The Disappointing Design Mistake: Your Dining Room Is Actually Too Bright

When it comes to a home renovation, lighting design can often take the backseat to more pressing decisions. This can lead to homeowners choosing lighting at the tail end of a project when decision fatigue has set in, and they may not be considering how important of a choice it actually is. When it comes to getting good lighting in every room of your home, it needs to be carefully thought out and planned. This is even more important in your dining room, where a little ambience goes a long way in setting the mood for everything from intimate dinners to family gatherings. But one of the biggest mistakes some homeowners make in their dining rooms is overdoing it with the lights — nothing destroys the vibe faster than lighting that is too bright in a dining room.

Some homeowners are left wondering why the lighting in their dining room looks so wrong. We hate to say it, but it is usually because you've overdone it with the recessed lighting, a trend that has been popular for decades. However, the top-down positioning often casts shadows over a room and can be quite harsh if not used well.  While there may be ways of using recessed lighting effectively in the home, some designers insist on skipping it completely in the dining room. When it comes to this particular part of the home, you want to find the perfect balance between too bright and too dim.

Since not all situations will require the same ambience, consider layering your lighting in your dining room, and bring in multiple light sources instead of relying on a single one. Most of us require multi-functional spaces in our homes, so your goal should be to have a mixture of ambient, functional, and atmospheric lighting so that you can adjust the level of brightness to fit various moods and activities. Ambient lighting will act as your foundation and ensure the entire room is well-lit. You should aim for about 30 to 40 lumens per square foot for this type of lighting. Functional lighting, ranging from 500 to 800 lumens, should be more task oriented and directed at the table for eating and serving meals.

Atmospheric lighting is where you get to really add depth to your dining room and create a cozy mood by bringing in warm, indirect light. You can really play around with the lighting fixtures for atmospheric lighting, and dining rooms are a great place to use statement lighting to bring in character. Consider chandeliers, wall sconces, pendant lights, or lamps — anything that fits your space and style. The key to any of these fixtures is to pair them with dimmable light bulbs or switches, so that you always have full control and flexibility of your lighting levels. Because if you're going through the trouble of hosting any kind of gathering, you don't want to make the mistake of having an unwelcoming dining room with lights that kill the vibe.