CHI Good Questions: Design Details for the Dining Room?

Dorie sent in a question for all the AT design minds: "I just bought the Andover table and Corbin chairs in cherry from Room & Board and I’m wondering what kind of rug/lighting combo would work best… this will be on honey-colored hardwood in a room that gets a fair amount of natural light. I’d prefer to keep the color scheme neutral in this part of the house, as I use greens and blues liberally elsewhere, but I’m open to ideas. The pictured pendant is designed for track lighting so it won’t work for my situation, but it’s a design I really like. Any suggestions for rugs and/or lighting?"

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Please share your thoughts and ideas on rugs and lighting for her dining room with Dorie in the comments below...

Comments (5)

If you really like those pendants, I'm sure an electrician could wire them up for you without a track.

Don't know your overall aesthetic, but these pendants could be fun. With carbon filament bulbs, they'd really play up the warm tones...
http://www.sundancecatalog.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=12468&itemType=PRODUCT&iMainCat=7&iSubCat=57&iProductID=12468

posted by tommymiller50 on April 8th 2008 at 12:33pm
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I wouldn't do neutral. With neutral cherry (matching table and chairs) and a similar color floor, you really need some color in there. I would consider navy blue or possibly a bold lime green

posted by amandadom on April 8th 2008 at 12:52pm
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I'm no electrician, but I am going to guess that pendant light is halogen and needs to go on a track to accommodate the transformer. Or maybe it can be installed directly into the wall - check with the store before you buy it.

If you are in Chicago, I would recommend Lightology. Here's a link to a similar fixture: http://www.lightology.com/index.cfm/method-light.store_profile/sku-1220SU-SPENCER-005H1-AMSC/dept-Suspension/szdept_label-Suspension#options

In terms of a rug, I would go with a very light color like vanilla, or just off-white...not beige!

posted by Kathryn on April 8th 2008 at 1:24pm
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Thanks for the suggestions about how to convert the light I like... however there's another problem: the light is actually very tiny! It couldn't be used alone for a whole dining space. If I could find a bigger version, I would definitely snap it up.

Kathryn, I've been meaning to get to Lightology. I will check it out...

posted by dorie on April 9th 2008 at 6:02am
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You have to choose the good electrician and right tool for re-doing that pendant lights. However it looks good to me.

posted by Tiff on May 14th 2008 at 11:29am
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