The way you light your bar area is vital for creating the right mood and tone. We’re sharing our best tips and tricks for setting different atmospheres for a bar and all through the art of lighting.

Hanging pendant lights is an effective way to set-out individual spaces across a bar. You can find a variety of materials and shapes that help to tell your bar’s story. Here in The Crimson Bar at The Soho Hotel, heavy glass orbs shine brightly below a black painted celling. Drawing attention the bar, their white sparkling glow invites you to take a seat and enjoy a cocktail.

In this cosy corner, we’ve added a matching group of pendant lights. Unlike the bar, we have hung these at varying heights to distinguish this space as its own entity.

With its funky colours, an original Jukebox brings an additional source of lighting.

At The Sandy Lane Beach Bar in Barbados we used an array of basket woven pendants which are perfect for this open air paradise. You’ll see we’ve also hung these at varying heights, but in this case it’s to reflect the relaxed and carefree environment.

Green metal pendants add to the chic and cosy atmosphere of Brasserie Max at Covent Garden Hotel. 

Whilst here in The Crosby Bar at Crosby Street Hotel, bright bursts of colour glow from vintage resin pendants adding a layer of eclectic charm.

At Charlotte Street Hotel’s Oscar Bar, we’ve gone for a more rustic look. Here we have ‘work men’s lights’: These little bulbs with cages around them hang above a pewter bar which has been beaten and cut to the shape and size of the bar. This bar top evokes a Parisian image, whilst the industrial effect of our lighting is balanced by the bright warm tones of orange used throughout Oscar Bar & Restaurant.

If your bar has natural light to play with, you can forgo hanging pendants. At Ham Yard Hotel the Bar is flooded with natural light, so we have added a strip of light under the countertop and included table lamps at the edge of the bar.

You’ll also notice another trick of ours is to direct spotlights onto our bottles and add a mirrored backsplash. Doing so bounces additional light around the room and also helps to make a space feel larger.

Bars should have personality. If you’re designing a bar area, keep these lighting tricks in mind because we want yours to shine.