Lighting in a void: height, size and pitfalls

A void is the most beautiful place in the house to hang a lamp, and at the same time the trickiest. The space is high, you look at it from two floors, and if chosen badly the lamp either hangs in nothingness or in front of your window.

At what height does it hang?

The bottom of the lamp should end roughly at the level of the upper floor, or just below it. Then you see it from below as a point of light in the space, and from above at eye level rather than above your head.

Hang it too high and it disappears from view from the ground floor. Too low, and it dominates the hall.

How big should it be?

In a void almost everyone underestimates the size. A lamp that looks large in the shop disappears completely in a space six metres high. A rule of thumb: take the height of the void in metres, divide by ten, and you have roughly the diameter in metres. For a six-metre void you therefore end up around sixty centimetres.

With long, narrow fittings, such as a cascade or a series of globes one below the other, look at the total length instead of the width. Allow a third to half of the void height.

Mind the window

Many voids have a tall window. Do not hang the lamp exactly in front of it: during the day you only see a silhouette, and in the evening the whole street looks in. Slightly forward or to the side works better.

One lamp is rarely enough

A pendant lamp in the void is the centrepiece, but it hardly lights the hallway below. Combine it with wall lights along the stairs or in the hall. How high and how far apart they should hang is in wall lights in the hall: height and spacing.

Keep the same colour temperature in that combination. Why that matters, you can read in warm white, neutral or daylight.

The practical point: cleaning

Think in advance about how you will reach it. Can you get to it with a ladder from the landing, or do you need scaffolding? A lamp with open glass or lots of loose parts requires maintenance you will not want to do at that height every year.

So in a void, choose closed fittings where possible, or something on which dust is not immediately visible.

Unsure about the size?

Send us a photo of your void with the height. We are happy to think along with you, and for made-to-measure pieces we make the length fit your space exactly.

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