How High Over a Dining Table Should a Pendant Lamp Hang

Can you advise me as to how high above a dining table a pendant lamp should hang in my contemporary home?

Contemporary spaces look great with a lower-hung pendant light. We normally recommend hanging a pendant lamp 28 to 32 inches from the top of the table surface to the bottom of the pendant. The width and length of your table will help determine how high to hang it as well: a larger table can support a pendant being a bit higher, whereas a smaller table looks best with a lower-hung pendant. A very contemporary home would have a pendant hung closer to the 28-inch side. For example, take our 18-inch drum pendant, hung at 28 inches over a standard dining table -- fabulous!

We really like our drum pendants hung on the low side. It creates a sense of intimacy and well, we just think it looks cool -- perfect for contemporary, modern spaces. If you are undecided, then when doing the installation, have someone actually sit at the dining table and adjust the pendant height according to what they are seeing. It really helps to have that perspective.

If you do decide to hang your pendant on the higher side, please consider adding a diffuser to your order; otherwise, the lightbulb itself may become visible.