Lighting Tips and Secrets

For this month’s design column, I have picked the subject of lighting, which is extremely important in our daily lives. Lighting improves the atmosphere of a room and makes everyday tasks easier. It can also alter your mood. The following advice is from Cleveland’s Kichler Lighting and will help you select the right lighting fixture wattage, size, and placement.

Best Regards, Debora

  • Wall sconces should be installed 60 inches above the floor. In hallways, they should be 8 to 10 feet apart.
  • To determine the proper size chandelier, add the room dimensions together, but substitute inches for feet. For example, for a 12-by-16-foot room, add 12 and 16 to determine that a 28-inch-diameter chandelier is best.
  • A chandelier that hangs over a dining table should have a diameter that’s half the table’s width. If the room has an 8-foot ceiling, the chandelier should be suspended so the bottom is 30 inches above the tabletop. Add 3 inches for every additional foot of ceiling height.
  • To figure the proper illumination for most rooms, multiply the square footage by 1.5 For example, a 12-by-16 room is 192 square feet. Multiply 192 by 1.5 to determine that the room needs 288 watts of lighting. For concentrated task lighting over a work area, such as a kitchen island, determine the wattage by multiplying the dimensions of the work space by 2.5.

The above photo illustrates that with an 8-foot ceiling, a chandelier should be 30 inches above the surface of the dining table.

  • For kitchens of less than 100 square feet, a two-light fluorescent fixture is adequate. Kitchens of 100 to 250 square feet need a four-light fixture. A larger kitchen needs the larger fixture plus supplemental lighting.

My thanks to Knight-Ridder Newspapers and Mary Beth Breckenridge for this excellent article - Debora Killeen.