Lighting in the dining room should make eating and conversation easy and relaxing. It should complement the furniture, table settings and the food.

Your lighting should also be bright enough for practical purposes. As a rule of hospitality, your guests should be able to see the food you are serving. With varied lighting controlled by dimmers, you can create a relaxed elegance that will set the mood for any dinner party.

Lighting Solution

Many (if not the vast majority) of homes do not have a separate dining room, but a dining area that forms part of the living room. The approach to the lighting is the same in both cases. A feeling of intimacy can be emphasised by concentrating the light on the dining table instead of uniformly lighting the entire area or room. Make sure though that the faces of the diners are included as well.

A luminaire that provides overall lighting capable of creating a bright, warm atmosphere throughout the room is essential to start with. For a more intimate feeling, use soft, warm wall lights, either in white or with a hint of colour that will enhance the colour scheme of your room. For a final stylish touch, try highlighting a chimneybreast, favourite painting or ornament with a spotlight. Give yourself greater control by using two or three spotlights. Cabinets with glass doors can be very dramatically improved with lighting. Using accent lighting as for example small halogen lights inside cupboards will highlight objects within and give real depth and style to a room. With larger cupboards, this can provide a source of rich, warm background light for the whole room.

A single luminaire suspended above the table is the usual solution, although with bigger tables, two or three small, matching luminaires might be used. Luminaires with a glass or fabric shade providing some direct lighting on the faces are to be preferred. The provision of a dimmer is useful in enabling the lighting level to be adjusted to suit the occasion or task, or simply to leave the table corner lighted when not in use, as a part of the living-room "landscape".