Pendant vs Recessed Lights
When it’s done right, modern lighting multitasks. It creates atmosphere, delivers the desired light for the situation, and can even help keep energy costs lower. With so many choices on the menu, selecting the best option for your space can be tough. If you’re redoing the lighting in your dining room, how do you choose between recessed and pendant lights?
What Are Recessed Lights?
Also called downlights or can lights, recessed lights are concealed fixtures. The lightbulb and the majority of the fixture are seated out of sight inside the ceiling.
Benefits of recessed lights include:
- The hidden installation delivers a sleek, seamless look.
- It also allows the lighting to illuminate without taking up space in the room.
- Like a spotlight, these lights offer focused light that’s ideal for task lighting or dramatic interest.
- Modern versions are smaller and provide uniform light with minimal glare.
Potential downsides of recessed lights include:
- The firm focus of this lighting can have a “cave effect” that leaves the room’s walls dark if the lighting design doesn’t account for the full size and shape of the room.
- Because recessed lighting sits up in the ceiling, complicated installations are common.
- Proper installation is a must to ensure these lights don’t become a fire hazard.
What Are Pendant Lights?
Pendant lights are suspended from the ceiling by a cord, chain, or rod. Also known as drop lights, suspenders, or hanging lights, these lighting fixtures are designed to be seen and typically sit 8 inches or more from the ceiling.
Benefits of pendant lights include:
- In addition to providing lighting, they serve as a decorative element to enhance your space. Pendant lighting is available in a wide array of sizes, shapes, styles, and colors.
- Pendants excel at providing both task and ambient lighting.
- The wide selection offers amazing design flexibility.
- These fixtures are generally easy to clean and maintain.
- One large pendant can illuminate the entire room.
Potential downsides of pendant lights include:
- Pendants can make modestly sized rooms seem smaller.
- They can create shadows in specific situations.
- Planned installation is a must to ensure these lights don’t become a hazard by hanging where they might obstruct walkways.
Which Type of Lighting Is Better For Your Dining Room?
If you’re wondering what type of lighting is better for your dining room, consider the space. In the past, dining rooms were often formal spaces reserved for eating and entertaining. Today, a dining room tends to be a more casual place that serves as a gathering site for family and friends. While it may still be a place to entertain and eat, it’s also used for things like completing homework or similar tasks, playing games together, and settling in for a chat.
As you decide what type of lighting works best, reflect on how you use the space. Also, consider the physical nature of the space, especially the ceiling type, the size of your room, and its layout. Finally, think about your personal taste. Here are three scenarios to weigh.
Using Recessed Lights
Using recessed lights to brighten your dining room is an option to explore.
It works well in specific circumstances. Examples include:
- Space restrictions: If your home is small or has a low ceiling, recessed lighting provides illumination without getting in the way or making the space feel cramped.
- Modern appeal: Sleek and subtle, downlights are ideal when you want to give a space a modern or minimalist edge.
- Clear sightlines: Do big windows provide a glorious view? Recessed fixtures won’t block the sightlines from any angle because the fixtures are hidden up inside the ceiling.
Using Pendant Lights
Pendant lighting also has the potential to be a success story in the dining room.
Reasons to select this type of lighting include:
- Focal point: You want a piece to serve as a focal point for the room or to help designate a specific space as the dining area. This can be especially helpful in open floor plans, large rooms, or spaces with high ceilings.
- Warmth: Pendants are perfect for creating a warm, welcoming atmosphere that encourages people to gather near.
- Decoration and function: Because they are designed to be seen, pendants are dual-purpose. They are both decorative and functional.
Using Both Recessed and Pendant Lights
Sometimes, the best solution for a dining room involves combining recessed and pendant lights. When space allows, a pendant lamp over the table is the ideal way to encourage people to gather there. However, your bar area or kitchen pass-through will benefit from task lighting, so the installation of some recessed lights is the perfect touch. Do you have some photographs or art that you’d like to spotlight? A few carefully placed downlights can be ideal for the task.
Should I Call an Electrician to Install My New Lighting?
Effective lighting design shapes a space’s aesthetics and fulfills practical needs. Safe installation by a professional ensures that the lighting fixtures are functioning properly and not creating a fire or electrical hazard. In short, calling a licensed electrician to install your new lighting fixtures and any needed accessories is an excellent way to protect your design vision, your family, and your home.
Why Do Orlando, FL, Homeowners Rely on Mister Sparky?
Mister Sparky is a trusted local installer of quality electrical fixtures. Safety is the guiding light for our team of licensed electricians, so we ensure that every job is completed properly and up to code.
Our expert team thrives on helping you make your vision a reality. We begin each project with a consultation to discuss your plans, evaluate your space, answer questions, take relevant measurements, and determine if other upgrades or supports are needed to make your desired lighting design happen. With the prep work completed and expectations clear, the installation goes faster and smoother.
Are you ready for new lighting in your home? Don’t put up with any malarky. Call Mister Sparky. We’ve been illuminating properties in and around Orlando for years, and have experience with recessed, pendant, and other types of lighting. Contact us today to make an appointment.
