Lighting is one of the biggest questions people ask about. How high should my pendant be over my kitchen island be? How about my dining table? Where do I mount that pesky wall sconce? How high should my table lamp be? Guess what?! Today we answer all those questions! Dun dun! This topic may not be the most fun, but it is so very important to get the lighting right in your home. Lighting can make or break your room. Seriously, yes I'm telling the truth. It is the finishing touch that sets the mood, provides task lighting, and show's off your room, furniture and beloved art and accessories. I have a feeling this will not be my only blog post on lighting, since I'm a little bit of a nerd on the subject. Don't forget to on how to install light fixtures in your home- the right way after reading this blog post.
HANGING PENDANTS & CHANDELIERS
If you want to hang a light fixture above a dining table, follow the guidelines below:
The general rule of thumb is that a fixture should be be around 3 feet above a dining table. It can be a bit lower or a bit higher depending on your Ceiling Height. Use this list to determine the best height for your fixture:
8ft ceiling: 30-34”
9ft ceiling: 34-38”
10ft ceiling: 38-42”
for anything higher add 4" for each additional foot.
Additional tips:
Note that I don't provide dimensions on a ceiling height lower than 8 feet. If your ceiling is lower than 8 feet, you should probably stick to a ceiling mounted pendant.
You should make sure that you know where your dining table will live before mounting your light fixture. If you will end up moving your dining table one day- your fixture will be too low!If your dining table is being moved often, then you should opt to mount it high enough for someone to walk underneath the fixture without bumping their head (above 7').
8ft ceiling height
9ft ceiling height
10ft ceiling height
If you want to hang your fixture in the center of a room, follow the guidelines below:
You want your light fixture to be at least 7’-6” minimum from the floor to the bottom of the fixture. If your ceiling is really low (below 7ft), choose a ceiling mounted fixture instead of one with a stem.
You can hang fixtures in the middle of a room if its a smaller living room, or if you room is larger (lets say a living room/dining room combo) then you can hang one fixture over the dining table and one fixture over the center of your main (and largest) seating group. If you have lounge chairs set apart from your main seating group, and you want light by your chairs, use a table or floor lamp. More on that later.
If you want to put a light fixture above your kitchen Island, follow the guidelines below..
Typically you want to mount your fixture low enough to feel part of the island vignette but high enough so that the fixture doesn't block your view of a person standing in the kitchen. The mounting heights below are based on a standard 36.5” high counter. The fixture should be this far from the top of your island.
8ft ceiling: 38”
9ft ceiling: 41”
10ft ceiling: 44”
for anything higher than 10 feet add 3" per each additional foot.
8ft ceiling height
9ft ceiling height
10ft ceiling height
WALL SCONCES
The general idea for a wall sconce at a bathroom vanity is that the center of the shade should be at the center of your face. So that really varies a lot, depending on the height of the person. I will use a 10” high shade as reference for the guide below. If your shade is taller or shorter, you will need to adjust the height of your sconce.
The following guide is based on your own height:
5'-6":Center of shade at 62" from the floor
5'-8": Center of shade at 64" from the floor
5'-10": Center of shade at 66" from the floor
6': Center of shade at 68" from the floor
6'-2": Center of shade at 70" from the floor
Additional tips:
Avoid putting the shade above your face, all that will do is create shadows on your face and will not portray you well. Consider what size wall sconce you will buy based on this exercise. That wall sconce you love may not be the right fit if it is too tall or too short.
Your height: 5'-6"
Your height: 5'-8"
Your height: 5'-10"
our height: 6'
Your height: 6'-2"
FLOOR LAMPS & TABLE LAMPS
Most floor lamps now a days are pretty standard in height and range anywhere from 60-66”. Don't forget that if you want to adjust the height of a floor lamp you already have, you can always buy a new shade that is taller or shorter. Just make sure it looks proportional to the body of your lamp. Your lamp should provide enough light for when you are sitting down, but shouldn't feel too short when you are standing up.
If your floor lamp is next to a sofa or chair and the seat height is approx 17-18” then your lamp should be around 62” overall height. If you are a taller person, it can be closer to 66”. This is based on a standard sofa or chair seat height.
For a table lamp, whether at a side table or nightstand, you want the shade to land around the center of your face.
Nightstand:
For a 5’-8” person, with an average of 24” mattress height from the floor (assuming your nightstand is about the same height as your mattress), you want your lamp height to be about 34-36” high.
Side table:
Let's take a living room as our example. Standard sofa's have 17-18” seat height, with 24” high arm heights on average, which means your side table wants to be between 23-25” high. Therefore your lamp would need to be around 22-26” high.
There you have it, a detailed blog post about the appropriate height for different types of light fixtures. Don't worry, I'm not going to quiz you on this. In fact, I am going to give you a little cheat sheet. I have created a that you can print or read on your mobile device. Click here to get your free lighting guide. Enjoy!
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