lighting over dining table
Ann Byrne
last year
I have looked at so many lighting sites I’m actually starting to get flashbacks!
We’re trying to bring some character into the house as we gradually make it our own. A splash of colour would be good but I’m worried about doing anything too radical. The room has lots of natural light by day as you can see. So far the lights I like are these 2, the green one is 45 diameter by 37 high, and the Muuto pendant is 27 high by 42 diameter, it’s also dimmable which I really want. Thoughts? Am I paying it too Safe?
Thanks in advance,
Ann
Featured Answer
Sort by:Oldest
Comments (17)
User
last yearchloeloves
last yearRelated Discussions
Kitchen diner lighting layout
Comments (14)If I'm right, what is on the table are the lights you've chosen. I's use the old garden adage of 3 or 5 - in this case going for 3. The fourth could be placed in a hallway or other nearby room to flow well and tie things in together. I'd also suggest putting all your chairs around the table permanently, thus freeing up room space from where they are now. If these aren't you chosen lights I'd suggest Amber shades to match well with your furniture. Good luck. Bee...See MoreHelp with Lighting for Open Plan Room
Comments (1)Currently doing a similar job on my extension. My electrician had lots of good advice so maybe get their input if you haven't already. They advised us against having pendants over the table in case we chose to move it. Instead they recommended a single rose with multiple cables off that. Can be changed easily to a single light if table was moved....See MoreKitchen diner lighting design
Comments (4)Hi there, Sounds like an exciting time with your project! Having been through something very similar in the last 6 months I have to say, I couldn't agree with your final statement anymore if I tried! We had given very little thought to our lighting and I have to say, what we have ended up with enhances the room more than I couple possibly have imagined! I was a real sceptic about lighting at the outset! We have ended up with a very cleverly 'zoned' lighting system so that we can highlight the kitchen, dining and living areas of our open plan room separately. I am not sure if this is helpful but this is what we ended up with and how 6 months down the line of daily use and entertaining we actually use it in the room; 2 pendant lights on dimmers over a 2.5m dining table, with no downs lights in this area. 3 pendants over our island, also on a dimmer but with down lights in this area. 1 ceiling / pendant light in our seating area with additional down lights in this area. Additionally we have warm led strip lights on open shelving above our sink run in the kitchen. All of our down lights are on a dimmer in the main 'kitchen' and living parts of the room. In reality we next to never have the main down lights on, even with the dimmer as it feels like an airport runway, although I wouldn't want to be without them for the rare occasions where I am prepping a lot of food in the evenings prior to guests arriving etc. Whilst sitting in the living area watching TV we never have the down lights on and most commonly have the dining pendants on for some dim backlighting. When at the dining table we have the pendants there dimmed and use the LED strips on the shelving which creates a lovely glow in the rest of the room as background light. When cooking the LED strip and pendants on full above the island are plenty sufficient. All of the above was created by our very clever designer! Have you thought about getting someone to do you a professional lighting plan? It's a fraction of the cost of your electrics not to mention light fittings! Low hundreds in terms of costs. The other huge advantage from our perspective was we ended up with a very professional PDF document in 'electrician speak' which we were able to print and hand (or email) to the electricians who came to quote for the job. This meant there was no uncertainly, no communication errors and no room for the price to move once we got underway. It also meant we were comparing completely like for like with the different quotes! On top of that our designer got great trade discounts with fabulous lighting companies and passed her discounts onto us! I've attached our floor and lighting plan so you get a feel for the space and some reference to all my comments above. Hope it helps with a few ideas! Best wishes, Claire...See MorePlease Help! How to best use extension space to achieve our wish list.
Comments (3)I agree with above - you're going to have a lovely bright utility! The usual way people extend is to put the utility and WC into the darkest bit (turning the utility 90 degrees like suggested above) which then pushes the kitchen/dining/living towards the garden end. But that would have involved more walls coming down - I feel like this is a case of you got what you asked for, but now you're asking for something else. I think the architect has come up with the best layout though for minimal work involved - putting the dining table in the dark space will just make it a corridor and you'll mostly eat at the island in the light room with garden views (other than dark evenings like you say when being in dark dining room will be quite cosy). I know people who have done that and regretted it and wished they'd put the kitchen in the dark bit as you tend to be doing something in there anyway and you'll be looking through the lovely bright space rather than being in it. Getting a decent second living space seems important to you so the current layout achieves that. You could perhaps add some high level transom windows between kitchen and utility to bring more light into kitchen (depending on where tall/wall kitchen cabinets are going to be and how ceiling is). Another option that you haven't mentioned is to put the new lounge into the dark space (then you'd have to call it a snug!). Leaving the new space as kitchen and dining. But perhaps you want the sofas to be looking onto garden, or you don't want it right next to the other sitting room - which is understandable. So it depends on what you'd use that living space for - or would also having a couple of upholstered chairs or a window seat in the extension allow you the flexibility you are looking for? Regarding the loo situation - I don't like having to walk through the utility to get to it (mainly as you're going to have to clean/tidy your utility every time guests come round, no thanks) - alternative is to walk through the WC to get to utility - would result in a bigger WC (you don't want to squeeze between toilet and basin so put them on the same wall) and a more useful utility space - and you'll have one window into WC and one into utility and nobody will be walking through the cat litter tray - could keep the pocket door idea so that it's more like one room normally, but easy to close off the messy utility when guests arrive (if that is ever allowed to happen again!)...See More
Sonia
last yearI love the green one, it’s cute and the colour is lovely. You could add some green in your room with, say, a green vase and some art to bring the room. The white one would go nicely in the living area I feel. I particularly like this vase from Habitat/Argos.
Ann Byrne
last yearBetty Boo
last yearminnie101
last year
Juliet Docherty
last year
kazzh
last yearAnn Byrne
last yearDanielle Moynihan
last yearDanielle Moynihan
last yearPooky do a lovely light and the gold would complement the warmer wood tones
PROHouseReno
last yearAnn Byrne
last yearSonia
last yearBetty Boo
last yearBetty Boo
last year
Couch Potato Company