Some dining areas in small homes are makeshift - not formal dining rooms with wiring in the ceiling for hard-wired lighting over the table. One idea for cozy lighting of such dining areas is with a table lamp:
Just as we've spotted table lamps on the countertop in the kitchen, why not add a small one to the tabletop? We've sometimes spotted this application in restaurants, but rarely in the home. It would work especially well if your table is in a corner or nook of some sort or against a wall; not so well if it's in the middle of the room.
Seen here is John Singer Sargent's A Dinner Table at Night. It exemplifies how the use of a lamp on the table can create a warm sense of intimacy at dinner with the lighting down at face level, lighting only the tabletop and faces.
Also seen above is Maxwell's own dining table, with lamp.
Do any readers out there light their dinner table with a lamp? Let us know how you do it in the comments below!
Related: Kitchen Design Tip: Lamp on the Counter
(Images: www.johnsingersargent.org; Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan)
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We used to have a lamp at our table. The table was up against a large picture window. We selected a lamp with dim light. It was great. We have a really large dining room now, so we've placed the lamp elsewhere.
Yeah, that would be nice....until one of our 120lb dogs circling the table in hopes of scoring something ripped the cord out of the wall or the lamp off the table....;-)
I completely agree about the effect of lighting placed at face level. We keep a lamp on our dining room table, with a shade of pleated, cream-colored fabric. It creates a soft, warm atmosphere, and also ties in with other elements in the room. I much prefer it to the chandelier, unless I'm doing some work that requires bright light.
It does look lovely and intimate. Unfortunately I do have a table in the middle of the room, so the wires would be in the way.
We have a lamp on the sideboard next to the table, and we often sue that in conjunction with candles and leave the overhead fixture off.
I've never thought of that! I'll have to try it.
For 30 years, through 5 houses, we have always set up our kitchen dining table against a wall so we could have a lamp....we even designed a new kitchen with that an important feature of the space. We also have a table lamp on the kitchen counter and on the counter in the master bathroom. I say the only reason to use an overhead light is when you wake up in the middle of the night to the sound of a coyote climbing in your window.
What a cute idea! Our convertible table sits against a wall, and there's an outlet right there. Iiinteresting.
That's hilarious, Escondido!