What Is the Proper Length to Hang a Light Over a Kitchen Table?

The General Rule

• In general, the distance between a table surface and the bottom of a pendant lamp should be 30 inches. Start there but don't stop there. The lamp in your space should undergo a little testing to end up at the right height. The pendant should hang no more than 36 inches above a kitchen table, from table top to lamp bottom, to look balanced and provide sufficient light intensity. Always eyeball the projected height before fixing the lamp in place. One easy way to approximate this is to have someone stand on a ladder and hang a balloon over the table at different heights until it looks right.

Variable Heights

• Looking right is important but so are the heights of the people who will use the table. A 5-foot-tall chef might love a low-hanging lamp but a 6-foot-tall bread-kneader will get tired of banging his head on the lamp. Consider the heights of everyone involved and be prepared to compromise if the ideal height for one person isn't perfect for the rest of the family. At decision time, give more weight to the tall people. Light will fall on everyone beneath the lamp, so shorter people will still be able to see.

Work vs. Dining

• How you use the kitchen table is another factor to weigh. If your table is an island with stools on one side and work space for a standing cook on the other, check the sight lines from sitting and standing positions to see what works. Seated people should be able to converse with the cook without a lamp hanging in the way. Same goes for the standing person -- hang the lamp a bit higher if necessary, up to 40 inches from counter surface to lamp bottom -- and use a brighter light bulb to give enough light for the cook to work. For multipurpose pendants, invest in a dimmer, which allows for ambient dining light and intense work light from the same fixture. Hang the lamp high enough to be well away from any candles used for dining.

Fixed Pendants

• Many pendants have to be ordered online because stores carry limited inventory. If you have a fixed pendant -- one on a rod rather than an adjustable chain -- you have no room for error. The rod and the lamp are pre-cut to fit your measurements and fiddling with that after you receive the fixture could ruin it. Consider sitting and standing use, visual glimpses of the pendant through doorways, amount of light needed for working and for dining, size of table and size and style of lamp. The view from the dining room may dictate a certain placement. A bigger lamp may sit low over the table for effect or float higher because it has a big presence. Begin with the general height measures, then do your own detailed calculating so your kitchen table pendant is just the right length.