Lighting Ideas for your Dining Room
Oftentimes the most difficult part of furnishing a room, lighting can very easily be overdone or underdone. In a dining room, lighting is essential as it’s a space to eat and chat during family and group meals, and no one wants to do either in complete darkness. Whilst the amount of options available may seem jarring to some, we’ve compiled some possible lighting plan ideas for dining rooms to make the process a little less worrying.
Lighting above the table
The most standard lighting for a dining room is overhead lighting. Although it’s the most conventional go-to, there are still multiple decisions to be made as to the shape of the lighting, the colour of the light, the distance between the light and the eating table, the number of hanging lights, and much more. So if you’re looking for something long-lasting, you should take some time to think about these factors and how each will affect your specific dining room.
Some ideas for overhead lighting:
- Single pendant
- Chandelier
- Long single pendant
- Multiple pendants
Whichever design you choose, keep two important things in mind. Firstly, that the light shines directly on the centre of the table – if you have multiple pendants, be mindful of symmetry with the middle of the table being the centre point. This ensures that all parts of the table and room are being reached by the light. Secondly, many designers recommend the distance between the bottom of the hanging light and the table to be between 76-96cm. This is to ensure that there is enough space to place things on the table without hitting the light, but not too much space that the light becomes too weak to reach the table effectively.
Lighting on the table
If you’re looking to give your dining room something special, consider doing away with typical overhead lighting and look towards table lighting! Like overhead lighting, there are several types of table lights to choose from, depending on various factors. With standard lights which need to be connected to a power socket, you’d need some planning to decide where the power socket would go if the table is in the middle of the room. If the table is placed against a wall like a booth, it makes lighting easier as it can connect to a standard power outlet attached to the wall.
Other table lighting options without needing a power socket:
- Battery-operated lights
- Lights built-in to the table – suitable if you’re having a personalised table built.
- Fairy lights – this option is not ideal for everyday dinners as it doesn’t give off much light, but perfect for romantic meals or chill game nights with family and friends!
- Candles – same as above.
Lighting elsewhere
Not too keen on mainstream overhead lighting or table lighting? No problem! There are other creative dining room lighting ideas which do the job whilst showing your personal style. A dining room sideboard is a great opportunity for some out-of-the-box lighting. There are loads of different designs you can use for this suggestion, and best of all it will offer light without taking valuable food space on the dining room table! Another option is wall lighting, again many different selections to choose from, all of which get the job done. Finally, standard floor lamps can also be used for dining rooms, however they need to be placed strategically to show enough light on the table without taking up walking space, especially if you have a small room with a large table.
