Swing time: Glass and colour chandeliers are trending 

Kya deLongchamps takes her pick of the pendants and shows how to style them to suit your space

Maluma from Fritz Hansen (DK) in Moss.

Pendant lighting gliding through our eye-line has a special character. This year sees a renewed fascination with coloured and speciality glass pieces that glow with gem-like beauty whether lit from within, refracting and reflecting daylight, or simply being enjoyed for their polished silhouette. 

The thickness and intensity of the colour in the glass or acrylic will show off more or less of the bulb, the shape of which can be a feature in itself. Whether you love a high chandelier, a staircase dandy, or an intimate addition swung low to anchor a table or seating spot, here are just six of our favourite vintage and new statement pieces for fashionable jewel flash.

Bailey faux-gem and crystal chandelier, €965, Venetto Design.

JARS THAT JAM

Suited to singles, rows, clusters, and staggered multiples — the Amp designed for Normann Copenhagen by Simon Legald, was inspired by old radio tubes and the line of Japanese paper lanterns. It retains that gentled industrial feel that’s become a staple of the contemporary interior. Choose from a closed inverted jar or a longer, more aubergine shape. With the addition of a disk of marble, it’s highly sophisticated set low and examined closely by dinner guests (green/golden or smoked/black glass). Pair with a spiral LED bulb of 2,000K or 2,500K (dimmable) depending on the size of your Amp; from €113.

Maluma from Fritz Hansen (DK) in Moss, €306.

For a frosted matt in the same jar style, try the Maluma pendant from Fritz Hansen in Plum or Moss; €306, byflou.com.

This restrained smoked glass look in lighting is something you’ll find by a variety of makers and high street outlets this spring and includes the popular Kornelius pendants from Jysk. A wider mouth, they start at just €25 on sale (€32.99 standard) nailing classic,1970s conversation pit groove, jysk.ie.

Tip: If the bulb is going to be on show, consider using an LED version that will last for years and not months. Large decorative filament-style bulbs can be expensive to replace.

INCLUSIVE STYLE

The Danish firm Verpan was started by legendary designer Verner Panton (it’s a contraction of his name), known for his stacked metal dish varieties of pendants. The VP Globe is an architect favourite from this company. Spoiler alert, the bigger globe is formed of acrylic, making it light to handle and hang, but if someone reaches for its Sputnick body, I would rudely smack those fingers away.

The Verpan Globe, from €850 in glass.

It’s a sculptural tower of five geometric aluminium reflectors — spray-lacquered on some surfaces in red and blue, and hung like a necklace on thin chains.

These are enclosed and magnified inside the Globe, making it perfect for a window situation to curate its slightly scientific oddness. Available in 40cm or 50cm versions, the Globe is best used as a single and is offered in a brass finish (only small version) and a clear and coloured glass (small version). Various Irish suppliers from €850.

Tip: If you can’t see the full face of your guest across the table, your pendant is hung too low; 60cm-80cm is about right.

VINTAGE LOOKS

Chandeliers are back in fashion. With a heritage formed largely in the 18th and 19th centuries, vintage styles with captivating, modern lines are on show with leading lighting brands.

If you don’t like cut-glass dingle-dangles and raindrops, look for panels or bubbled discs of pressed, textured glass applied to a gilded frame made popular in the 1960s. Hung low on decorative chains with fabric wiring, these have all the punch of a shrubby period piece.

We’re drawn to the Melvillous from Pooky with its rounded form, and slender staggered panels of mercurised glass on a three-ring frame — the sort of thing celebrated in the hall half a century ago; €581, pooky.com. For a larger piece, the Amaryllis from Sweetpea & Willow shimmers with an amber glow, €1,883, sweetpeaandwillow.com.

The Melvillous from Pooky, the sort of thing celebrated in the hall half a century ago, €581.

Explore authentic lighting from German, Viennese and Italian makers and be prepared for a RECI rewire. Design-market.eu has eye-watering prices on named designer lighting but will give you a lead for a hunt on Etsy, pamono.eu or eBay or at Irish auctions (collectireland.com) and 20th-century furniture suppliers. For new bargains try The Range, HomeSense, B&Q, Sklum, Wayfair, and Etsy shops.

Tip: With chandeliers, clusters, and horizontal bar lighting, take up no more than 50% of the length of a long table or bay area below it. Beware of reflected and refracted glare with bright fittings and cut glass.

Tom Dixon explores new colourways in the Globe, €4,548, tomdixon.net. There's plenty of inspired lighting in a similar style for under €400.

MELTING MAGIC

British designer Tom Dixon’s Melt and Globe lighting brought us back to the wonder of mid-century sci-fi imaginings, and his latest varieties in terms of colour and form are irresistible, arty fruits. The firm prides itself on its plays on the archetypal round, enclosed lamp housing, and our pick from the spring 2024 products is the small Copper LED Globe. This has the visual appeal of a bunch of ripe cherries; €4,548, tomdixon.net.

The Skyfall pendant in Murano glass is more symmetrical in a single drop in a Dixon-like opaque metallic finish and doesn’t include the feature dents to the lamp housing. It’s well priced at €717.09, willieduggan.com. Love the look but can’t reach that dazzling price. Trip over to lights.ie for the three-shade, amber/blue/smoke pendant from Hollander which offers that slightly sucked sweetie pleasure of chunky textured balls of glass; €219.90, single Roman pendants, €79.90.

Tip: Avoid half-spherical lights clamped to the ceiling. Set cut-glass half globes in frames and take them off the ceiling surface as a fuller suspended light.

If you’re stuck with one in a rental, try putting a drum shade over it to hide this ghastly intruder.

SUPER STACKS

A simple sculptural pendant in bright colours can be arty and very playful. Assembled in a stacked light with various shapes connected by the vertical wiring and additional embellishments? Just gorgeous in coloured glass.

The Smykke Glass Pendant Light by EBB & Flow (Denmark) is informed by the swing and sway of groovy pendant earrings in mid-century plastics and Lucite.

Normann Copenhagen Amp in a variety of designs and smoked colours from €113.

Mouth-blown by skilled artisans, for a stunning focal point, hang a single Smykke in your entryway or living room and arrange lights in a linear formation in your kitchen or dining area; from €325, suppliers include lamptwist.ie. Ebb & Flow does an especially lovely ivy green in a number of its glass pendants including the hourglass sexy Futura (from €243, depending on supplier).

Alternatives in this stacked styling include Bezany Colors from Sklum, €42.95, sklum.ie. Tiered pressed glass ceiling lights and pendant shades channelling art deco, are everywhere this year. Try M&S for its Monroe lamp in trending reeded glass and gold plate with prismatic reflections; €412.

Tip: Some suppliers offer build-your-light services where you can choose everything from the cable material to the colour of your glass-stacked lighting elements.

This can help with scheming and scaling a special space. Try Esther Patterson’s work for UK brand Curiousa, suppliers at curiousa.co.uk.