Dining Room Lighting

Dining Room Lighting

The dining room can be one of the most warm, inviting, and beautiful centerpieces to your home. Getting the dining room lighting just right is an essential part in accomplishing that goal.

While updating your lighting strategy can be fun, it can also feel a bit overwhelming and stressful, especially if you’re going at it alone. At Butler Lighting, we offer lighting design consultations with some of the region’s top-tier consultants.

Our designers will help you develop a dining room lighting strategy that focuses on both form and function. After all, getting the light right is about more than just creating the right atmosphere and using stunning lighting fixtures, it’s about making sure you have the necessary illumination to carry out all your tasks. This is especially important in a modern, multi-purpose dining room where so many different types of tasks are carried out.

With over 70 years of experience in the lighting industry, you won’t find the same level of service, competitive pricing (we even offer price matching), and stunning selection of lighting products that we do at Butler Lighting.

Our Greensboro and High Point lighting stores feature thousands of in-stock lighting options, including limited edition and one-of-a-kind fixtures. Whether you are looking for an eye-catching chandelier, multiple pendants, or a collection of wall sconces, we have fixtures in nearly every size and style.

So what are you waiting for? Schedule an appointment with one of our lighting experts today. We look forward to helping you create the dining room of your dreams.

Some Basic Lighting Tips

Even if you work with one of our lighting design professionals, it still helps to have a basic understanding of lighting strategy. Not only will it help inform your questions, it’ll help you understand some of the industry jargon and help smooth out the entire process.

And if you’re going to take a DIY approach to your dining room lighting design, but just don’t know where to start, we trust this information will serve as a helpful guide.

One of the first things to understand about lighting design is what is commonly known as the three basic types of lighting: ambient (general), task, or accent.

Ambient Or General Lighting

The goal of ambient lighting is to give overall illumination for a room that creates a uniform light level. Simply put, this is the fixture(s) that gives light to the entire space when you flick the switch on.

Generally speaking, you’ll want your lighting to have 36 inches from the top of the table in order to get the best light quality. If you have high ceilings or a larger interior space, increasing the length to 40 inches is recommended.

Note: Remember that your ambient lighting strategy should be considered both with and without natural lighting that comes in through the windows, skylights, etc.

Task Lighting

Task lighting is all about giving you the illumination you need to accomplish specific tasks. While the dining room of the past served largely one function, namely eating, today’s dining room is multi-purpose and your lighting strategy should reflect that usage.

Whether you plan to do homework, play games, or anything else, ensure you have task lighting installed that gives you the light you need. One of the best ways to do that is through lamp lighting. A portable study lamp will give you the light you need for in-depth work.

Accent Lighting

Accent lighting is the final type of lighting for you to consider. While you can always stick to an ambient lighting fixture and a few task lights, lighting experts will always recommend that creating layers of light is essential to both aesthetics and usefulness.

If you’re trying to highlight architectural details or art pieces in your dining room, then accent lighting is a great way to do that. Monorail, track, and recessed lighting are popular options when it comes to rounding off your ambient lighting strategy.

Miscellaneous Dining Room Lighting Tips

One of the most wonderful (and frustrating) parts about lighting is there’s no one right answer. This allows for a great degree of freedom in your lighting strategy, but it can also paralyze people with the sheer amount of choices available. After all, how do you know if you made the right choice?

The good news is, you really can’t go too wrong if you simply follow your preferences. After all, you want to make your dining room your own. However, here are some additional tips that are useful to keep in mind as you develop your strategy.

Consider Using A Dimmer

Dimmers are a great way to create a warm, inviting atmosphere in your dining room. Whether you want to have your lights on full power to get to work or you want to set the mood for a nice romantic dinner, dimmers give you the flexibility to do so. This way, you don’t have to install multiple fixtures or deal with multiple types of bulbs.

On top of that, dimming bulbs when you don’t need full powered lighting allows you to cut electricity usage by up to 40%. On top of that, your light bulbs tend to last around 20 times as long. There’s simply no long-term downsides to having dimmers installed.

What Sorts Of Bulbs Should I Use?

In order to find the right type of light bulb, the first thing to consider is the color of your dining room. If you have a darker color scheme, then you will want to choose a higher wattage bulb since dark colors absorb light, 3000K watts or higher. However, warmer colors like red, amber, or yellow generally go better with a slightly lower wattage bulb, around 2400K-2700K.

Another thing to remember is that LED bulbs generally become cooler when dimmed, unlike halogen or incandescent light bulbs which glow warmer. However, some LEDs that are now on the market are designed to mimic the incandescent bulb’s dimming behavior.

What About Glare?

Taking care of glare is usually as simple as adjusting the aim of the light bulb. You can also choose a fixture that casts light upward rather than downward.

Shades are also a great way to do this, while increasing the visual appeal of the fixture itself.

Of course, another benefit of dimmers is that they can help cut the amount of glare you experience. When it comes to perfecting the amount of light in your home and preventing glare, we recommend using a combination of these methods. Depending on the room and on the lighting, different solutions will prove more successful!

Experience The Butler Lighting Difference

At Butler Lighting, you’ll find our lighting consultants are so much more than just “salespeople.” They are trained and experienced designers who are here to help you create the dining room you’ve always dreamed of.

Whether dining room lighting has you completely baffled, or you’d simply like a second opinion, don’t hesitate to contact us to schedule an appointment. Or you can always stop by our lighting store, and we’ll be able to guide you to the perfect fixtures. We have convenient locations in High Point and Greensboro.

So what are you waiting for? Choose Butler Lighting for all your dining room lighting needs. We look forward to serving you!

Locations

109 Sunrise Center Drive Thomasville,
North Carolina
Get Directions

336-412-2521

Business Hours
Monday - Friday : 8:30am – 5:00pm
Saturday/Sunday: Closed

*this is a warehouse location only