PRODUCTS ROOMS Manufacturers & Designers Highlights Offers Info Store
Bonbon table lamp
Bonbon pendant lamp

A cozy atmosphere thanks to the optimal lighting for your living room

► WHICH LAMPS ARE BEST SUITED FOR GENERAL LIVING ROOM LIGHTING?
► WHICH LAMPS FOR THE COUCH CORNER?
► WHICH LAMPS FOR THE DINING AREA?
► WHICH LAMPS FOR THE READING CORNER?
► WHICH LIGHTING DESIGNER FOR WHICH FURNISHING STYLE?

Formakami pendant lamp from &Tradition

An average living room is about 20 square meters. In order to create a homely ambience, you need not only the right furniture, carpets and accessories, but also the light sources best suited to illuminate the living area well and to put the respective room sections in the right light. We will show you which type of light best suits the respective living room area!

A living room with an average size of 20 square meters requires three to five lights, depending on the layout of the room and personal preference.


Which lamps are best suited for general living room lighting?

Ceiling and pendant lights are ideal for illuminating the living area as a whole. They form the basis of the light sources in the living room.

Be careful not to choose a pendant light with too small a shade or too short a cable, otherwise the proportions of the room will appear unfavourable. The larger the room, the larger the basic lighting can be. Dimming functions can also be a good help here to spread the light comfortably. The brightness in the living room can be lower than in the kitchen, for example, 100 lumens per square meter are recommended in order to obtain optimal illumination.


All-rounder: the PH 5 from Louis Poulsen

Vertigo pendant lamp from Petite Friture

Flowerpot VP3 from &Tradition


Which lamps for the couch corner?

Ceiling lights placed directly above the coffee table are suitable for the relaxation area of the living room. They draw attention to the table and accessories and also create zones in your living room, which gives it structure. In addition, no one hits their head on a lamp.

Floor lamps and table lamps, which can provide cozy light, are also suitable. For lovers of reading we particularly recommend floor lamps in this area, which can be aligned directly on the couch or armchair and are soothing on and for the eye.


Hanging lamp Mega Bulb from &Tradition

AJ floor lamp from Louis Poulsen

Panthella Mini table lamp from Louis Poulsen


Which lamps for the dining area?

The dining area is often located in the living room. Pendant lights directly above the table are ideal here: they separate the dining area from the living area and provide atmospheric light. The height of the lamp(s) above the edge of the table should be approx. 60-70 cm, so you get maximum illumination without being blinded while eating.


PH5 pendant lamp from Louis Poulsen

Golden Bell pendant lights from Artek

Flowerpot VP7 pendant light from &Tradition


Which lamps for the reading corner?

There is nothing better than reading a book or a magazine in a lounge chair or on the sofa. Harmonious lighting, a combination of warm and cold light, supports this: the warm light colour ensures cosiness, while the blue component ensures better concentration. Whether as floor or table lamps is dependent on space and personal preference.


Floor and reading lamp Kaiser Idell from Fritz Hansen

AJ table lamp from Louis Poulsen

Gubi Gräshoppa floor lamp


Which lighting designer for which furnishing style?

Verner Panton: Cult lamp style from the 60s

Flowerpot VP3 from &Tradition

Unlike the designs by Arne Jacobsen, with whom Verner Panton worked closely, Verner Panton's designs thrive on geometric shapes and bright colours, which manifests itself particularly expressively in his Flowerpot Series. The unmistakable look of the 60s makes Panton's Flowerpot series legendary and makes it the right choice for vintage or retro fans. The individual lamps in a wide variety of colours attract everyone's attention and bring life to every home with the sixties flair. These timeless lamps are today produced by &Tradition, and are a must-have not only for Flower Power fans!

Arne Jacobsen: Iconic lighting design from the 1920s

AJ floor lamp from Louis Poulsen

In addition to seating furniture, Arne Jacobsen designed lamps that are available today from Louis Poulsen. In his work both as an architect and as a designer, Arne Jacobsen was primarily influenced by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier and Bauhaus.
One of the designer lighting icons, for example, is the AJ lighting series that Arne Jacobsen created for the SAS Hotel in Copenhagen. Practical and timeless are probably two attributes that best describe the AJ lights and which make them so popular to this day. Jacobsen's Bauhaus influences are unmistakably recognizable in their design and functionality.

Christian Dell: Bauhaus lights from the 1930s

Kaiser Idell table lamp Fritz Hansen

The Kaiser Idell lamps are well known to everyone who deals with design. Created around 1933/34 for Gebr. Kaiser & Co., they were still produced in large numbers in the post-war period. Today they are manufactured by Fritz Hansen and are rightly considered THE classic among (desk) lamps. Modern design that outlasts all trends and never goes out of style. Just the thing for Bauhaus fans!


More about 'Lamps' in our blog

Eames Lighting Design... Or, A search for light in the Eames Universe...

...Who did feel motivated and called upon were the Museum of Modern Art, and who in 1950 instigated the competition New Lamps "to encourage the design and production of good portable table and floor lamps employing incandescent bulbs"15, a competition run in conjunction with the Heifetz lighting company, one of the more prominent producers of contemporary lighting at that time, and whose President Yasha Heifetz had been, perhaps understandably, one of the more vocal disputants of Breuer's claims concerning contemporary American lighting designs16; and a competition which resulted in an exhibition that opened on March 28th 1951, and which presented designs by the likes of Joseph Burnett, Gilbert A... Where is the Eames entry to New Lamps 1950?...

Radio smow: A Lighting Playlist…….

On this, the longest day, a radio smow playlist devoted to that which Europe for the next 24 hours will have more of than at any other time this year. And which somehow still won't seem enough. We could do with a lot more light, a lot more illumination, in...

Light up your life ...

It's Dumfries Show on Saturday. That won't mean much to the most people, but for us it is a sure sign. Winter is coming. We know, we know. Barely have we got use to remembering to take our sunglasses to work, buying ice-creams for lunch or waking up at 5 am...

smow design spring Top 5: Lamps

...The Top 5 Lamps from the smow design spring... Beach Ball Lamps by TOBYhouse...

smow design spring gems: david turnbridge

In the course of the past three months we at smow have experienced more than our fair share of nonsense be it at design fairs and trade shows in Milan, New York and Berlin or during our visits to USM Haller and Vitra. We now want to look back and analyse a...


All 'Lamps' Posts