Check out this old post. http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/good-questions-what-height-sho-80533

It also depends on how high your ceilings are, how high your table is, etc. If you have low ceilings (8 foot or lower) you will want to hang the pendant higher to make the ceiling look higher. Not flush with the ceiling, obviously, but high enough that you don't really notice just how low the ceiling is.

Other than that, I recommend finding a friend who frequently visits and is tall, and seeing how he or she would prefer the light. You don't want to hang it and be super proud, then realize during your first dinner party that anyone over 6'1 is bumping their head because it's too low or eating in their own shadow because it's too high.

Although there's no hard and fast rule, the general standard is 30" above table top.

About the PH5...I have not been successful installing a 200 watt bulb in it (which it is supposed to be able to handle), only a 150 watt and with the dark-colored reflectors this lamp has not kicked out enough light for working under it. Now I regard it more as mood lighting for dining, having put it on a dimmer.

Does anyone else have experience w/ the PH5? I love the look of this thing, but I'm afraid I'd have to shell out for more than one (as pictured above!) to adequately light our dining table. And also, how much light goes up to illuminate the ceiling? The last thing I want is to recreate the dogs-playing-poker scene. Help?

Dogs Playing Poker

I followed the guidelines and after continually bumping the lamp, I raised it about three inches above that.

I don't think you'll run into problems with the PH5, but -- and I say this from experience -- it's worth looking at the height of the pendant when you're both sitting and standing.

I have an oversized drum pendant, which I think is the "right" height over my dining room table. However, since my dining room is often used as a mingling room for dinner parties, the drum pendant basically blocks the face of anyone that is standing on the opposite side of the table. I like the look of my dining room, so I wouldn't change it, but it's not the marriage of form and function that I originally thought it was going to be...

The thing is, the genius of the PH5 design is that it shouldn't blind you at any height. That's why the light is indirect through those different "saucers" and it provides more of a mood lighting piece a glaring, interrogation lighting.

Thank you all for the comments. A day or so after I sent in the question, I just googled it, and of course found that the exact same question had been posed on AT 4 years ago. And at Houzz.com and innumerable other places. The general answer is 28 to 32 inches. But y'all have given me much more specific and detailed thoughts. At the moment, I don't have any exceptionally tall friends, but I myself am exceptionally short - which is probably why I have problems with other peoples lights, with pictures, and especially with counters. Anyway... I am really looking forward to getting the Poulsen lamp, to me it is just beautiful.

Cheers,
Joanne, aka realcalm

Our electrician told us that his standard height for pendants over tables is 36 inches. We tested it with the new lamps we're hanging, and it's pretty much perfect.

30"-36" above the table surface. We hung ours about 33"-34" because it was a full link on the pendant chain. Have another person hold it up while you sit, stand and move about the room to confirm.

In my opinion, you should be able to walk under a lamp without hitting your head, no matter where it is.