How to Light a Dining Room Posted on 21 Jun 00:00

In today's blog post, we will be discussing the best tips to light a dining room. There are so many considerations to take on board when choosing light fixtures - whether its for a new room you are decorating or simply upgrading your existing lighting. The dining room is where meals are consumed at a table, whether by families, friends or sometimes even strangers. It is the focal point of entertainment dinner parties - whether every evening, or on special occasions such as Christmas. It brings people together, conversations are formed and dinners are enjoyed - which makes the lighting ambience even more significant in this focal dining room.

Lighting should definitely not be taken for granted in the dining room. Whilst your nearest and dearest are tucking into their dinner, it is important that the room is well-lit so that all your dinner guests enjoy the food and drink on offer. You also want your dinner companions to be alert when they are hearing all about your day.

Size is Important

First things first, size is important! You don't want a huge light fixture that takes up the whole of the dining room if its very small to start with. Huge light fittings will make the room seem smaller and can be an eye sore in such a small room. Keep it simple, if its a small room, opt for small to medium sized fixtures such as globes or round chandeliers. If you are lucky enough to have a decent sized dining room then go bold with a mid to large sized pendant to really fill the room.

The light fixture should finish hanging approximately 36" to the top of the table.

 Shape Up

Secondly, think about the current shapes that exist in your dining room already. Do you have an oval or rectangle dining table? Matching your light fixtures to the dining table will really emphasise your room. If you have an oval table, go for light fixtures which are round in shape - such as this gorgeous chandelier from The Chandelier & Mirror Company at £249 (just make sure you have enough room for the 'drop'). Currently, the chandelier looks quite cool in colour, so to get that cosy warm colour temperature, team it up with our Elizabeth LED filament candle bulb which will really make your room sparkle and glow.

Linear light fixtures suit rectangle tables really well as their elongated shape mimics the table. John Lewis' Emilia Jazzy Diner Bar Ceiling Light is perfect for a rectangle or extension table and adds that soft warm glow to the dining room at £420. Plus, it is super stylish in appearance, making it a talked about piece at the dinner table. Thinking of going LED with this ceiling light? Contact us today and ask about our G9 LED filament light bulb, named 'Roy', who would really make this statement light come to life!

Now, we understand that not everyone's dining room can accommodate these spectacular pieces or afford the price tag, but there are plenty of cost-effective light fixtures available on the market, so do hunt around to get the best deal.

Dim Down, Done!

Stand out from your family and friends and be different -  install a dimmer to your centre lighting piece (of course, make sure your lighting is dimmable for this to work first). Adding a dimmer allows you the functionality to control the mood of your dining experience - maybe you want the lights dimmed down for a special occasion or soft lighting for when the family are round. Whatever the occasion, you have complete control over your lighting and it is so, so simple, too.

If you are looking for dimmable lighting, why not take a look at our energy-efficient LED bulbs which are fully dimmable and last longer than traditional halogen bulbs.

Hopefully you have found our tips for lighting your dining room helpful. We would love to see photos of how you have been inspired by our blog post. Maybe you are already following these tips - even so, we would still like to hear from you - tweet to us by using hashtag #lightmytuesday