Thursday, February 21, 2013

Install Lighting Fixtures For A Dining Room'S Height







Double chandeliers mounted in dining room


Dining rooms are often designed to showcase a beautiful chandelier. Frequently the room may be vaulted or built with a special type of ceiling to add to the drama of the space. Additional ceiling height or special details add to a room's volume; it is important to consider the amount of volume when choosing the size of the chandelier, since the light fixture should address or fill that volume visually without being too large for the space. The volume measurement of a chandelier is the height of the fixture from the top mounting ring to the lowest hanging part of the fixture.


Instructions


1. Measure the room from the floor to the ceiling at the highest point. Chandelier height is frequently calculated at a rate of 3 inches per foot of ceiling height. However, the visual weight of the individual fixture and the square footage of the room must also be considered.


2. Measure the length and width of the room. If your room is 10 by 12 feet, add these numbers together for the approximate width of the chandelier (in inches) that would fit the room. In this case that would be 22 inches wide. If your dining room has a huge vaulted ceiling of 30 feet, this formula might suggest a fixture that is 90 inches tall. You would be hard pressed to even find a fixture of these dimensions. What you need to do is fill the 90 inches of space while maintaining the small width of the fixture.








3. Consider grouping two or three smaller chandeliers in a cluster in very high-volume spaces where the actual room size is small. The lowest of the chandeliers should be between 30 and 32 inches above the tabletop. With smaller sized chandeliers that are grouped, the fixtures are often offset and overlap in length. To visualize the grouping, fill brown paper bags with crumpled newspaper to match the size of your small chandeliers. Attach string to each one and test fit the size and arrangement in the room prior to purchasing and hanging the actual fixtures. This will give you a strong representation of how the fixtures will look in the room.


4. Measure your mock-up fixtures when you find the arrangement that works best for your space. Note the length of each string and how far apart the fixtures are and their relationship to each other. This will save you from purchasing the wrong size and type of fixture and allow you to install the fixtures in the position that works best for you.

Tags: ceiling height, dining room, that works, that works best, that would, This will, works best