Dining room lighting

How to light a dining room

You need flexibility in your dining room lighting scheme in order to create the right setting for different occasions. For example, bright and cheerful lighting for a relaxed family breakfast and intimate lighting for a romantic dinner for two.

The focus of the dining room should be the table. There should be enough ambient light in order to comfortably see what you are eating, and who with, but not enough to feel dazzled or overwhelmed.

A pendant above the table is a good choice as it will enclose the table in a wide circle of light that extends across the table. If you have a long dining table, you could position a series of pendants along its length, which would both increase light levels and look stylish. When choosing and positioning a pendant, you need to ensure that the light source is hidden to prevent causing glare.

Height adjustable rise and fall pendants are a good choice if your dining table is sometimes used for studying, moved to make space for other activities or if you have a living room-diner. You can simply move them up out of the way.

Downlights are an alternative to a pendant fitting. You should make sure they’re positioned to highlight the centre of the table, and aren’t focused directly on a diner – you don’t want someone to feel as though they’re caught in the spotlight.

Your lighting for the table should be combined with other gentle background lighting, such as shaded wall lights, table lamps or uplighters.

It’s helpful to have lights installed on separate circuits in order to control different groups of lights separately. The addition of dimmers will also give greater control.