How high should a chandelier hang above a dining table?

30 to 36 inches from the tabletop to the bottom of the fixture with an 8 foot ceiling. Add about 3 inches for each additional foot of ceiling height. Never go below 30 inches over a table.

What size chandelier for a 60 inch round table?

Half to two thirds the table width, so 30 to 40 inches across. When in doubt in a large room, lean toward the bigger end of the range.

What size light fixture for a 10x12 room?

Add the length and width in feet, 22, and read it as inches. A fixture around 22 inches across suits the room. Over a table, size to the table instead.

Can I use two pendants instead of one chandelier?

Over a long rectangular table, two pendants often look better than one large fixture. Space them evenly over the table thirds and keep each at half to two thirds of the table width.

What Size Pendant or Chandelier Your Table Actually Needs

A dining fixture has exactly two numbers to get right, and most people guess at both. Hang it too high and it lights the ceiling. Too low and every dinner guest is peering around it. Too small and it floats like an afterthought. The rules below take five minutes with a tape measure and remove the guessing entirely.

The height rule

Hang the bottom of the fixture 30 to 36 inches above the tabletop with a standard 8 foot ceiling. That window clears sightlines across the table while keeping the light on the food instead of in anyone’s eyes. Go toward 30 inches for an intimate look, 36 for airier rooms.

For every foot of ceiling above 8 feet, raise the fixture about 3 more inches. A 10 foot ceiling puts the bottom 36 to 42 inches above the table. And never drop below 30 inches over a table at any ceiling height, because that’s where heads and views start to collide.

The diameter rule

A pendant or chandelier over a table should measure one half to two thirds the width of the table. A 42 inch wide table takes a fixture 21 to 28 inches across. Wider than that overwhelms the table, and much narrower reads as a bare bulb on a cord.

For a fixture that hangs in an open room rather than over a table, use the room formula: add the room’s length and width in feet, and that sum in inches is your fixture diameter. A 12 by 14 foot room takes a fixture around 26 inches across.

Three mistakes worth avoiding

Sizing to the room instead of the table. Over a table, the table wins. A grand fixture in scale with a big room will still look wrong if it dwarfs the table under it.

Ignoring rectangular tables. A long table wants either a linear fixture around one third the table’s length, or two smaller pendants spaced evenly, each following the same half-to-two-thirds rule against the table’s width.

Forgetting the dimmer. A dining fixture works harder than any light in the house, from homework brightness to dinner glow, and a dimmer is what lets one fixture do both.

The bulbs inside should be warm, 2700K to 3000K, and our color temperature guide explains why that range flatters food and faces. If you’re weighing where to buy, we settled the retailer question across budgets.

Frequently asked

How high should a chandelier hang above a dining table?: 30 to 36 inches from the tabletop to the bottom of the fixture with an 8 foot ceiling. Add about 3 inches for each additional foot of ceiling height. Never go below 30 inches over a table.
What size chandelier for a 60 inch round table?: Half to two thirds the table width, so 30 to 40 inches across. When in doubt in a large room, lean toward the bigger end of the range.
What size light fixture for a 10x12 room?: Add the length and width in feet, 22, and read it as inches. A fixture around 22 inches across suits the room. Over a table, size to the table instead.
Can I use two pendants instead of one chandelier?: Over a long rectangular table, two pendants often look better than one large fixture. Space them evenly over the table thirds and keep each at half to two thirds of the table width.