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The best modern lighting designs on the high street. Glass Chandelier Light Covers
Modern lighting is a fairly broad umbrella, owing to the fact that it can span a range of designs, materials and colours. Marble and brass is a well-loved combination in modern lighting design, especially when used in interesting and sculptural shapes. A lot of modern table lamps draw inspiration from mid century styles, with chunky silhouettes updated in bright, contemporary colours. Proportions can be dramatically oversized which plays on the idea of modern lighting being a central design feature in the home.
There are plenty more practical considerations too in picking the right modern lighting for you. The best lighting should not only illuminate your room but set the right ambience for relaxation in a bedroom or productivity in a home office. It should also effectively counter low levels of natural light, which can affect our mood.
The drawback of all of these features however is that they can make modern lighting very expensive – if you're looking to add ceiling, floor, wall, and table lamps to your home, it could cost many thousands. But there are plenty of high street and lesser-known lighting brands creating more affordable options that use contemporary shapes and mimic premium materials that looks just like the real thing.
We turned to our favourite brands and retailers to find 17 of the best examples in affordable modern lighting, priced between £35 and £175...
For a long time, pleated lampshades were relegated to the same passé corner of interior design as peacock chairs and macramé wall hangings. But modern iterations, like this H&M pleated pendant light, are considerably sleeker and made from more contemporary and lightweight materials such as linen and brass.
Our House Beautiful Delta range uses marble-effect on glass and classic satin brass components for a luxurious finish at a fraction of the cost. The drop on this pendant is 100cm, so it'll sit low in a room – making it perfect for hanging over a coffee table or to highlight a reading corner.
This H&M table lamp looks like the sort of rare vintage find you'd come across in a chic flea market. The matt surface and matching shade is a wonderful touch – especially in a cheerful yellow colour.
We love finding gems like this Gigi ceiling light on the high street. Available at Dunelm in a brass or black finish, it's large enough to fill an expansive space but sits close enough to the ceiling to not feel overwhelming.
A marble effect is your best friend if you want something to look more expensive. This Farah lamp from the House Beautiful Marketplace has a glass globe on top makes a feature of your lightbulb too.
It's the mix of materials here that makes this arched wall lamp look a lot more expensive than it is. Rich and reddish woods will generally look a little retro, reminiscent of midcentury French designers – here it has been paired with a brass arm and opalescent glass shade.
Lights & Lamps is a bit of a revelation in modern lighting – a new, online hub for design-oriented and affordable pieces, spanning marble table lamps, contemporary opal glass orbs, and hand-woven raffia floor lamps.
HAY is renowned for their affordable and design-led modern pieces, and none more so than their insta-famous rice paper shade. Its lightweight outer shell and neutral colourway make it the perfect option for a serene bedroom – here making a great partner with the House Beautiful Neva Bed at Dreams.
A fabric lampshade might seem a touch traditional in a contemporary home, but here, a clever use of all-over fabric in a contemporary stripe modernises a classic silhouette.
Wall sconces can be astronomically expensive, which is prohibitive in most homes as you usually need a pair. This fantastic piece from Graham & Green looks like a contemporary sculpture with a price tag of just £69.
Modern lighting isn't just all brass and marble. For a more Scandi-inspired home filled with natural materials and neutral colours, bamboo or rattan lighting in interesting shapes can be a much better fit. This affordable ceiling lamp from Graham & Green stands out just enough against white walls and our House Beautiful Naomi Roller Blind at Hillarys.
This is the partner to our Delta Marble Cluster light, perfect if you want to match your ceiling to your task lighting (there's a table lamp too if you want to kit out the whole room.) There are so many brilliant modern lights that mimic premium materials such as marble and brass, and the quality is such that you really can't tell the difference.
Whilst you may choose a pendant light for its soft glow or compact shape, don't forget that overhead lights can introduce texture too. Here, a wonderful and almost ghostly floating shape is created using a tightly pleated pearly fabric.
XL floor lamps are usually very pricey, but this Metal Arc lamp from John Lewis packs a big design punch for less. Arched floor lamps are great for choice for task lighting which is more directional for specific areas in the room.
Black might not be your first choice when looking at ceiling lights, and it does need a bit of design consideration to get it right. Most effective in grey or neutral spaces (shown here with the House Beautiful Freya Sofa at DFS,) a black ceiling light can be used as an accent piece, just as long as it's not too heavy. This Hiko light is a great example, with spindly metal threads and an undulating shape that makes it appear lightweight despite the dark colour.
Anything made by hand can come with a hefty price tag, but this handcrafted terracotta lamp from Graham & Green with a playful abstract face comes in at a reasonable £75.
This Imperial pendant lamp is a great example of modern overhead task lighting. Those opal glass orbs will cast a gentle and diffused glow, which is great for creating little cocooning pockets in your home. We'd recommend placing it above a dining table as shown here, or above an armchair in darker corners of a living room.
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