As Ideal Home's Sleep Editor, I spend a good proportion of my working life looking at bedrooms, and well-dressed bedrooms at that.
Most of the rooms that come across my desk are expertly styled, but when it comes to bedroom lighting ideas, I have a pet peeve that even some top-notch interior stylists are guilty of making.
This bedroom lighting mistake is easy to make. It's also one I've made myself (which is why I know how irritating it is to live with), and I think it instantly cheapens a room.
However, there are some very easy ways to solve this design faux pas; in fact, I've found solutions that start from just £2.
So, what is this bugbear of mine? A bedroom ceiling light that doesn't hide the light bulb from underneath.
The light pendant in the image below does the job brilliantly, but not all bedroom light shades are so well designed.
Yes, I know, it's a small thing that perhaps I should really get over, and it's hardly the biggest bedroom design mistake you can make. But when it comes to creating a bedroom that feels like a luxury retreat, the details really do matter.
I don't really like to see this in any ceiling fixture, but in a bedroom – a room where you're naturally going to be spending a lot of time lying down and (unless you close your eyes the minute you hit the sheets) staring at the ceiling – I think it's particularly noticeable.
Admittedly, I prefer the soft glow of bedside lamps rather than using the overhead light when I'm in the bedroom at night, anyway, but if you do have the ceiling light turned on and the bulb is visible, that means a blinding light shining directly into your eyes.
And if you don't have the overhead light on, you still spend a lot of time looking up at the (usually less than attractive) underneath of a light shade and a bare bulb hanging down.
Above is an example of the light shade I have hanging in my spare bedroom, awaiting replacement. It looks perfectly fine when you walk into the room, but lie down on the guest bed, and this is the view.
Perhaps in your own home, you're more on top of the dusting than I am, but I invariably find that in my house, as well as plenty of hotels and Airbnbs I've stayed in, this is also one place we forget to clean.
That means that you're left staring up at a dusty and cobwebbed light fixture as you attempt to drift off to sleep. It spoils the ambiance of the room, and those kinds of details are what 'cheapens' an otherwise well-styled bedroom.
Now I'm willing to accept it's only me that finds this an issue, but I'm regularly surprised that there aren't more light fixtures available that solve this problem. Especially when it comes to how to plan bedroom lighting, where it's far more preferable to have soft, diffused light, rather than a central beam of light shining down from the ceiling.
In my master bedroom, I solved this issue with the oversized HAY Rice Paper Shade, available for £29 at Nordic Nest. It doesn't completely hide the bulb, but the opening at the bottom is small enough that it's virtually hidden.
If you want a smaller and far more affordable version, it's very hard to beat IKEA's GULLSUDARE Pendant Lamp Shade or Dunelm's Paper Lantern Easy Fit Pendant Shade. Both of these paper light shades are just £2 a pop! Jaw drop.
If you're looking to inject some 'quiet luxury' into the bedroom, I think this small and affordable swap can make a huge difference to the ambiance of your room.
Alternatives
In my hunt to solve this issue in my own home, I scoured the high street looking for bulb-hiding ceiling shades, and although they can be hard to come by, I found six other great alternatives below, starting from just £5.
The bulb isn't completely covered with this bargain buy, but the narrow aperture at the bottom covers it far better than most, and for £5 I think this Habitat light shade looks far more expensive than its price tag might suggest. I also love the soft glow that a paper light shade provides in a bedroom.
Another great value buy, this paper origami light shade not only adds a sculptural focal point to the bedroom, but its clever design also hides the light bulb from below. Dunelm offers these shades in a variety of shapes and sizes, so you should be able to find the right look for your boudoir.
This light fixture is ideal for bedrooms with lower ceilings. It sits flush to the ceiling rather than hanging down on a pendant, which saves you some much-needed height. Plus, the diffuser underneath casts a soft glow rather than revealing a bare bulb.
This statement light shade has crinkled paper stretched around the frame, which is a great way of introducing some texture to the bedroom. A diffuser at the base also softens the light and will conceal any unsightly bulbs.
It seems interior designer extraordinaire Kelly Hoppen has encountered this problem, too. Her collaboration with M&S features the Up-Fold Pendant Light, which is specifically designed to cast light upwards rather than down. You will need a high ceiling, but this is one light fixture I definitely wouldn't mind gazing up at. In fact, it reminds me of a grown-up bedroom mobile.
If you want to push the boat out, the Formakami pendant designed by Jaime Hayon for &Tradition is a favourite with interior stylists for good reason. More than just a light shade, it creates a sculptural focal point in a bedroom, and again, the thin rice paper shade offers an atmospheric glow rather than casting harsh shadows.
If you already have a bedroom ceiling light you love, there is one other solution, and that's the Edison light bulb. You can pick up a vintage-style Edison lightbulb like this two-pack at Amazon for around £15.
This won't hide the inner workings of your light shade, but it will at least pretty up your light bulb and make it more appealing to look at on those nights when you (or your guests) are lying awake and counting sheep.
So, am I alone in this bugbear, or does a bare lightbulb annoy you too? Let me know in the comments!
