Drum Shades Above the Bed

We've noticed a trend lately in the way magazines and catalogs are styling bedrooms. Pendant lights with drum shades above the bed are popular...

These photos from Living Etc and the Hülsta catalog share a few things in common:

• The large shape of the drum shade balances the width of the bed.
• The light fixture creates a focal point overhead, anchoring the room.
• The simple, classic shade goes well with a broad range of decor.
• The shade diffuses light evenly across the room.
• It's a more modern alternative to an opulent light fixture like a chandelier.

What do you think? Are drum shades the new chandeliers, or is this look a little too blah?

Comments (13)

I really like the look, but I would wonder if, while you're in the bed, the open light bulb above would be harsh/obnoxious?

I also think the one different color post on the bed frame of the first picture is interesting..

Usually decent shades have a diffuser at the bottom if they're intended to be pendants. Even like CB2 fixtures have a diffuser, so if you're in the market and on a budget I'd start there. I like the huge equator one, it's like 3 feet wide.

Umm, looks like not such great feng shui to me - a big "thing" hanging, pressing down, maybe about to drop onto the bed. Hmmm. Will skip this trend.

But I like the white on white!

when you lie in bed under a drum light, you'd be directly under a naked bulb. it's an interesting look, but not really practical or soothing for a bedside or reading lamp (which i thought about AFTER styling my sister's apartment to have hanging lamps over the bed...)

How do the children jumping on the bed avoid smashing into it?

I can't prove it, but I suspect that in that second photo, the lamp is actually over the rug.

I'm not crazy about this look, but it's an interesting idea.

Uh... no. It would get in the way of certain recreational, and procreational, activities.

I had seen that first picture a little while ago and while lying in my canopy bed (very similar to the one pictured- also with no curtains) I tried to envision how it would feel to have that lamp hovering above me. Just the thought made me claustrophobic. The canopy bed is great for feeling cozy in a larger room, but bringing that huge overhead element into the space would just be too, too much.

I like drum shades in general, but those seem sort of intrusive: "Well, hello there! What are *you* up to?"

For some reason a lighter piece, like a chandelier, could do the subversive "break into the canopy space" of the first picture and make it seem charming. Perhaps I'm just anthropomorphizing the more modern light fixture. I blame the Pixar lamp.

i actually think it would be lovely in a small nyc apartment -- don't forget that a hallmark of french interior decorating is using large furniture in accessories in small spaces to make them more interesting. i think a large pendant could be successful in a small space.

I've got a nelson saucer that drops into my canopy - I love it. Looks great in a small space!

It would seem like an "interrogation bed"....and that's just strange.