How to Style Your High or Vaulted Ceilings with Lighting

pendant lights for a living room with a high ceiling

Large Light Fixtures for High Ceilings

If your home has high ceilings, you have an opportunity to create a creative lighting plan that addresses all that extra space. You might think that large light fixtures are enough for your high ceilings, but that’s not always true. While it can be helpful to ensure you’re covering your layered lighting basics, you still need to implement more bulbs for a larger space. 

Consider your ambient lighting, accent lighting, and task lighting to create appropriate lighting for every occasion.

Explore the three most important elements of layered lighting for your home to discover what the best lighting is for high ceilings.

Ambient Lighting

One of the biggest challenges when looking for large light fixtures for high ceilings is preventing any dark areas with even and consistent lighting. 

The best choice to create consistent ambient light is by placing hanging light fixtures with LED dimmable lights evenly throughout the space. It’s easy to figure out how far apart to space these lights. All you have to do is divide the height of your ceiling by two to discover how much space should be between each bulb. If your ceiling is 15 feet high, you should be looking at lights spaced about seven feet apart, though you can also get creative with spacing. We encourage you to experiment with the spacing, style, and placement of your lighting.

Keep in mind that the brightness of the decor and the wattage of your bulb will affect the light diffusion in the room. We recommend choosing brighter lights and installing them with a dimmer, so you have the control you need to prevent overlighting the room.

Functional Pendants, Chandeliers, & Plugins

Open floor plan dining area and kitchen with high sloped ceiling and custom light fixtures

With your ambient lights all set, now it’s time to think about the large light fixtures for high ceilings, like pendants, chandeliers, and plug-ins. These lights are your second layer that helps target important areas in the room. You might choose to place these hanging lights over a coffee table, between two couches, or by countertops.

Pendants

Pendants are an especially popular choice as large light fixtures for high ceilings because they’re incredibly versatile, and they’re easy to replace as your taste and decor changes. We love pendant lights over reading nooks in the living room, islands in the kitchen, and even desks in the office.

Chandeliers

What other lighting is best for high ceilings? We love a good chandelier! These are great choices for all types of spaces because you can choose between linear and horizontal designs. If you’ve got a long dining room table, for example, you may choose a long chandelier that hangs over the entire table. Want to light a smaller kitchen with a vaulted ceiling? A vertical chandelier is the perfect choice!

Plug-ins

Plugins as large light fixtures for high ceilings are another good option because they’re very easy to install. Swap out unique shades and cages to ensure they fit in with your decor and customize the cord length so you can hang them nearly anywhere. You can also add swag hooks to your cart to create an unusual design with the cord that leads down to the plug.

Lamps for Task Lighting

floor lamp for a living room reading nook

The final layer in your lighting strategy should be task lighting for smaller pools of light in areas where you need extra illumination. These should complement the large light fixtures you have for high ceilings without overwhelming the decor in a room.

You could add lamps on tables in the living room, bedrooms, and office. Typically, you would put lamps on end tables for anyone who needs additional lighting for reading or in the corners of the room to ensure that the entire space is well lit.

Lighting with Color Cord Company

What lighting is best for high ceilings? We hope you’ve found your answers at Color Cord Company. With a little direction from us, your home will be well lit, inviting, and stylish. Once you know which direction you’d like to go with the large light fixtures for your high ceilings, you should start exploring your options in our online store. With us, you get to customize so many elements of your lighting fixtures; it’s like you’re designing from the ground up!


We also have a plethora of resources to inspire your design process. Discover some unique ways to light up your life with gallery photos that display what the best lighting for vaulted ceilings is! If you have any questions, you can always reach out to us for additional guidance. Fill out our online form or give us a call at 1.800.409.1070 today!