The living room is a hub for comfort and cosiness, especially during the depths of winter. Modern living room lights warmly glow on those darker days and help ensure your home feels like home.
Embracing the best modern living room lights to suit your space allows you to find the perfect balance between form and function. And most importantly, they'll help you turn flat, uninviting interiors into cosy havens where you can kick back and relax! Our guide to living room lighting ideas can inspire you to create your ideal room.
1. Work with your home's setting
Before you start working out your living room lighting, it's vital to consider the house as a whole. Think about the style of the other rooms and how you want the living room lights to fit into that. Modern living room lighting doesn't just fit one style - rustic, industrial and even retro styles can still embrace certain modern sensibilities - but working out the style of your home can ensure the room fits into your overall lighting scheme.
Review the room and see what it tells you. High ceilings beg for low-hanging pendant lights or even bold chandeliers, while a lower ceiling might feel more open with a flush ceiling light. You should also consider how much natural light flows into the room. The correct lighting doesn't impose itself on the room but uses the room's qualities as its strength, accentuating and completing the look of the room's features.
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Brooklyn Dome Wall Light - 8 Inch - Pewter & Copper by Industville (Image supplied by Karen Stagg)
2. Learn where to focus your light
Learning where to focus the light is key to many essential lighting ideas for a living room. There are three main types of lighting. Ambient lighting provides the general, overall glow of the room, usually provided by ceiling lights or wall lights. Task lighting focuses on ensuring the room is lit for specific activities, such as wall lights over a sofa to watch television or adding a floor lamp to a reading corner to prevent eye strain.
Finally, there's accent lighting, which highlights specific areas - for example, picture lights can highlight art pieces or cabinet lights can be spread across a wall to showcase a particular collection. Finding the right balance of these different types of lighting can bring numerous modern living room lights into contention. Understanding what you want in the room and where you want the light to focus is crucial to creating a cohesive space.

Brooklyn Dome Pendant - 17 Inch - Pewter & Brass and Brooklyn Dome Wall Light - 8 Inch - Pewter by Industville (Image supplied by @redlivingproperty / @Kayleigh_higgs_photography)
3. Remember to colour-coordinate
Think about the colour of the fixtures and how that will mesh with the look and feel of the living room. Our modern living room lights come in various colours that can establish a room's central themes and styles. For example, a matte black ceiling light can give the room a modern edge, while brass lights with an antique brass finish provide a nostalgic, timeless glow.
Whatever finish you choose for your interior lighting, whether you want a champagne finish or a classic polished bronze finish, remember: it should match the room's colour palette and style.
4. Mix metals
Lounge lighting ideas are partly dictated by the materials you want in the room. Metallic finishes can make lighting fixtures stand out, creating bold spaces that add to the living room's character. Mixing metallic finishes adds depth and a touch of personality.
For instance, pairing a sleek, modern black lamp with the warm, charming flow of brass ceiling lights can create lighting layers that add depth and personality. Adding a contemporary touch, such as metal lights, can make your living room feel more authentic.
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Sleek Edison Pendant - 1 Wire - Pewter by Industville (Image supplied by @em_thelifestylediaries)
5. Make sure your lighting is intimate
If you want a cosy atmosphere, the last thing you want is harsh overhead lighting. Instead of a primary lighting source, you should create pockets of light that create a homely feel. This warm glow can make the space feel more inviting and intimate, precisely what you want from a living room.
Use table lamps on side tables or some subtle wall sconces to provide more depth to the room. We also recommend you consider dimmable ceiling lights as they can create mood lighting that can easily be adjusted to change the feel of your living room.
6. Add subtle textures
When reviewing living room lighting ideas, you don't just need to consider the placement of the fixtures; you also need to consider the objects producing the light. Glass domes and funnels add a decadent, clean look to your fixtures, while natural cotton shades diffuse light in a soft, inviting way. Subtle textures add decorative, warm touches to create a welcoming space that catches the eye.
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Swan Neck Cone Wall Light - 8 Inch - Brass by Industville (Image supplied @rosemoorecottage)
7. Keep it simple
Sometimes, the boldest statement of style revolves around keeping it simple. A light fixture with clean lines can provide a sense of symmetry and calm, emphasising the room's purpose.
A minimalist wall lamp or a light, natural cotton drum lampshade with our elegant LED bulbs can be the perfect combination. The simplicity of these pieces embodies modern sleekness and lets other aspects of the room, like furniture, placement and statement pieces, stand out.

Brooklyn Giant Dome Pendant - 24 Inch - Pewter & Copper by Industville (Image supplied by Andy Haslam Photography)
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Brooklyn Giant Step Pendant - 18 Inch - Pewter and Brooklyn Dome Wall Light - 8 Inch - Pewter by Industville (Image supplied by @my_home_my_renovation)
8. Stagger multiple shades
Some lounge lighting ideas that could improve your living room involve integrating multiple shades. If you have a living room with a high ceiling, grouping a family of lights can open up the space and accentuate the room's verticality.
For instance, three light pendant fixtures hung slightly different heights over a coffee table. It can provide a contemporary feel with its indirect light - a lighting design that feels both practical and artistic. Multiple shades can add a touch of elegance that can make your living room stand out.
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Sleek Edison Wall Light - Brass by Industville (Image supplied by @amazingtelly)
9. Keep it symmetrical
Living room ceiling lighting ideas that can be easily implemented in your lighting scheme involve adding symmetry to the space. This is often referred to as balanced lighting. A pair of attractive table lamp models on two side tables on either side of a sofa or a floor lamp next to a chair can help create a sense of calm and order in the space. This can add a sense of quiet confidence in more formal or traditional living rooms.
10. Play with shade
The material and shape of a lamp shade can do so much of the work when creating a room's identity. A dark, stylish shade can throw direct light up and down your living room, creating areas of light that can dramatically highlight a prominent space.
A translucent natural shade will create an ambient atmosphere, whilst the rounded shape of a glass shade gives a classic, traditional feel. This is where you can truly make a light your own, ensuring your well-lit space is also a reflection of you.
Our living room lighting ideas show how lights can enhance and shape your living room's interior design. For more inspiration, read our guides on living room decor trends and our inspiration gallery, which features the latest living room ideas.