What size light fixture for bedroom, living room or dining room?
October 16, 2021
This post is a follow-up to our earlier post "Three keys to great lighting" on September 23, 2021.
Certain elements in a room have a high visual impact. A central light fixture is usually one of them. Like lighting in general, it can make or break a room. So I thought I would go a bit more in depth on my design process for choosing a great central light fixture for a bedroom, living room or dining room.
Selecting the proper size is critical so that your light fixtures properly match the scale of your room. A quick method that works for most rooms is to add the length and the width of a room (in feet). The resulting figure (in inches) provides a reasonable minimum size for a light fixture.
Here’s an example. If your bedroom is 12’ wide x 13’ long, then your central fixture should be at least 25” in diameter.
For the height of the light fixture, consider your ceiling height. If your ceilings are 8’ high, the bottom of the light fixture should be no more than 10'' to 18” down from the ceiling to allow you to walk freely (keep it higher if you or your guests are taller). If the central fixture lands above a bed, or a bench at the foot of the bed, then the bottom of your light fixture can be as low as 20” from the ceiling.
Often in a living or family room, it seems unnecessary to add a central fixture. However, this can be a terrific way to add personality and warmth.
An exception to the quick sizing method described above, is a dining room fixture. Here, the important factors are the size and shape of the dining table. Of course the dining table also has to be sized appropriately to the scale of the room (look for a future blog post on that topic!). If you have a long, rectangular dining table, you can either place two smaller fixtures, or one long fixture. For a single long fixture, I like it to cover at least 40% of the width and at least 50% of the length of the table. For example, if a table is 96” long x 42” wide, a single long fixture should be at least 18” wide and at least 48” long.
With two smaller fixtures, you need to consider the empty space between and around them. Accordingly, they can be sized a bit larger and cover up to 70% of the width and length of the table. Using our rectangular 96” by 42” table, two good size round fixtures that are 24 to 30” in diameter each would work nicely.
With a round dining table, a round fixture should be approximately 45-55% of the table width. So for a 6’ round dining table, the fixture can be about 33” to 40” in diameter, assuming your ceiling is 8’ or 9’ tall. When hanging a dining light, remember that the bottom of the fixture should be 32” to 36” from the table top. As always, there are exceptions, but this is a good rule of thumb.
As with all room elements, scale and consistency are critical. For example, you don’t want a tiny light over a very generous table. The elements need to work together to complement each other and harmonize the space. Getting it right will create that restful feeling you get from a properly designed space.
And, as always, put all of your lights on a dimmer!
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