Large kitchen/dining/family room space - what lighting should I have?

[tassisssss]

Suggestions please!

little bump, what do you have in yours??!

We have halogen spots - again nothing original and fairly standard new build stuff!

I would like something more original and if I were to change them I think I would contact an independant lighting specialist in the area who will come out and assess the space and make suggestions.

We use one in our pub and I know they do domestic properties too. If you look in the yellow pages for someone local to you, you should find someone.

They know about the various types and styles and what works well together etc.

Can't say we've done anything as grand as oreocrumbs suggests but have got led lights round edges of room, spots in kitchen-diner area and three pendant lights over the island unit. In tv area/family room we've got a flush halogen chandelier as no spotlights in that area. Hope that makes sense!

oreo, how do you find the halogen spots? had thought we might have them but hearing mixed reviews.

second thought, we'll have a breakfast bar, how do you find the pendant lights? would they work over a breakfast bar?

I'd like to get lighting right as I do notice/appreciate nice lighting...

Our island unit is also a breakfast bar and the pendant lights work well. Important to hang them at the right distance from the surface though, don't want people banging their heads! We wanted something to give a bit of direct lighting for that area as we are also using it as a working area of the kitchen (sink is on island) rather than relying on the ambient lights of the spots.

Well I don't know how to change them for a start, so the ones that have gone out are still out !!

They are ok. I have no problem with them in the kitchen area, its bright and they do the job, but I find them too much in the other areas, so I put lamps on instead - but they are not quite bright enough!!

If I was starting from scratch, I would be looking for a mix of lights, maybe some spots around the cooking/prep area, pendants over eating area and wall lights perhaps else where. I do like lamps as well for cosy areas if you are just watching tv rather than doing a task!

We have a large kitchen/diner/family room with 26 halogen spotlights.

They do the job but I wouldn't recommend them. They are very functional and don't soften the space at all. Big rooms like that need something to make them more homely I have realised (too late).

I can see they were the best thing in the kichen end but if I had my time again I would put in more aesthetic lights over the dining table and softer lighting in the sitting area.

We have eased it a bit with table lamps and fairy lights but it hasn't entirely fixed it iykwim.

If you like a vintage look, try trainspotters or original BTC for the pendant lights. I love the old dunlop factory lights myself but v pricey.

www.originalbtc.com
www.trainspotters.co.uk/products/dunlop-light-white

Our room is an L shape with the dining area in one end of the L, the kitchen in the angle and the sitting area in the other end of the L. We have a row of halogen spotlights dividing dining and kitchen areas and then a chandelier over the dining table. Kitchen area has two fishermans lanterns over the island, spots over the units and blue led plinth lights. Sitting area has <a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=wrought+iron+chandelier&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=YYw&sa=X&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&biw=1366&bih=675&tbm=isch&prmd=imvns&tbnid=KRzhg1lwgToR1M:&imgrefurl=www.inspiredbylight.co.uk/maypole-classic-light-pendant-matt-black-p-9738.html&docid=0GcIsYtmP7dtBM&imgurl=www.inspiredbylight.co.uk/images/medium/sl_medium/SL63488BK_medium.jpg&w=300&h=300&ei=lSdFT42mBonB0QXbnbjsAw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=967&vpy=337&dur=23&hovh=225&hovw=225&tx=147&ty=255&sig=103612430093475006786&page=1&tbnh=145&tbnw=138&start=0&ndsp=20&ved=0CI0BEK0DMBI" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">wrought iron chandelier and [[http://www.wayfair.co.uk/Searchlight-Bombay-Plaster-Wall-Light-106-SRL1256.html?refid=GPAUK321-SRL1256&gclid=CJKe2NGPsq4CFYsntAodmQoORg plaster wall lights
Sounds like a lot but we can vary the lighting level a lot to suit what we are doing.

We have those little round things in the ceiling can't remember for the life of me what they are called. We have them over the island and dotted around part of the living space. You have to be careful not to have too many otherwise looks like disco/runway.

We mix it up with one of these over the kitchen table and one of these in another part of the living space. I also want one of these in the books area of the living space.

Oh and btw I spend nothing like that. The first one I got for £100 2 years ago before they became popular - the second one I got from John Lweis in silver for £60 and the last one I am still searching for a knock off bargain.

Love that chandeliers themumsnot! I would never be able to persuade my DH to go for that. Got to be more boring understated.

The chandelier is hilarious. Every woman who comes into the house loves it, and every man hates it!

We have a large open plan space. Lighting is GU10 LED downlighters, 33 lights in total - so they really need to be low energy. We have 8 different lighting zones in the room this stop the spots seeming too clinical, the lights are focused around areas rather than spaced equally in lines. Had originally thought we'd have dimmable leds but in the end didn't need them. We have pendants over the island - three of them; spots over the table - you need to decide which gets the pendants because both will be too much. We often light up different zones in the room, it works really well. Also I have lamps because they are decorative and soften the decor a little.

Did think about an led strip around the base of the island but was put off by someone saying that it highlighted dirt on the floor and secondly it was suggested that it would give the kitchen a nightclub look - not what I wanted so I avioded it.