How High to Hang a Pendant Over A Dining Table
A pendant lamp (or a cluster of them, or even a chandelier, if you are so inclined), centered above a dining table, is a multifunctional piece that serves many purposes. The light is as important as the guests and the food, so don’t leave anything to chance!
Besides providing a necessary focal point, the lamp can really set the tone of the room: is it formal? casual? transitional? Of course, its primary function of adding light will ultimately make or break the dinner party you are hosting for the new neighbors. It will certainly provide illumination, but it will also create a mood with it’s lighting: warm and inviting, dim and romantic, bright and friendly. All of these are things to consider when selecting a pendant or fixture.
2 Light Large Cylinder Pendant in Zebrano
All of this is for naught, of course, if it is not hung in the proper position. While design rules almost always function better when they are broken, there is a certain reasoning for a loose translation of the general rule of where to hang a pendant light. Oh – that “rule”, give or take, is approximately 30 inches (+ or – a couple) from the surface of the table.
Why the formality? A few reasons. If your pendant is hung too high, you will need to turn up the light significantly to light the table. By doing so, you have made a decidedly less intimate and cozy dining space. Light will be dispersed less directly on the table and more on the faces of those relatives you see only once at Thanksgiving. If your pendant is just too low, the space will feel crowded, and Aunt Myrna will be quite dim.
Here are a few things to think about when planning to hang your pendant.
- First and foremost, make sure it can be controlled with a dimmer switch. The switch can be bought at any hardware store and can be installed by almost anyone. This seemingly small step will ensure that your desired lighting mood can easily be set.
- The width and length of your table will help determine how high to hang it as well: a larger table can support a pendant being a bit higher, whereas a smaller table looks best with a lower-hung pendant.
- Do a test run. Set your table. Put out the candlesticks, maybe your favorite flowers in a vase as a centerpiece, etc. From there, measure the height. Make sure you have a few inches of clearance; the visual is as important as the function.
- If you do decide to hang your pendant on the higher side, please consider adding a diffuser to your order; otherwise, the lightbulb itself may become visible.
If the general guideline of approximately 30 inches is throwing you off, consider your home and it’s décor. I believe that contemporary spaces look great with a lower-hung pendant light. It creates a sense of intimacy looks great with contemporary, modern spaces. But if your room is large or has rather grand furnishings, slightly higher placement will ensure a visual impact from all sides.
Pendant With Drum Shade
As you will see in the photo above, the pendant hangs just a few inches above the centerpiece. This 24″ drum shade is a great scale for a medium/large table, and it’s placement is ideal for creating an intimate dining space.
As for what type of pendant to choose for your space, there are much more relaxed rules. Above all, keep scale and shape in mind. I prefer almost any shape pendant over a rectangular table…but I draw the line at any sharp lines over a rounded or oval table (i.e. no rectangular or square). The size of your table is also to be considered. By using Alluminare’s Design-Your-Own size guide, you can be on your way to determing the right shape and size for your room. After all, you already know where to hang it!
Lighting Your Home With Color
It happens with almost every home renovation or design project: lighting falls to the bottom of the list. It notoriously takes a backseat to fabrics, furnishings, accessories and paint colors. The security of overhead lighting or the assumption that an inexpensive table lamp will suffice to light a room are easy pitfalls in the design process. However, by forcing the design process to be more inclusive of lighting, you can actually make bold design statements that are functional, decorative and kinder to your final budget.
The architecture of a room’s lighting is not an exact science. Some people prefer overhead exclusively, while some like floor or table lamps. In actuality, the best lighting is a combination of light on all planes of space in any given room. The placement of light sources can easily affect one’s interpretation of the room; lighting can alter warm and cool tones as well as height and width perception. That said, why would anyone want to leave this crucial and necessary element for last?
If you have to have lighting – as we all do – think of it straight away. Not only will its visual impact alter the room (a tall torchiere on a dark corner….a gorgeous ceramic lamp on a table) in functional ways, it will provide you a great chance to inject color and create a strong focal point. And the best part: it can be the least expensive way to add color and change the entire feel of a room.
Drum Lamp Shade from Alluminare
Lamp bases, shades and fixtures can certainly be changed more affordably and easily than, say, a sofa or a dining table. If you feel like your home needs a touch of spring and summer, but an entire makeover is cost-prohibitive and frivolous, wouldn’t a quick change of your white lampshade to a bright and sunny yellow shade give you a sudden pop of June? The simple act of changing one element – the overlooked and insignificant white shade – suddenly changes your perception of a whole room. Short of painting your walls, what other one inexpensive and quick change can pack such a wallop? OK, maybe a throw pillow in an equally vibrant shade (at Alluminare, we have both lamp shades and throw pillows covered!).
Drum Lamp Shade in Buttercup Yellow
Throw Pillow in Buttercup Yellow
True story: I once had a client who had a grave fear of color. He was a single man who was happy to have white walls and the varying wood tones of mismatched furniture, but he was ready for a more comfortable, cohesive and well-designed home. After weeks of presenting various color options for his home, we agreed on an overall neutral base with accent colors in each room. The main room – which was quite large – was a pale light warm gray. I chose to do an accent wall in a strong medium blue to inject color and maintain a masculine feel. With the scope of that room, the blue became a mandatory element; the room would have felt bland without it. After painting was completed, I got a panicked call from the client saying that he felt that his home “looked like a circus” and he wanted the blue wall 86’d. After the wall was painted the same color as the rest of the room, my instant reaction was to get blue back as fast as possible. The answer was lighting.
I purchased two inexpensive 6’ tripod floor lamps (from CB2) and a white ceramic table lamp (from Jonathan Adler). I immediately tossed the white shades that came with all of the lamps and replaced them with ….. yes, blue. Two navy blue oversized 20” drum shades (on the floor lamps) anchored the room from the far corner, and one pale blue 14” shade (on the white lamp) was the scene-stealer on the other side of the room. These changes provided more blue than that one accent wall ever could. From all angles in that room, the first thing one sees is blue. Mission accomplished!
By choosing to light your room with color, you are making a major design decision, one that is the safest and most immediately rewarding. Don’t leave that for the end. Sometimes, you really do need to plan your outfit around your jewelry.
HGTV: Alluminare in the Kitchen
We were just made aware of a lovely post featuring a gorgeous kitchen that features our pendant lamps. Dianne in Charlotte, NC created a beautiful kitchen and posted photos on HGTV’s Rate My Space feature.
We love what she did with adding the crystals to the underside of the diffuser. Fancy finials have been on our radar for some time now, but these are so beautiful, and work so well in her lovely kitchen, that we think we may just have to move up them up on the priority list! Thanks, Dianne for a lovely mention.
