We have asymmetery in our dining room bc our fireplace is not centered. We had the choice of centering the chandelier in the room or putting it directly in front of the fireplace, making the chandelier not centered in the room. We ended up placing the chandelier in front of the fireplace, but the table is centered in the room. Nobody notices, and I don't either unless I happen to be working on a project in the room. ;) In your case, I'd center the chandelier and medallion in the ceiling relative to the fixed elements in the room. It will be much more noticeable to not have the chandelier centered in your ceiling that your table not centered under the chandelier since there is a separation of visual space between the chandelier and your table. IMHO. Good luck!

i have an odd little addition on my kitchen, very hard to explain, but there is a gas fireplace centered on the back wall and a ceiling fan centered on the ceiling in the area... my dining room table butts into this space just a tad. In order to center the chandelier above the table where we like it, it is slightly off-center from the fan and the fireplace.

I'd probably have to point it out to someone to make them notice. But we like it this way and are certain we'll never put the table in another spot necessitating moving the light fixture again.

If you like the layout of the room and plan to keep the china cabinet in that spot, then I'd move the light fixture where it works best.

THis is one of my pet peeves about builders. They do not take into account how rooms will be furnished when they place ceiling fixtures, and in this case the tray ceiling. Most people with formal dining rooms will have a china cabinet, and therefore the table will most likely not be centered in the room. But where do they hang the chandelier? Right in the middle.

Thank you for your responses and opinions. Still haven't decided which way to go on this. If anyone has any pictures with off center lighting fixtures in a room (especially one with a tray ceiling), please post. Maybe it will help me to decide after visualizing it?

My dining room has a tray ceiling and the light fixture is centered within the tray ceiling; however, the tray ceiling extends to the traffic area so that a table cannot be centered below the fixture. The ceiling fixture is as wide as the table and hangs a foot higher than recommended. If I buy a new fixture and reposition the light fixture so that it is centered above the table, then the light will look off centered on the ceiling. The fixture is obnoxious looking to me but because it is large and hangs high, being off centered isn't quite as noticeable.

I TRIED to upload photos but don't see them...