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Lighting! Although it may be an afterthought, how you light your dining room is very important.
From setting the tone of the room to being able to see your guests and your food correctly, proper lighting will enhance your home dining experience. After all, no one would want to eat their food in the dark or in a poorly lit room, right?
Zeina Badawi, an interior designer from La-Z-Boy Kanata, says, “dining room lighting can decide a lot of things, like making your food look more appetizing to your guests.”
With that being said, what are some great lighting ideas that you can incorporate into your dining room?
This article will provide you with helpful tips and tricks from La-Z-Boy interior designers on how to make your dining room shine!
In This Article…
- Always Have Three Sources of Light
- Make Sure Your Light is the Right Size & Shape
- Be Careful with Your General Lighting Placement
- Stay Away From Too Many Lights
- Consider Dimmed Lighting
- Make Sure the Lights Fit the Theme of the Room
- Always Go for Warm Toned Lighting
- Dining Room Furniture at La-Z-Boy
1. Always Have Three Sources of Light
To begin, Zeina mentions that there are three different types of lighting a dining room should have: general, task and accent lighting.
A general light is a mandatory requirement when considering dining room lighting.
When referring to general lighting, this is something that does not appear on the sides or corners of the room but is actually on the top of the ceiling!
“General lights have to be above head,” says Zeina “you wouldn’t want it on the side of the corners of the room. This would make your dining room would look too shadowy.” General lights can be either a ceiling light or a light fixture, like a chandelier or a pendant.
Zeina also says that you will want to add accent lights to combat the shadows in the room. “The fewer shadows in the room, the better,” she says. Some examples of accent lights include sconces on the walls, floor lights or lamps on sideboards or buffets.
These types of lighting are sometimes referred to as mood lighting because they help set the room's mood.
Finally, it is important to consider task lighting when in a room that requires work. Although not directly with the dining room, kitchen lighting around the counters and inside buffet units could be useful to see what you are doing clearly.
https://www.bobvila.com/slideshow/7-bright-ideas-for-dining-room-lighting-53130
2. Make Sure Your Lighting Fixtures are the Right Size & Shape
Speaking of chandeliers and above-head lights, remember to keep the size & shape of your dining room in mind when shopping for dining room light fixtures.
Why is this important, you may ask? Say you bought a luxurious-looking chandelier, but your table looks smaller than the chandelier you bought. Your dining room would look awkward because the scale of your decor and furniture don’t quite match.
Fret not! There are solutions to this problem. Zeina says that before anything else, the size of your general lighting should somewhat match the size and shape of the table. “For example, if your dining room table is circular–not oval, but circular–you should find a round pendant or chandelier that coordinates with the shape and size of the table.”
She also says that the shape doesn’t have to match the table perfectly. “As long as the chandelier covers as much space as possible with the table, it doesn’t have to be square if it’s a square table or round if it’s a round table. It just has to look proportionate,” she says.
Zeina says the perfect chandelier or pendant above a table should cover at least two-thirds of your dining room table. “If it covers more or less, it might look disproportionate,” she says.”
She also says the best way to determine if a lighting fixture is a perfect size is by measuring the width of the tables in inches and subtracting it by 12. For example, if you have a table that measures 24 inches wide, your light fixture should be about 12 inches less than the table.
You also want to make sure that your dining room and lighting are not too big or too small in your room, in general. To learn more about what dining room furniture fits well in small spaces, check out our article Canadel Dining Room Furniture for Small Spaces.
If you also want to learn more about Dining Table Shapes & Sizes, take a look at this article.
3. Be Careful with Your General Lighting Placement
Zeina warns those about placing their lighting too low or too high in their dining room. “You want to make sure that your light is at the right height. Otherwise you might have a lot of glare or the light might be too far away.”
Zeina says that your chandelier should be about 30-36 inches away from your dining room furniture, set vertically. This way, you guarantee that your table has the best spotlight!
4. Stay Away From Too Many Lights
As we’ve discussed before, general lights are not everything you need to create the perfect lighting for your dining room. You also need accent or mood lighting (accent lighting) and task lighting to help set the room's tone and illuminate important areas.
However, be careful how many lights you place in your dining room. Depending on the size and shape of your room and the number of lights, you could create an environment with harsh lighting.
Zeina says the best way to get rid of harsh lighting is by keeping your accent and task lighting to a minimum. It is also a good idea to install a dimmer feature in your existing lights to control the room's brightness.
5. Consider Dimmed Lighting
Continuing from the last point, dimmed lighting is an intuitive feature that homeowners can consider should they want to control the brightness of their dining room lighting. This also helps to create ambiance at different times of the day.
