Even more important than the family room, the dining room is what brings families together. It's the place where families join for meals, kids work on homework, friends sip coffee over a good morning chat. It is a central part of your home, a place where flow and comfort are essential. Take a look at these ideas for putting together the perfect dining room.
Start With the Furniture
Furniture is a great place to begin when deciding the mood of your dining room. It sets the tone and helps frame the boundaries of attention. Make sure your furniture choice suits the style Dining Lighting you are going for. If you want a Southwest approach, oak and other hardwoods work well. If you prefer something more modern, colorful chairs can help to add a festive feel with a touch of imagination. Make sure the furniture melds with the feel and comfort of the room.
In addition to the dining room table and chairs, think about other possible furniture components. A hutch can be great for wine glasses or china. Some people prefer shelves for family pictures of favorite memories. A serving table decorated with quality pottery pieces can also be a nice touch, providing extra room for additional food in the event of events like Thanksgiving or Christmas.
Center With a Chandelier
Your choice of a chandelier is also important, and should only be made once the furniture has been decided. Each should complement the other. Look for light quality that has control features. There are meals where clear lighting is best, making for good conversation. Low lighting is good for romance, when you're serving a special dinner for 2 and you're trying to set the mood.
It's important to hang the chandelier in just the perfect position to have the best effect on lighting in the dining room. Choose a size that complement the style and measurements of your dining room table. Make sure you don't have one that's Dining room light fixtures wider than the dining room table, or guests will crack their own goose eggs every time they stand up. A good measure is to get a chandelier that's no bigger than 12 inches from the edge of the table.
When you walk into a room, what's the first thing you typically do? If you're like the average person - you immediately flip on a light. Whether it's a switch, a click, or a push, you can immediately illuminate the space and continue on with what you came into the room for. Although we see lights are true necessities to our homes (which they are), many forget that you can do creative things with your home's lighting fixtures and instantly liven (and brighten) up a room.
In the living room, most people have lamps on their end tables. Take a look at these fixtures...do they truly fit in with the theme of your living room? Are the colors complimentary to your carpet, furniture, etc...? Many people may not give it a second thought, but with a little extra attention to detail - you can definitely make an impact on your room by switching up your lighting choices. If it's the lampshade that's out of place, you can take on an easy home improvement project and cover it yourself, or just head to your local home store and check out their selection. You'll be able to choose from a wide variety of colors, shapes, and styles and easy replace your current shade. If you have extra fabric left over from making pillows, table cloths, or other accents for your living room, consider using them to cover your current shade. You can use your lamps to help tie your overall décor together and enhance your theme.
In other rooms, it may be the lack of lighting that is causing the room to compromised. Many neglect lighting in a dining area because they either don't use the room much or simply haven't given it a second thought. Often times, dining areas don't NEED to be bright, so homeowners don't exactly put it on their "to-do" list. However, if you entertain in your home, a dimly light dining room may turn into an issue. Although the low lights might be okay for dinners at home - it could be very inconvenient for a crowded room of guests. It's better to have the option for more light rather than not, so installing a dimmer can be a fantastic idea for a space like the dining room. Dimmer's are easy to install and can be purchased at any home improvement store. They work best with overhead lighting fixtures like a chandelier and make your space ready for any type of occasion. If you like the versatility of being able to have quiet dinners at home, but having the ability to brighten up a space when needed, a dimmer is the perfect solution.
A dimly lit bathroom is another issue that many homeowners deal with, but can easily fix. Given the size of most bathrooms, there's not always an option to add additional lighting, be it on the floor, walls, or counter tops. Instead of trying to squeeze something in - choose bulbs with a higher wattage. If you have a small bathroom, leaving it unproperly lit could make it appear even smaller and truly compromise the functionality of the room. By brightening up the room a little bit, you'll be able to use your bathroom to its full potential and open it up at the same time. When choosing a bulb with a higher wattage, be sure to make certain that you are not exceeding your fixture's maximum. You can always find a sticker listing this information somewhere on your bathroom's current lighting. It may be a simple switch, but the difference will certainly be noticeable.
So before you start testing out new wall colors or considering new furniture, switch up your room's lighting. Sometimes a small change like a higher wattage bulb or a new lamp shade can make all the difference in how your room looks. Lighting makes an impact in every single room in your home, so don't leave it off of your "to-do" list when it comes to updating and upgrading your home.