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bandjo97_gw

Lighting over dining room table... suggestions

14 years ago

Hi there,

I'm hoping someone here can help. It seems that my husband decided it was time for a new light.

(please ignore the laundry on the table).... :)

The issue is that the table isn't exactly centered under the light, so our current curvy light hides that fact.

Also... just to the left of the table is our kitchen with bar seating. Over the bar are 3 pendant lights hanging down. (We have a very open floor plan)

I also like the mirror and wonder if something hanging down will not look very good.

Any suggestions would be appreciated!

here is the dining area...

and our pendants over the bar...

Comments (8)

  • 14 years ago

    Your current light (the curvy one) hangs down, so something hanging down really won't be a new situation. Mirrors + chandeliers are very common.

    Why is it an issue that the table isn't centered? If you want it centered, can you move the table?

    It's hard to give suggestions knowing nothing, really, about what you're after. What's your style? What do the table & chairs look like? What ekse is in the room? What changes do you forsee in the near future? (Will you be adding window treatments or keeping it bare glass block, for example) What features do you want in a light? What's your budget? Etc.

  • 14 years ago

    oh wow... thanks avesmor, I hadn't really thought of answers to the questions you asked.. .AND I guess I never really paid attention to the fact that there is a bit of distance from the ceiling to the light fixture.

    The glass block wall is an interior wall. Our entry way is on the other side of that. I can post some pics of the rest of the interior so that you can get an idea of our style.

    and yes.... we could move the table out, besides, when we add the leaves it stops being centered anyway. I probably shouldn't have said that was an issue.

    That current fixture uses halogen bulbs and gets very warm after you are seated at the table for an extended period of time. So that's one priority. We also don't want anything that will compete with the pendants, but something that will flow and will compliment them. (we really like them!).

  • 14 years ago

    If you can, take a pic of the pendants lit up. It's hard to see what they look like, and the colors. The shapes of your table/chairs will really help too.

  • 14 years ago

    Here are some pics that display our decorating style... (if you want to call it that... lol).

    Our colors are deep golds, tans, olive green, with a little splashes of deep red & black thrown in.



  • 14 years ago

    How would it look if you turned your dining room light fixture so that it goes straight with the table, and bring it down a little more..not much, maybe three inches...if possible....do they have longer rods for that fixture? Then use regular bulbs instead of the halogen. Otherwise how about a tiffany type fixture for over your table....it would be colorful like your pendants.

  • 14 years ago

    What about trying the oriental rice paper lights, contemporary but not so sleek. My personal taste would be to soften with some type of round light fixture.

  • 14 years ago

    I am not sure I would use a hanging light at all. What about a ceiling fixture?

    It will give you the light in the dining area, can compliment the pendants without interfering, and won't highlight the fact that it isn't centered with the table, Plus, in order to balance the large mirror and bench on the wall, the hanging light would need to be a bit bigger, which will make your table seem even smaller by proportion to those items than it feels already. And it will keep the space feeling a bit more open.

    Do the same metal as the pendants (can't tell if that is black or ORB). Maybe something like this? THere is a smaller versioh, also. Just, please, no 'ceiling boobs"

    alabaster rocks

  • 14 years ago

    Another thing to consider is how much light you need. Right now, you have three spots. If you switch to a one-light pendant or even a different kind of lamp, you may end up with too little light. We went from a one-bulb wide lamp shape pendant to a very pretty glass pendant (kind of like yours over the bar), and now don't get enough light.
    I personally would go for a cool hanging lamp that picks up the shape and/or colors of your bar pendants. Maybe
    www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/Indoor-3-light-Copper-Crystal-Pendant-Chandelier/5250530/product.html or even something like these
    http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80170654/