HOW TO HANG LIGHT FIXTURES

As with most things these days..there are guidelines but no real rules to hanging light fixtures. Experience is the best guide but however....if you are in a jam...consider these suggestions. Bar/Island tops and dining tables are generally the top of most peoples concerns. Hang your light 30 to 36 inches from the table/bar surface - this is the easiest suggestion to remember. Above everything else....you want to be able to see clearly through the area when standing and by all means when sitting. That takes care of the height...for width....try to make the fixture about 12 inches narrower than the table or bar. I've seen lights over tables that abort this rule as well as pendants over Islands that hang much higher - but again, these are suggestions. Your dining light should have at least 150 watts. Foyers are a little tricky - because its generally an odd shaped space and there are usually stairs that take a portion of it. I generally try to allow 30 to 36 inches to the closests railing if its a two story entry. I would hang it just below the floor of the top level and not below the door openings of the first level regardless of the ceiling height. 8 to 10 feet from the floor is the minimum I'd hang a fixture in a foyer. The larger the foyer...the higher I'd hang the light. But remember.....the taller the light....the more it shrinks visually. In an open room like the library photo above....we hung the fixture at 8 feet. We origionally chose a 36" light but we didnt want it to over power the room so we narrowed it to 29 inches. Don't get hung up (no punn intended) over centering chandeliers in rooms like this or in master bedrooms....the middle of the room is just fine....unless you are building from scratch and then you can get more specific. In a room like above where you have a cathedral ceiling....you might want to hang your fixture at 10 or 11 feet above the floor. Ours is about 12 feet. (theres an orange "v" shaped rock on the fireplace that is positioned above the transom windows...that was our mark) I think the photo is misleading....the light looks higher, but we wanted to hang it above the television and make sure that we didn't see it until we actually stepped into the room. The adjoining room had 11 foot ceilings and is directly off the space where you see the triple pendant.