We need many more lamps in our interiors than we often realise. Ceiling lights, table lamps and wall lamps for the bedroom, living room, kitchen and bathroom should ideally be found in every home. To create good lighting, having ceiling lights in your home is almost indispensable. A plafond is a particularly good source of soft, even light in a room. Here we guide you on decorating with plafonds.

What you need to know about plafonds

Plafond lamps are not a new invention. You might recognise them from summer houses or from the stairwells in classic Copenhagen buildings, where they illuminate the floors between rooms. We believe their renewed popularity is due to both function and form.

You will hardly find a lamp as versatile as a plafond lamp. Originally intended to hang from the ceiling, and as the name suggests, ‘plafond’ in French means ‘ceiling’. Available in various sizes, they can be used almost anywhere — but they are most often seen at around 30 cm in diameter. That size is ideal for smaller rooms. It works well in the bathroom, where it takes up little space and doesn’t require much height since it mounts directly to the ceiling. The Italian Murano plafonds from the 1970s come in several sizes, and at Murano Vintage you can often find them from 25 cm up to 50 cm in diameter. Find a size that suits you here.

Vintage Murano white plafonds 30 cm and 40 cm, mouth-blown in the 1970s in Italy.

We particularly notice that the white plafonds are popular. Here you get a sculptural lamp that provides functional light while also being beautiful to look at. The Italian vintage plafonds stand out for being handmade, and many have swirls in the glass that make them even more interesting. Their renewed popularity is likely due to the size, which is easy to install in an entrance hall or in a flat’s bathroom.

See our full selection of plafonds right here.

How to decorate with plafonds at home

Consider which room you want to hang your plafond lamp in. Should it provide light for the bathroom? Is it for your entrance hall? Or do you want it in the children’s room?

Decide whether you have space for a large plafond if it will be mounted on the ceiling of a small bathroom with limited ceiling height. The ceiling may be low, in which case you will probably prefer a small, flat ceiling lamp that can still light the whole room — the brightness depends on the bulb you choose. If it will hang in an entrance hall with high ceilings, you can choose a large plafond. You can even create a sequence of several plafonds in a row. In a child’s room, a plafond can work as a decorative wall lamp — hang it on the wall above the bed as a bedside lamp and use a low-output bulb to create a cosy atmosphere.

Although a plafond is originally intended for the ceiling, it can easily be mounted on a wall. This gives a decorative touch to the interior, especially if you choose a plafond with a swirl or a colour that stands out from the rest of your decor. Combine two or more plafonds in a line in your entrance hall or on the wall above the sofa to create an installation. A wall-mounted plafond can also be a good alternative to a table lamp if you want to save space and create a different wall decoration. It’s easy to fit a cord with a switch so it can be used as a wall lamp.

A mouth-blown wall lamp or ceiling lamp in glass is a very special piece. You won’t find two identical ones, though if you’re lucky you may find similar-looking examples. There will be variations in the glass, and that is the charm of mouth-blown lamps — you can see that they are handmade. Consider using such a lamp as an addition in a newly built home, where a mouth-blown Murano lamp can add charm to a contemporary style.

How to hang a plafond in just 3 steps

One reason for the plafond’s renewed popularity is that it’s an easy lamp to hang. Here are 3 steps for how to quickly and safely install the lamp at home.

1. Disassemble the lamp. Loosen all the screws on the mounting bracket.

Tip: Avoid unscrewing all the screws completely — leave them in place. You only need to loosen them enough to separate the bracket from the glass. That way it’s easier to reassemble.

2. Feed the cord through the mounting bracket and connect the wiring to the socket before installing the bulb. Tip: Make sure to test the light before reassembling and hanging the lamp. This saves a lot of work so you don’t have to repeat the process.

3. Mount the bracket where you want the lamp to hang, then place the glass and tighten the screws again. Tip: If the plafond is to be mounted on the wall, you can often get away with screwing in just a single screw and hanging the plafond afterwards. This avoids drilling more holes in the wall than necessary.

It’s that simple, and you can easily do it yourself. You can find all our plafonds here

You can also read about the most iconic Murano lamp, the mushroom table lamp. You’ll find the article right here.

See our selection of Murano plafonds and all Murano lamps. Also read our guide to pendant vs. plafond or installation instructions.