Before listing your house on the market, you will want to consider the fact that buyers pay attention to small details, like lighting.
New, fresh updated lighting can have a significant impact on a room and it really isn't an expensive upgrade.
Installing the correct size lights and at the correct height is important! It can really throw off the look and feel of a space if you have light that is not suitable in size or height. It's like a picture hanging crooked on a wall!
So let's get started.
Determining the proper width of a light for a room
Selecting the correct width of your lighting is essential for two reasons.
Improper visual proportions disturb the visual senses. Have you ever seen a coffee table that was too small for a living room or maybe a couch that was way too big? Or maybe it's just me! I think most people notice that something is not right about a space when the visual proportions are off. This happens with light fixtures, too.
The second reason is a very practical one...enough lighting! The correct size light illuminates a room more effectively!
Let's look at the most simple formula to determine the correct light size.
Sizing Light Fixtures in Rooms
For living rooms, bedrooms, etc., where you will not have light fixtures hanging above tables, use this formula:
Add the dimensions of the room (Sum of length and width in feet) and then...convert it into inches.
That's it. So, if you have a 10'x10' room - add those 2 numbers together and you have 20 inches. So, you want to add approximately a 20 inch light fixture into that space.
Light Fixtures that Hang Above a Tables
For rooms like dining rooms and breakfast nooks where lighting hangs above a table, you want the width to be 1/2 to 2/3 the width of the table. So for a standard 4ft table, you can get a light that is 24"-32".
How Low Should my Lighting Hang?
From a ceiling, your fixture needs to have at least 7 feet from the bottom of the fixture to the floor. This means that if you have the standard 8ft tall ceilings, your fixture should not hang more than 1 ft down UNLESS it is hanging over a table.
If it hangs over a table, it should hang 30"-34" above the table. This makes it low enough make a statement, but not so low that it is intrusive to your line of sight.
How to Hang Pendent Lighting
Of course, you cannot use these same principles for pendent lights, as they are used in multiples, typically as a set of 3. For pendent lighting above your kitchen island for example, use this formula (instead of the one in the diagram above) to determine how far apart they need to be and then center them in the middle of the island:
The length of the island in inches - (the number of pendents X the diameter of the individual pendent) divided by number of spaces in between and outside of the lights. 3 lights have 2 spaces in between and space to the left and right of the lights.
Let's say your island is 5 ft long, you have 3 pendents and they are each 5 inch in the widest diameter.
That would be :
60 inches of island space - (3 pendants x 5 inches diameter of each pendant) / 4 (the number of spaces in between plus add spaces on both sides of counter to the light, which is always 2 of course). The answer in this case is 11.25 inches.
That is 11.25 inches from the outside of island and also 11.25 inches in between. If the space between the lights is LESS than the diameter of the lights, you may need to decrease the space on the outsides to 6 inches and adjust your formula to:
Length of island - 12 inches (6 inches of space from each side of counter) - (number of pendants x diameter of pendants) / number of spaces in between lights ONLY .
Using the exact same scenario as above, it would be:
60 -12- (3 x 5) / 2 = 16.5 inches between the 3 lights.
Always scale and draw it out before you attempt it to be sure it will work!
I hope this guide helped you determine the correct lighting for your space!
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