Installing dimmers in your dining room lighting can create all sorts of moods for your dining room.
If you want a more intimate tone for the room, like having dinner for two with that special someone, you can use the dimmed lights to your advantage. Dimmers also become effective if elder guests have eye sensitivity.
Be careful with installing dimmers, however. Zeina does mention that if your additional mood lighting is not connected to a dimmed setting, you might risk losing certain lights in the room.
If that’s the case, Zeina says to use dimmers “sparingly” since you still want to take advantage of your accent lighting.
6. Make Sure the Lights Fit the Theme of the Room
When shopping for new light fixtures for your dining room, or any room for that matter, you want to ensure that they complement the style of your room and your existing furniture items nicely.
Think about the theme of your home. Does it have an industrial look to it? Is it more french country or rustic? Does it have a more traditional and modern aesthetic?
These questions are what you should be asking yourself when looking at your next lighting purchase.
Zeina mentions that most people are looking for more unique styles regarding above-head lighting. “Chandeliers that are abstract in design or multiple pendants that offer the same amount of light then regular pendants are becoming really popular,” she says.
As long as it all fits the theme of your dining room, as well as the shape and size, buy whatever kind of light fixture you wish!
7. Always Go for Warm Toned Lightbulbs
When you go to a restaurant, you will most likely leave remembering the delicious food. The lighting, in comparison, is usually an afterthought or something that goes unnoticed.
That said, a perfectly-lit establishment has much to do with your overall dining experience. In fact, what if I told you that the reason why your food looked so good is somewhat because of the lighting?
Depending on the room's lighting, your food might be more appetizing. Zeina says that if you were to install fluorescent lights that are bright and harsh, people might not find the food as appetizing.
In contrast, warm-toned lights give food a much more pleasing appearance.
“That’s why you see less harsh light in restaurants and more warm ambient lighting. Because you’ll enjoy the experience more, and your food won’t look so… blah,” Zeina says.
Dining Room Furniture at La-Z-Boy
Now that we have covered dining room lighting, you might wonder about dining room furniture!
At La-Z-Boy, we offer a wide range of stylish and high-quality dining room furniture from Kincaid, American Drew, and Hammary.
Additionally, La-Z-Boy Ottawa & Kingston has a partnership with Canadel, with a flagship Canadel showroom attached to the La-Z-Boy Kanata showroom. Canadel is a Canadian furniture company that has been in business for over 30 years. They are experts in making quality crafted dining room furniture and specialize in custom dining room furniture.
Much like La-Z-Boy, Canadel prides itself on selling high-quality furniture. In addition, they provide extensive customization options, made easier with the Canadel UDesign tool, which provides the online customer with over 9 million furniture combinations and options to choose from.
Canadel has 6 dining room collections to choose from, which are all listed below:
- Canadel: Simply named Canadel, it is the biggest collection that Canadel has to offer, covering four styles of furniture (Classic, Farmhouse, Core and Modern).
- East Side: Coming from a more rustic industrial side, this collection allows you to be one with nature without even going outside.
- Gourmet: This collection takes inspiration from European dining room furniture styles, giving this collection a more fusion-style design.
- Downtown: This heavily modern-inspired dining collection allows anyone to take advantage of glass dining room tables with ease.
- Champlain: Taking on a more rustic approach, this collection is inspired by the niche Parisian french-country look of dining.
- Loft: Similar to East Side, Loft takes on a more loft/industrial feel to its furniture instead of the rustic design or its counterpart.
You can learn more about each collection with their review articles.
What's Next?
After reading this article, you know more about how to keep your dining room properly lit. Not only with you be able to socialize with little shadows, but your food will look more desirable to your family and guests.
While you’re shopping for dining room lighting, you might be looking for new dining room furniture to go with it. So, why not stop by La-Z-Boy for your dining room furniture needs?
At our La-Z-Boy showrooms, we have detailed catalogues showcasing our dining room furniture selection. Further, Canadel has an intuitive tool to help you discover what each collection has to offer, thanks to their UDesign platform. Check out the UDesign tool so you can discover each collection in detail.
If you require assistance navigating the UDesign tool, check out this helpful article for a step-by-step tutorial.
La-Z-Boy also offers design assistance on all things Canadel Custom Dining, Hammary, American Drew and Kincaid. By visiting an Ottawa or Kingston showroom, or the Canadel Kanata showroom, you can receive one-on-one assistance in selecting your dining furniture.
Our design consultants are always happy to lend a helping hand. You can also book an appointment with our interior design experts for any burning questions you may have.
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