Not sure what ceiling lights work best in a living room? Try these 18 bright ideas  - Saga Exceptional (2024)

The most common types of ceiling light.

Since the pandemic we’ve seen a continuing theme in interiors for a more natural aesthetic filled with rich, earthy tones and soft, textured fabrics.

Helping us to feel safely cocooned in our homes, it’s a theme you can take from floor through to ceiling. This means your lights need to be considered an integral part of the scheme.

“When styling the living room, it’s important to carefully consider the lighting, as this can help to pull together the whole look of the room,” says Helena Davies, head of buying at furniture retailer Barker and Stonehouse.

“The ceiling lighting in particular is key; it needs to not only look good to complement the decor, but also has to be functional in the space, providing good illumination.”

Although this living room appears to have plenty of natural light (making us suspect the lights are more decorative than functional), we love how they have still been considered an important part of the overall design.

Their organic shape and differing heights also draw attention to the stunning architectural beams during the day. The added bonus is that at night they will help to create a cosier feel by diverting your eye from the vast vaulted roof.

Nothing says quiet luxury more than a simple monochrome scheme where subtle links between your furniture, lighting and decor combine to create an overall finish that oozes with style.

It’s clever finishing touches, such as matching the colour and shape of your living room ceiling light to your furniture, that will help separate the extra from the ordinary.

And it seems the desire for more luxurious lighting is one we’re set to see more of, according to Helen Pett, design ambassador at lighting, furniture and accessories specialist Arteriors.

“We’ve seen a demand for luxurious lighting ‘jewellery’ pieces: those statement lighting designs that really add something special,” she says.

“This year, we’ve seen a notable growth in chandelier sales, particularly for living rooms. It’s a really nice touch to bring a sense of grandeur and luxury to a space.”

And although rising mortgage rates may be slowing down the property market, Pett thinks this actually may be one of the reasons for the increasing interest in luxe.

“Perhaps rather than buying a new house, people are choosing to renovate and update their homes with luxury pieces,” she suggests. “This will ultimately add value (along with style) to existing decor schemes.”

If your living room interior design includes dark walls and furniture, choose a pendant light with cream or white shades for a contrasting effect.

Take note from this scheme, which has also used a floor, ceiling and table lamp to cleverly frame the seating area, thus marking out a clear zone for relaxing or entertaining. Known as layering, it’s a technique favoured by interior designers.

Connor Prestwood, interior design specialist at lighting firm Dowsing & Reynolds, explains: “Layered lighting is about aiming for a combination of ambient, task and accent lighting to create a well-balanced and versatile scheme.

“Having more lighting options will give you more control, enabling you to set the perfect ambience any time of day.”

Prefer something more sculptural? LED lights offer a wealth of options to switch up your living room ceiling lighting.

During the day, lights – such as those featured in this scheme – will serve to illuminate the area as a whole. At night, they’ll become glowing halos to highlight zones, furniture and features of your interior design scheme.

Picking the same design for your ceiling, floor and table lights will also bring a sense of unity to the room. Hang them in clusters or as groups for an even more dramatic effect.

We’re a fan of painted ceilings. They’re the fifth wall in our world, and while painting them a block colour or wallpapering works well, this living room ceiling lighting idea shows you can do even more.

It’s the ultimate luxurious look, with a ceiling mural and a glittering double-layer glass and gold pendant.

And yes, while we accept that the overall room design is probably more ornate and luxurious than your average family home, there’s no harm in adapting the feel to suit your own individual space.

Create your own version by adding a frame around your existing ceiling light using wooden moulding from your local DIY store. If you feel your painting skills aren’t up to the task, simply inset a section of self-adhesive wallpaper in a design that you love into the panel.

“If you’re thinking of using pendant lighting in a living room, consider the ceiling height, as this will dictate how low your light can hang,” advises Pett.

“Avoid longer pendant chains where these may interfere with head space – no one wants to bump their head on a chandelier!”

Of course, it’s common sense to make sure you avoid injury, but if you just can’t resist the charms of that long pendant light in your favourite home store, there’s a solution.

