They make wire covers but the look is not good. Is the table close enough to a wall outlet that you could do a swag fixture. You can cover the chain or cord with material. Personally, I would have him do what was needed to run it through the ceiling.

Wire cover and swag chandelier.

What is above the dining room? ... a second floor or an attic space?

It is a second floor bedroom with carpeting o ver plywood floors. I did show him that space. I think there is some obstruction. He is coming back tomorrow and I am hoping he had some time to think out the project.

Improvements catalog came today and they have battery powered pendants that might work. They get 100 hours on two D batteries and have a remote. . I would put two, one on either side of center.
The specs said each light gives off 170 lumens. I don't know if that is very bright.

Do it right, or don't do it at all. I have never seen a surface wiring solution that didn't look like somebody was being either cheap or lazy. This won't be a cheap upgrade, especially if you have to get a painter or taper in to patch up the drywall. Most electricians can patch drywall, but very few of them can do it well.

The only way I could see it working was to hide the wire underneath a surface applied molding and then apply similar moldings in all four directions in a symmetrical pattern, like a mini coffered ceiling. However, since you mention crown molding, that might be difficult to get right. Plus, are you in an area which requires electrical wiring to be in metal conduit? Our local jurisdiction requires conduit and that really complicates matters. Sometimes it is just too much work to add ceiling fixtures...could you go with wall sconces?

I have one house built in the early 40s which doesn't have ceiling lights in either the dining room or the living room. We will probably attack the issue from above by pulling back the carpet and puling up a board in the subfloor of the finished attic.

Depending on your access to the space above, the electrician is probably going to have to pull down one piece of crown molding to bring the new wire from the ceiling space into the wall cavity for the light switch. Ceilings are very difficult to patch and touch up invisibly. So if he has to cut any holes in the ceiling, plan on repainting the entire ceiling from wall to wall. Hopefully you don't have an open plan where the ceiling extends into multiple rooms.

At 170 lumens, you would need 5 lights to equal the output of one standard 60 watt incandescent bulb.

I guess the lumens thing kills the idea of the wireless fixtures.

I did think about the applied molding. I agree that the crown molding complicates thing. I hate beamed ceilings, the rustic ones mostly. I am not rustic. Otherwise maybe that would have worked.

I wonder if enough light in the room from other sources would work. We really will only use the room for holidays and family occasions. The original dining room in our 15 year old house is too small for our growing three generations. We have a huge formal living room that we never use. The rooms are on either side of our vaulted entryway so at first glance it seemed a simple switch. Not so much now, but, I haven't given up.

Electrician is coming Monday to install a box in the ceiling! After several electricians said it was nearly impossible because of bearing walls and fifty other reasons I found a REAL electrician. This guy laughed and said no problem. He is local and has had his business forever and gets great reviews from local people. I needed the kind of electrician who isn't afraid of getting dirty. Lesson is, just keep trying. Thanks for all who responded.

NICE! :D

Excellent news.