Dining room chandelier correctly sized for the room.
Dining room chandeliers must serve several functions. The fixture should provide good light directly onto the table as well as surrounding the table so that guests can see each other easily. Finally, a chandelier should feel like it fits the room in size, shape and style. The perimeter of the room may be serviced by recessed lights, sconces or tabletop lamps, but the chandelier will be the main focal element of the dining room.
Instructions
1. Two primary considerations affect the size of your chandelier: the volume of the room and the size of the furnishings in that room. Measure the dimensions of your dining room. Measure the width of your dining room table. The square footage and width of the table are calculated first. For small dining rooms (less than 16 by 16 feet) a single chandelier is adequate. The fixture should be 1/2 the width of the tabletop.
2. Size fixtures for larger dining rooms by the number of chandeliers being used in the space. For dining room tables that are at least 120 inches long, select two chandeliers that each are 1/3 the width of the tabletop.
3. Measure the ceiling height of the room to figure the remaining part of the room volume consideration. Calculate 2 1/2 to 3 inches of chandelier height per 1 foot of ceiling height. If your ceiling is 8 feet high, then your fixture should be between 20 and 24 inches tall. The chandelier should be mounted 30 inches above the tabletop for best visibility across the table for people dining.
4. To calculate the right chandelier width if you don't have a tabletop, add the width of the room to the length of the room. For example, if your room is 12 by 14 feet, add those to get 26 feet. Decorators convert this number to inches as a shortcut to sizing a light fixture. This means a fixture 26 inches wide will be a good width for a 12-by-14 room.
Tags: dining room, fixture should, ceiling height, chandelier should, Dining room