A stylish, practical dining room provides a setting for entertaining guests at dinner parties as well as allowing you to have proper family meals.
With living space so often at a premium, many dining rooms also serve a multi-functional purpose – a place where the kids do their homework, for instance, or where fun family activities like playing games take place.
All this makes it important to choose the right lighting – a key feature of dining rooms that helps to create character and atmosphere as well as ensuring a functional space.
Dining room lighting trends now play a key role in interior design, having evolved alongside advances in technology that have produced energy-saving, environmentally-friendly lighting systems.
Creating Balanced Lighting with Layers
Many contemporary dining room lighting styles achieve balance by combining layers of ambient (general), task and accent lighting.
Recessed and track ceiling lights add an ambient touch of charm and warmth and can make your dining room feel more spacious.
They can also provide accent lighting, adding visual interest by highlighting architectural features of the room, as well as drawing attention to any artwork. If artwork isn’t your thing, you can install wall sconces instead, which will also provide indirect lighting.
Track lights can also work well as task lighting. Lighting for functionality in your dining room can also be provided by table and floor lamps, and pendant lights or chandeliers above the dining room table.
Dimmers remain a firm favourite for dining room lighting because of their simple effectiveness in reducing glare – a common problem that ruins ambiance in many dining rooms.
Picture @trendehouzzEnduring Dining Room Lighting Trends
Popular dining room lighting styles that look set to continue for some time include:
Matte-Finish Fixtures
A dull-finish lighting fixture – particularly in black – can make a dramatic style statement in your dining room. Interior designers say the allure of this contemporary twist works best when used to add a hint of freshness to a conventional space.
Thinking Big
A larger-than-life approach can give the impression of expanding your dining room while adding visual allure. Like a matte finish, swapping a small light fixture for one that may initially seem oversized makes a bold statement. If you want to try more than one large fixture, it’s a good idea to stick to a single colour or design.
Keeping It Simple
The minimalist concept now features in many dining room style schemes, and can be enhanced with understated lighting, especially with a repetitive design that emphasises your existing decor while providing an airy feel. For instance, a couple of black pendant lights will go nicely above a black dining table.
@lightology.comGoing Rustic
The appeal of rustic lighting lies in its classic charm and can be used to striking effect in a combined dining/kitchen space with a farmhouse feel. A large rustic light fixture can create a strong focal point above your dining room table.
Energy-Saving Lighting for Your Dining Room
With a range of energy-saving lighting options now available, the way you light your dining room can bring financial benefits as well as aesthetic advantages.
Dimmers remain a firm favourite among modern dining room lighting trends because of their simple effectiveness in reducing glare – a common problem that ruins ambience in many dining rooms.
Dimmers – along with LED (light-emitting diode) lighting – can also significantly cut your power bills while complying with eco-friendly standards. The long lifespan of LED bulbs also means fewer replacements.
A further financial benefit of quality dining room lighting is that it can increase the value of your home. The International Association of Lighting Designers (IALD) asserts: “Building owners have the potential to add value and reduce costs through the application of good lighting.”
Key Role of Lighting in Creating the Right Dining Room Atmosphere
Lighting can make or break the interior design of a dining room but its crucial role in setting the mood and tone of the space is often overlooked.
Getting the lighting right can help to make your dining room a sophisticated space while showing off your decor to maximum advantage.
Dining room lighting trends may vary over time but the best share a common concept – the perfect blend of style and functionality to showcase and complement a well-designed space.
When considering the best dining room lighting for your space, you should take into account the existing decor. Dark-hued surfaces absorb light. So, if your walls or ceiling are in dark shades such as warm earthy colours, you’ll need more light – more watts.
Whichever dining room lighting style suits your individual tastes and existing decor, installing new, quality light fixtures can go a long way towards transforming your dining room into an elegant yet practical multi-purpose space.
Finding a Good Electrician
Just as important as your choice of dining room lighting is finding a reliable electrician to install your light fixtures.
A good lighting installation electrician will be experienced in all aspects of dining room lighting trends and should be able to give you peace of mind with a lifetime workmanship warranty – not just the standard 12-month guarantee