Instead of installing it in the centre of the room, hang it closer to a wall. As well as avoiding the risk of an accident, you’ll create a cosy corner and ambient light that’s perfect for relaxing.

It’s an idea that works for any type of light with extra length. If you don’t want to relocate your ceiling fitting, choose a light with a longer flex that can be trailed over a hook in the ceiling.

Although high living room ceilings can seem like a hindrance when it comes to decorating or repair, they’re the dream of most lighting and interior designers.

Why? It’s a chance to make a statement. And what better way to do this than by opting for an oversized staple item such as a lightbulb showcased in an angular gold frame.

Davies agrees: “If ceilings are high, an oversized light works well. For the design-conscious, opt for a shade with a more sculptural style for a unique look.”

It’s an idea that would work well with any colour scheme – although we love how the gold and white light in this room is strikingly prominent against the rich red walls.

If your walls are painted in a darker shade, choose glossy surfaces for furniture such as coffee tables. The shinier finish will reflect and bounce the light from ceiling lamps back into the room.

You can always identify a well-considered interior when there’s a silent conversation within the room. You’ll notice items that “talk” to each other because they share a connection. In the case of this living room, it’s the floating glass ceiling lights that acts as big brothers to the smaller glass vase on the side table below.

And while it may have been tempting to choose a darker light fitting for a monochrome scheme, there’s another reason why the glass works well in this design.

As Jo Plant, head of design at lighting company Pooky explains: “If you have low ceilings, it’s best to avoid large, low-hanging fixtures. They have the effect of bringing the ceiling down into the space and making the room look smaller.”

So even though the ceiling in this living room isn’t particularly high, choosing a clear glass finish doesn’t compromise the sense of space as the transparency ensures light filters through when it’s not switched on.

If you set up home during the Nineties, it’s likely you’ll remember paper lampshades. Cheap, cheerful and usually sold in white, they felt like a step away from the more traditional fabric lampshades that had graced many of our childhood homes.

Fast forward 30 years and they’ve never really gone out of fashion. They’re still a staple ceiling light – working especially well when the rest of your interior is filled with vibrancy and colour.

If you’re worried a paper shade may look like a poor relative next to your sumptuous sofas and jewel-coloured tones, simply opt for an extra-large version. What it lacks in colour it’ll make up for in size.

Although you may love the architectural features of your home, they can become problematic if they prevent you from hanging ceiling lights.

I recently encountered this problem when I moved into a new apartment. It’s a listed building and has a long wooden beam above the space where I wanted to place my dining table. The solution? A plug-in pendant light.

While I’ve opted to cover my bulb with a shade, the rise in LED bulbs has led to the humble light bulb taking centre stage. No longer a utilitarian item that needs hiding with a more decorative shade, they now boast unusual-shaped filaments, come in a variety of sizes and are an ideal solution if a plug-in cable is your only option.

If you’re concerned these lights may make your room look more like an unfinished building site, follow the advice of Davies and add extra lights such as a floor lamp or wall lights: “They can help set the overall mood in the room, and work especially well during the evenings, or while entertaining guests, creating a cosy and inviting atmosphere.”

If you’ve braved a darker ceiling colour, shine a light on your success by choosing a living room ceiling light that hugs the space, rather than hangs away from it, especially if your ceiling isn’t even that high.

“Flush or semi-flush fixtures work better with lower ceilings,” says Prestwood. “There are so many beautiful designs to choose from that will still make an impressive statement.”

The linear, offset angled style of this light contrasts well with the uniform lines of the panelling and glass dividing wall. All elements follow the theme of lines across the living room, but are executed in a slightly different manner.

If your look leans towards contemporary cottage, then it’s important to ensure your lighting complements that. It’s done exceptionally well in this scheme, which includes a variety of pretty pleated shades in different colours and fabrics.

And while a single pleated shade could have worked on the ceiling, there’s a reason why bigger is better in this room.

As the space above the picture rail is painted white – a sharp contrast to the colours and patterns below – it’s important to pick a light that doesn’t simply fade into the background.

