We’ve compiled some of our favourite unusual ceiling light ideas to help inspire your lighting scheme. Think innovative materials, bold shapes and oversized shades.
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P376 Pendant Light
By Kastholm & Fabricius for &Tradition
Despite looking incredibly modern, this unusual ceiling light was actually designed in 1963. Designers Jørgen Kastholm and Preben Juhl Fabricius created it to fuse form and function seamlessly. Its gentle curves and clean lines make it both iconic and enthralling.
Caboche Ceiling Light
By Patricia Urquiola & Eliana Gerotto for Foscarini
Technology and creativity come together to create the Caboche Pendant Light. Its shade is composed of a series of transparent globes that create an ethereal aesthetic when illuminated by the LED module it houses. Plus, it’s dimmable so you can adjust its brightness to suit you.
Under The Bell Ceiling Light
By Iskos-Berlin for Muuto
Whilst the Under The Bell Pendant Light might look normal from the outside, it’s designed to enhance your room’s acoustics. It’s made using sound-absorbing recycled felt and its domed shape also helps to create a quieter space underneath it.
Aim Pendant Light
By Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec for Flos
The Aim Pendant Light collection allows for endless creative opportunities. We love positioning multiple pendants at different heights to create an eye-catching lighting feature. It also looks striking when hung individually thanks to its bold silhouette.
Pili Pendant Light
By Arturo Alvarez
This ethereal pendant light is crafted using fine steel thread. Each one is hand-woven into the design to create a completely unique shape. This lends each shade a harmonious irregularity that allows whimsical light to escape through its gaps.
Arrangements Ceiling Light
By Michael Anastassiades for Flos
Each bold configuration of Michael Anastassiades’ Arrangements Pendant Light draws parallels between lighting and jewellery. With various shapes available of this unusual ceiling light, you can configure it to suit your space. We love seeing it positioned in a cavernous hallway.
Formakami Ceiling Light
By Jaime Hayon for &Tradition
To create the Formakami Pendant Light, Jaime Hayon was inspired by traditional paper lanterns. These designs have been present in Asia for centuries. Now, Hayon’s design strips the lanterns back to their purest elements in a modern reinvention.
Aplomb Pendant Light
By LucidiPevere for Foscarini
LucidiPevere’s unusual ceiling light is a celebration of concrete’s raw beauty. The light’s angular shade is crafted using cast concrete to showcase the material in all its splendour. Its sculptural shape also inspired its name, after the French phrase à plomb.
Mytilus Pendant Light
By Arturo Alvarez
Having drawn inspiration from the moving seabed and the ocean’s currents, this undulating design is as much an objet d’art as it is a light. Its stainless-steel mesh shade curves gently round the glass orb which, suspended from a transparent cable, appears as though floating.
Satellight Ceiling Light
By Eugeni Quitllet for Foscarini
This masterpiece of modern design appears as though it’s suspended in mid-air. The unusual ceiling light features a glass cloche that is skilfully hand-blown in Venice. It sits atop an illuminated orb as though preventing it from floating into space.
2097/18 Chandelier
By Gino Sarfatti for Flos
The 2097/18 Chandelier is a celebration of the inner workings of lighting design. With exposed bulbs and cables taking centre stage, this modern interpretation of traditional chandeliers combines both classic and industrial aesthetics.
Noctambule Pendant Light
By Konstantin Grcic for Flos
The French word for ‘night owl’, noctambule, inspired this design because it too comes into its own at night. Flos’ skilled artisans hand-blow each glass module with LEDs carefully integrated into the joins between the modules. Find out more about it here.
Melt Mega Pendant System
By Tom Dixon
Make a bold statement with this huge Melt Mega Pendant System. When illuminated, each orb creates a mesmerising melting hot blown glass effect. When switched off it boasts a mirror finish, meaning it looks just as striking when not in use.
Balance Chandelier
By Heal’s
The premise of balance inspired this modern interpretation of a chandelier. It blends clean monochrome lines with opaline orbs that cast a warm, soft glow throughout the room. This creates a contemporary optical illusion, perfect for modern homes.
Bloom Pendant Light
By Ferrucio Laviani for Kartell
This glistening display of modern design showcases the complexity of a unique hand-crafted lighting. Its shade is crafted using polycarbonate flowers and houses a series of bulbs which make the shade glisten when illuminated. It’s truly a unique ceiling light.
PH Artichoke Pendant Light
By Poul Henningsen for Louis Poulsen
Despite being designed in 1958, Poul Henningsen’s show-stopping Artichoke Pendant Light is remarkably modern. Each of the pendant light’s 72 leaves is positioned by hand at Louis Poulsen’s Danish workshop. This means it casts a glare-free glow from every angle.
Overlap S2 Ceiling Light
By Michael Anastassiades for Flos
What makes the Overlap Pendant Light so unusual is its construction. The special cocoon-like finish was first developed by the US Navy in the 1960s. The process involves coating the internal structure in powder, spraying it with a unique resin and protecting it with a transparent spray.
Arame Unusual Ceiling Light
By Tom Raffield
Sustainable craftsmanship meets unusual ceiling light design in the Arame Pendant. Its tessellating design is created using steam-bent wood and mimic natural patterns found in nature. When illuminated, the light casts a kaleidoscopic pattern onto the ceiling.
Ginkgo Chandelier
By Vezzini & Chen
The Ginkgo Chandelier was inspired by nature and her processes. Named after Ginko, a distinctive flat-leafed tree from China, each pendant is hand-carved from thin Parian porcelain. When illuminated it diffuses light delicately whilst playing with shadows.
Hex Ceiling Light
By Resident Studio for Resident
This modern Hex Pendant certainly qualifies as an unusual ceiling light. Its hexagonal shape is rarely seen in lighting design, plus its integrated LED module adds further intrigue to the design. As it’s suspended from three slim wires, Hex almost appears to be floating in the air.
Cut Mega Pendant System
By Tom Dixon
The futuristic, faceted shape of this Cut Mega Pendant System lends it a space-age aesthetic. When illuminated it’s almost hypnotic, transforming into a translucent kaleidoscopic gem and casting mysterious shadows on the walls. This truly is an unusual ceiling light.
Akari Ceiling Light
By Isamu Noguchi for Vitra
Isamu Noguchi’s iconic Akari Light Sculptures are the original unusual ceiling lights. Each one is crafted in the Japanese town of Gifu using delicate shoji-paper at a family-run workshop. Their design blurs the boundaries between sculpture and interiors.
Heat Pendant Light
By Johanna Forsberg for Northern
This striking Heat Pendant Light is hand-moulded using metal mesh. When illuminated, streams of light transform the gleaming shade into a glowing cloud of fire. What makes this light even better is the fact it’s made in collaboration with refugees to create employment.
Makiko Ceiling Light
By Heal’s
Designed to echo traditional Japanese panelling, this dramatic wire light is artistic in design. Each frame is hand-welded using black wire with a satin finish for a modern, monochromatic effect. When switched on, the light casts dramatic shadows onto surrounding walls.
Coral Chandelier
By Arturo Alvarez
This textural cluster of unusual ceiling lights is hand-crafted by skilled craftspeople in Spain. It draws inspiration from the diverse beauty of coral reefs, hence its name. We recommend positioning it in a large hallway or living space to appreciate it to its full extent.
Gyro Crystal Chandelier
By Timothy Oulton
Experimental physicist Leon Foucault’s Gyroscope inspired this unusual ceiling light. Originally used to measure orientation, Timothy Oulton has reinterpreted it as a chandelier. Metal spheres surround a crystal nucleus, boldly contrasting scientific instruments with modern design.