Lighting your Hallway and Stairs with Modern Pendant Lighting

“You never get a second chance to make a first impression”, which is why your choices for lighting your hallway and stairs are so important.

The entrance of your home is the first place visitors arrive, and you want to make this a welcoming and warm inviting space. One of best ways to do this is with lighting.  Whether you are designing your hallway from scratch or you would just like to update your current space, make an impression that will last by lighting your hallway and stairs with flair.

Our Guide to Lighting your Hallway and Stairs

Lighting your Entrance and Hallway

Lighting your hallway and stairs starts from the minute you step foot through your front door. You want to create a sense of flow that ties in with your homes overall feeling and design.  Because a lot of hallways are narrow, this can present a couple of issues when thinking of lighting ideas. There is generally minimal floor space, so a lamp is probably not the best option. You also do not want to make the space feel smaller than what it is by cluttering with too many lights, however, with this said, it still needs to be well lit from a safety perspective. Choosing a focal pendant light can solve these issues.

If you have a large, wide hallway, create an impact by using a larger pendant light that really makes a statement as you enter your home.

For longer hallways, creating an impact could be more about hanging an identical single pendant 2 or 3 times down the length of a hallway, accentuating it’s length and sense of grandeur.

Quick Tips for Lighting your Entrance and Hallway

• Place lights every 2.5m, at least. If you are using smaller lights with a lower wattage, consider placing these more frequently.
• Draw the eye down the hallway by placing a light at either end
• Stand at both sides of the hall and check for any dark spots, making sure the light is consistent the whole way along.
• Hang your pendant lights 2100-2400mm above the floor (depending on your ceiling height) works best.

Lighting your Stairs

A pendant light is a must for every stairwell!!

Modern pendant lighting is a simple, yet elegant way to enhance your stairs, and add depth and light to your stairwell . Pendant lights are highly recommended when you have high ceilings as they can create an even more dramatic and cascading effect.

There are a number of aspects to consider when putting together a lighting design for your stairs.

Are you going to be lighting from above, tread level, or in the wall, or a combination of all these? Like any area of your home, adding depth and warmth through the use of layered lighting helps to ensure you have the basic elements of lighting for safety covered, as well as adding impact via elements such as pendant lights.

Opting for a pendant light from above can create the illusion of height in your ceiling and a focal point, when paired with step lights, for instance, you can create the right amount of light to safely ascend or descend your stairs, without taking away from the centre piece that is your pendant light.

When hanging a pendant light in your stairwell, it is important to get the height correct. It is easy in a stairwell to want to hang a pendant a little lower to get it’s full impact at eye level, however, you need to remember to leave plenty of room to pass under your pendant light as you ascend the stairs.

If you have a spiral staircase, pendant lights are the perfect option for creating impact, particularly if you are able to hang multiple pendants in a cluster at eye level through the centre spiral in your staircase.

Quick Tips for Lighting your Stairs

• Allow approx. 460-600mm of clearance between the bottom of the pendant light and the head height of a tall person.
• Don’t hang pendant lighting so high that it is out of eyes view.
• Consider layering lighting in your stairwell to make sure it is adequately lit, but still creating an impact.

Lighting your hallway and stairs can be tricky to get right, but it can also be fun!  Experiment, play with different styles, and multiple layers, and use it as a space in which you can get creative with lighting that really reflects your style.

Rovert Lighting & Electrical have a wide range of modern pendant lighting, and can assist you to selecting pendants for lighting your hallway and stairs.