Here’s why:

1. It adds extra light to the room.
2. It helps fill what could have otherwise felt like a white void.
3. It draws the eye upwards so that the room feels taller than the height of the picture rail.

The rule of three is something you’ll often see invoked in interiors. It’s used to great effect here where a spotlight, wall light and table lamp line up each side of the sitting area to make a set of three.

Choosing spots is always a good idea when you want the focus to remain on architectural features – in this case the exposed oak beams and supports.

Add extra symmetry to the design with matching cushions, side tables and a picture frame above the sofa and you have a simple but extremely effective interior.

If you prefer a home more automated, or like the idea of being able to change the colour tone to suit the mood or the occasion, smart lighting may be the living room ceiling lighting solution you need.

We asked Giuliano Ghidini, UKI consumer commercial leader at Signify (formerly Philips Lighting) to explain how smart lighting works.

“Traditional home lighting, using incandescent light bulbs, works by flipping a switch on and off,” he says. “Sometimes it’s connected to a dimmer switch, but this is generally the extent of its functionality. 

“Smart lighting, using LEDs, allows you to have more control over your lights. Using your smartphone you can tweak the colour, brighten or dim the bulb or switch it on or off, to create the perfect ambience for you.”

Aside from the aesthetic benefits, it’s also believed that the right lighting can boost your overall wellbeing. A study published by the Building and Environment Journal in 2022 showed how natural light in the home is beneficial to our mood, but if your home is naturally darker, can smart lighting be a solution? Ghidini believes so.

“We are all aware of the effect lighting has on health and wellness,” he says. “For example, think about how much better you sleep in a pitch-black room or the way your energy dips during the darkest days of winter.

“These human responses are linked to the cycle of the sun, also known as circadian rhythms. Smart lights can mimic these natural rhythms, improving your alertness, mood and productivity.”

If you’ve chosen to use the same simple colour palette and style in adjoining rooms, then there’s no reason why you need to use different light fittings. Find a light you love and hang it with pride not once, but twice.

In this design, the simple white shade hung from a black cable perfectly suits the black, brown and off-white interior. The astute among you will also notice how the floor lamp follows the same aesthetic with the black stand and white shade.

Simple, stylish and soothing, the cone-shaped living room ceiling light will cast a lovely glow over the seating area, while the one in the adjoining room is placed directly in line with it to create a natural pathway.

Worried that brown is a tricky colour to include in your interior scheme? We disagree, and it’s becoming a colour we’re seeing more of in the world of interior design. Find out how to make brown interiors work.

Nowadays, candelabras are less about channelling Liberace and more about loving luxury. They’re a great option when you want something that nods to tradition but doesn’t overpower the room.

When paired with soft velvet sofas and floral wallpaper they can ooze a quiet sense of glamour, and provide a lovely light at night with the candle-like glow from the exposed bulbs. For a touch of extra grandeur, add a decorative ceiling rose, but paint it to match your ceiling colour so that it’s a subtle, rather than standout, detail.

In a room that’s slightly smaller, or requires more window coverings for privacy, adding a mirror opposite your ceiling pendant will help to add more overall light.

To ensure the widest lighting spread, opt for a light on the larger side so that its glow casts far and wide. But, to avoid the mirror reflecting nothing more than a bright, glaring light, pick a pendant with a shade that allows soft light to diffuse through.

We love this light not only for its looks, but also for its functionality. As well as spreading light above and below, the gaps between the panels allow small slivers of light to escape – turning a simple cream light into an object of beauty by night.

If you fell in love with Viva Magenta, Pantone’s colour pick for 2023, there’s no need to change your lights or interior colour scheme in 2024: pink is set to stay.

In fact, there’s no better colour for living room ceiling lighting – it will cover you and your guests in a warm, cosy glow.

Worried it’s too Barbiecore? Here are some tips on decorating with pink. Or why not take the lead from the styling here, where the addition of large green houseplants makes for a living room that’s more cultured than candyfloss.