to take a step back and apply some of these descriptions to your own room. Once you know the mood you’re working with, you can choose a pendant to match.

On a sidenote: If you love the look of the room above and want tips on pulling off this sophisticated look, check this out.

Also notice above how well the pendant light suits the mood of the room. The tinted glass matches the elegant vibe going on in the space. And with that in mind, I want to explain the different types of pendant materials you might encounter, and what vibe they can create in your master. Scroll on…

Pendant materials and how they impact the mood in a room:

• Glass (especially tinted) can bring a luxe, elegant or high-end feel to a space
• Wicker or rattan can make a space feel quite rustic and relaxed
• Aged metallics can bring an industrial sense of story/history to a space
• Concrete can make a room feel quite contemporary and sometimes masculine
• Timber can bring a relaxed earthiness to a bedroom, but also modernity
• Pendants in shiny copper, gold or stainless steel can bring formality to a room
• Soft fibres like paper or cloth bring a soothing, ethereal feeling to your bedroom

There are loads more materials available, of course, but the above are the main ones you might encounter in your travels. Once you’ve locked in a style and material for your master bedroom pendants, it’s time to consider a few other elements.

I should point out that the image above is also courtesy of Beacon. I do love me a concrete pendant lights for a master bedroom. So contemporary!

2. Think About Focal Point with your Pendants

You’ve probably heard me bang on about this in the past, but lemme say it again. Every room needs a focal point. When choosing pendants for a master bedroom, you gotta consider if you want them to be the feature. Will they be the standout moment you see as soon as you walk into the space? Or will they support some of the more dominant design pieces in the room?

If you have an elaborate bed frame, a vibrant wallpaper or paint colour, or a piece of art that stands out… these pieces are already the focal point. So with that in mind, choose a pendant light that doesn’t take the focus away from these existing wow moments. If there are a number of eye-catching pieces in the room it can be quite overwhelming to the eye. And we don’t want overwhelmed peepers!

The image above is a great example of this focal point scenario in practice. The bed is the clear standout moment in the space (and what a gorg bed it is), so the pendants have been chosen with that in mind. Notice that they speak to the vibe of the bed (and the vibe of the entire master bedroom) but they don’t compete? That’s the approach you want to go with in your own space if the bed is already the feature.

The above pendants are via The French Bedroom Company.

“Size, shape, style and impact: those really are the four things you need to take into account before you buy pendants for a master bedroom. Take some time to think about all four elements and go into a store armed with more certainty”.

3. Size Matters, so you Gotta Pay Close Attention!

One of the issues I see with a lot of master bedroom pendants is that the sizing is all wrong. The shade itself is either too large or too small for the room.

The big thing to keep in mind when choosing pendants is that they need to be the correct scale. What I mean is, they need to look right in relation to the size of the bedside tables beneath them. But they also need to be in proportion to the size of the bed you have.

As a rule of thumb, never have a pendant light be wider than the width of your bedside. It will simply look too overbearing in the space, and it’ll make the scale of your bedsides seem off. Ideally, you want your pendant lights to be slightly narrower than the width of the bedside. Allow for a 10cm or so gap either side of your pendant in relation to the width of your bedside and you’re onto a winner.

The above image via Freedom is a classic example of pendants that are far too big for the room. I love you Freedom, and I know this was styled for a catalogue (not a real room), but the scale is really off here. You’d need rather wide bedside tables underneath those pendants to have them make sense. Outside of the size and scale issue, is the colour and style. Far too dominant in this soothing coastal bedroom.

Hopefully you are starting to better understand how size matters when it comes to pendant lights for a master bedroom.

4. Let’s Talk About Shape as Well

You’ll notice that almost all the images in this post feature round pendants. Or at least round bulbs on a long, narrow arm. You don’t see a lot of square pendants above bedside tables, and that’s because a bedroom needs some fluid shaped included. Your bed, bedsides and artwork are all likely to feature clean, straight lines (square or rectangular shapes with corners).

To counteract all of those clean lines and to bring some balance to the space, it’s wise to introduce a set of pendants for a master bedroom that are circular. Or at the very least feature some sense of fluidity. A bedroom also needs softness in it to evoke relaxation, and a round bulb/pendant light will do that for you.

Even if your bedside table is round, it will still look better to have a round pendant above it than a square one. The hard lines of a square pendant light are too much for a master bedroom. Consider saving your fave square pendant for a kitchen, dining room, or reading nook in a living space.

If you want to take a look at my top round bedside table buys, this post has you covered.

PS The above imagine is via The Design Hunter. Stunning right?!

Are We Good to Go?

Hopefully this post has helped you when it comes to choosing pendant lights for a master bedroom.

Of course, if you have any additional questions, drop them below and I’ll sort you out. I also have a private Facebook Group you can join here which contains hundreds of members eager to share their decorating advice with you. So why not join up and come say hi there?

Happy decorating – and keep an eye out for my upcoming feature on pendant lights you can shop online!

The above image and hero image for this post are both also via Beacon.