Rick's Fall Pick: The Amber Glass Pendant That Welcomes Every Guest

Written by Rick Kovac, COO of Golden Lighting

The takeaway: Once a season I'm going to pick the one light from our range I'd hang in my own home, and show you how I'd style the room around it. For fall it's the Aenon 3-light Pendant in Brushed Champagne Brass with Amber Water Glass, hung in the entry, where every guest gets their first impression of your home.

Key takeaways:

• Give every room one centerpiece. In the entry, let it be the light.
• Amber hammered glass doesn't just shine. It throws soft ripples of gold across the ceiling, and that's what catches the eye.
• Keep everything around it calm: warm walls, natural stone and wood, soft linen.
• Warm bulbs on a dimmer turn it from a light into a welcome.

Styled scene: the Aenon 3-light Pendant in Brushed Champagne Brass with Amber Water Glass in a sunlit entry hallway.

Why I'm Doing This

I've spent more than thirty years in this kind of work, in factories, warehouses, showrooms and homes across a lot of countries. What stays with me isn't the spec sheets. It's walking into a room and feeling something before I've worked out why. Nine times out of ten, the reason is the light.

One evening I was invited to dinner at a farmhouse villa outside New Delhi: eight acres of landscaped grounds, looked after by fifteen full-time gardeners. The entry was even more impressive. Set into the floor tiles was a three-meter emblem of a famous Italian fashion house, made of semi-precious stones, with a light hung above it to show it off. Yet the light stole my attention from the emblem: simple etched glass wrapped in gold braid. That night I learned that an entry can make an impression, but the right light can steal the show.

I run the business side of Golden Lighting, so most days I'm looking at fixtures in terms of shipments and stock. This series is my excuse to step back and talk about the part I enjoy: the one piece in our range I'd take home this season, and why. I'm not a designer. Our CEO reminded me just recently that I'm not the creative one around here. But I've seen enough rooms to know when something works.

My Fall Pick: The Aenon Amber Glass Pendant

Fall is when the front door gets busy. Family comes in from the cold, friends arrive for dinner, the holidays start lining up. Every one of those visits begins in the same place: the entry. Before anyone has taken off a coat, the entry has already told them something about your home.

I always like one centerpiece in a room, one thing people notice first. Think of a bright blue vase on a coffee table. Your eye goes straight to it. The Aenon pendant does that for an entry, and it does it quietly.

Here's what won me over. When the lights come on, it doesn't shine at you. The brushed champagne brass warms to a soft gold, and the hammered amber glass breaks the light into ripples and shadows across the ceiling. Your eye follows them up. Nobody calls it a statement piece, but everybody notices it.

The entry is someone's first impression of your home. Give it one thing worth noticing, and keep everything around it calm.

How I'd Style the Room Around It

Mood board: warm white, buff stone, walnut, champagne brass and autumn gold, taken from the entry above.

The mood board is built from the entry scene at the top of this post. Here's the thinking behind each piece:

1. Calm walls first. Warm white walls and ceiling give the champagne glass room to glow. A busy wall would compete with it.
2. One natural feature. A ledgestone wall in warm buff tones adds texture and age, and its rough face plays nicely against the smooth brass.
3. Wood to ground it. A floating walnut console brings weight and warmth so the pendant doesn't float on its own.
4. Handmade pieces. Simple ceramic vessels echo the hand-hammered glass. A vase of autumn branches brings the season in without a single pumpkin.
5. Soft underfoot and at the windows. A jute runner, linen ottomans and sheer linen curtains soften the stone and filter the daylight. When the sun goes down, the pendant takes over.

Before You Fall for It

A statement piece only works if it fits, so here's the honest part:

• Headroom matters. Where people walk underneath, keep the bottom of the light at least 7 feet off the floor. With a ceiling around 9 feet, it can hang right over the walkway.
• On an 8-foot ceiling, hang it over a console table where nobody walks underneath, or choose the Aenon 6-light Semi-Flush Mount in the same brass and amber glass. Same glow, closer to the ceiling.
• It suits a cozy entry. At about 13 inches across it's made for a vestibule or compact hall. For a big two-story foyer, our large entryway guide will serve you better.
• Get the glow right. Use warm (2700K), dimmable LED candelabra bulbs, frosted so nobody looks up into a bright bulb, and put the entry on a dimmer. Bright when guests arrive, low and golden once everyone's settled. Our guide to dimming LED lights has the details.

Working with a small space? Our small entryway ideas are worth a look.

Shop this guide

• Aenon 3-light Pendant in Brushed Champagne Brass with Amber Water Glass — my fall pick.
• Aenon 6-light Semi-Flush Mount in Brushed Champagne Brass with Amber Water Glass — the same warm look for 8-foot ceilings.
• Aenon 1-light Wall Sconce in Brushed Champagne Brass with Amber Water Glass — a pair beside the console mirror finishes the look.

Coming Up This Winter

In January we head to Lightovation in Dallas, where the new collections come out and I get to hear what designers and retailers are excited about. My winter pick will come from what I see there. I'd love to know what you'd pick from our range, too.

Until then, the guests are coming. Make the first five seconds count. Browse the pendant collection or find a Golden Lighting retailer and see that amber glow in person.

— seen a lot of light fixtures in 80+ countries. Still learning what actually works in a home.