In my mind, dining lighting should -- in almost all cases -- be centered on the table, *especially* any pendants/chandeliers. :-)

Yep.

@One Devoted Dame So you don't think it will look off if the lights will be where the red dots are and not centered to any of the windows? This is my preference but I'm second doubting myself.

In a perfect world, the table, lights, and window(s) should all be centered. In your case -- if it was me -- I would center the pendant/chandelier on the table, and live with the windows being all over the place (since that's what it looks like, anyway). ;-)

I cannot follow the logic behind why the windows were placed where they are, since none of them seem to relate to the others (or the walls they're on), so I think it's probably best to ignore the windows and place furniture and lights in ideal places. <3

Good luck with your decision!

Where is the balance of the wall sheathing?

The room has no symmetry, so I would figure out exactly where I want my table to be and place the lights based on that position.

Sit at a dining room table and determine where a wall behind you would be comfortably located, then measure from the edge of the table to to the point where you feel where the wall behind you would comfortably be; add half the table width and that is where the lights should be.

Hi @millworkman Can you please elaborate? I googled up wall sheathing but I don't understand what the balance of it means.

@chispa Yeah, that horizontal window is really throwing me off. They centered that window from wall #4 all the way to where the kitchen cabinet ends.

@Mark Bischak, Architect Would you disregard the windows in our case then?

Yes. If the windows had some relationship to the function of the space, they should be regarded; but you have four windows thrown in the corner and one centered on a wall. The windows have no regard for a table, so the table should have no regard for the windows.

Will there be other furniture in the dining room besides table and chairs? Will all the chairs be around the table all the time? I wonder if those placements will affect where the table will go?

@Mark Bischak, Architect LOL. Your last sentence is awesome. Btw, any tips on how to make the one horizontal window looks longer to its left (toward wall #4)? I still would like to create some balance on that wall since it's visible from a lot of angles (front door, living room, kitchen, stair).

@bpath We'll have 2 chairs between the table and wall #4, and a bench where the bench is in the picture below. No chairs on the short side of the table. Thinking of putting a storage cabinet and maybe an art piece like the model does in the picture below but if we do that, they will be centered to the horizontal window and it'll emphasize how the table is off centered to it.

I'm looking for ideas if we can somehow create an illusion that the horizontal window extends more to its left (to wall #4) so I can reposition the cabinet and the art piece to the dining table and still give the illusion that they're all centered to that window.

Here's a picture of the model home. We moved the table so it's actually off centered from the horizontal window.

Our actual dining table is about 10" shorter than this one.

Hang an awesome oil painting to the left of the one horizontal window and no one will notice the window.

@Mark Bischak, Architect Do you mean behind where the plant is?

(not a pro) Is your dining table going to be centered in the room? If so, I'd want a chandelier centered in the room, over the table. (That's the orange circle below.) Then I think I'd want 4 can lights spaced evenly around the room (purple dots) but I'd ask here first too :)

If your table will be offset within the room, I might still advocate for an electric box in the center of the room and swag a chandelier to a hook, in case you ever decide to move the table to the center.

Can you get into the space for a bit to do the balloon trick? This is how I determined the height for a light that replaced the one you can see behind it. I moved the table under the balloons and we had a few dinners there, adjusting the strings until we got the heights that felt comfortable. (Kept it as reference for the electrician.) Did the same trick for placement of pendants over the island.

You could move your balloon light (or however you do a mockup - maybe it's a box mimicking a rectangular light) around the space and view it in different positions and from different angles. This is so much easier than moving a real light after installation!

(^^ that's the before. Below is the after. If it looks high, I had to accommodate people 6'6" and 6'7". But I felt more confident about placement because we sat under the balloon 'light' to try it out.)

Yes, and where the wall decoration is too. The wine rack will help too; include a couple bottles of Davis Bynum pinot noir. And I mean real art, like you would find in the Legacy Gallery in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Great art in interiors does the same as great landscaping for exteriors.

DD’s space is the same configuration but a bit smaller, so this might help. And yes, Mark, the bear is a Linda Israel original.

@chicagoans We tried that and that won't work since it's too tight to the wall (22", same as current home set up). We even moved the table at the model home to see how it looks like in real life and it left too much room between the kitchen island and the dining table it looks like everything is squeezed to the wall :(

@Mark Bischak, Architect Thanks. We'll play around with it and see how we can make it work. Not a famous painter but I am a landscape photographer so I can always create another wall piece.

@mojomom Omg, her layout is so similar! I see that she doesn't have that vertical window on the right wall, which I kinda wish we didn't as well since that'll make things a lot easier. Thank you for the pictures.

That could be an even better solution.

Not a famous painter but I am a landscape photographer so I can always create another wall piece.

This! My favorite art is the stuff we've made ourselves (which is almost all of it, lol). Surround yourself with pieces of yourself. <3

Agree!

I am currently house setting for a client that is an oil painting artist. There are probably 25 original oil paintings of her's and other artists hanging on the walls, along with probably 20 photographs by another artist. And another 40 paintings framed on the floor and in a storage room.

I designed the additions to the cottage over the years. It is a great cottage, but for most people a terrible house.

It just happens to be for my ex-wife, long story, Jacquelyn Bischak.