A pendant over a table is sized off the table and hung off the ceiling, and the two are independent. The size rule is that the shade should be somewhere between a half and two-thirds of the short side of the table, so it reads as belonging to the table without overhanging it and catching heads. The height rule is that the bottom of the shade hangs seventy-five to ninety centimetres above the tabletop — high enough to see over and talk across, low enough that the light actually pools on the table rather than lighting the ceiling. This takes the table and the ceiling and gives you both.
Table, ceiling and how low to hang
Two-thirds of the table, and seventy-five centimetres above it.
The short side. For a round table, the diameter.
Seventy-five is intimate; ninety lets people see across more easily.
Result
Sized off the short side
The pendant relates to the table's short side rather than its long one, because that is the dimension that matters visually: it is what you see when you sit down, and it is what determines whether the shade hangs over the edge and catches heads. A shade two-thirds of the table's width leaves about seventeen centimetres clear on each side of a metre-wide table, which is enough to lean over without hitting it.
On a long table the single-pendant rule breaks down, and the honest answer is two or three smaller pendants down the length rather than one enormous one. Two shades at a third of the width each, spaced at intervals of the length, light the table evenly and keep the scale human — and they avoid the single most common mistake, which is one huge drum hanging over the middle of a table with dark ends.
How low, and why it matters
Seventy-five centimetres above the tabletop is the standard, and it is a compromise between two failures. Too high and the light spreads: it lights the ceiling and the walls and it glares into the eyes of anyone sitting at the table, because the bulb is visible over the top of the shade. Too low and it blocks sightlines across the table and becomes the thing everyone is looking around.
The test is the bulb. Stand at the table and sit at the table, and check that the bottom of the shade is below eye level when seated, so the light source is hidden and the table is lit by reflected light off the inside of the shade rather than directly. That single check matters more than the measurement.
A pendant over a table is a mood light, not a work light. It wants a dimmer, and it wants to be separate from the room's general lighting so the table can be bright while the rest of the room is not.
Use a warm bulb — around 2700 K — and a shade that is opaque rather than translucent, so the light goes down on the table instead of out into the room.
Shape, and what the shade does to the light
An opaque shade with an open bottom sends light down and a little up, which pools on the table and leaves the room around it comparatively dark — which is exactly what you want over a dining table. A translucent shade glows all over and lights the room evenly, which is a different job and a much less intimate one.
A wide, shallow drum lights a wider pool and sits lower. A tall, narrow cone throws a tighter pool and can hang higher. Glass and open-bottomed shades with a visible bulb need a decorative filament bulb or the fitting looks unfinished, and they glare unless the bulb itself is low-output.
| Situation | Shade | Height above surface | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dining table, 4 to 6 | Two-thirds of width | 75 cm | The standard case |
| Long table, 8 plus | Two or three, a third each | 75 cm | Even light, human scale |
| Kitchen island | Two, evenly spaced | 80 to 90 cm | Higher, for sightlines |
| Breakfast bar | Small, in a row | 75 cm | Keep them out of the eyeline |
| Above a sideboard | Small, one or a pair | 30 cm above the top | Different rule |
| Over a stairwell | Whatever fits the void | Clear of head height | Scale to the space |
A worked example
- The shadeA 1.0 m table at two-thirds gives 0.66 m, leaving 0.17 m clear each side.
- The height75 cm above a 75 cm tabletop puts the bottom of the shade at 1.50 m.
- The dropOn a 2.4 m ceiling that is 0.90 m of drop — a normal flex length.
- CoverageThe shade covers 0.34 m² of a 1.80 m² table: it lights the middle and the ends stay softer.
- The checkSeated eye level is around 1.15 m, so the shade bottom at 1.50 m is above it — raise the seats or lower the shade if you want the bulb hidden.
That last check is the one worth doing on site. The arithmetic gives a shade that fits the table; only sitting in the chair tells you whether the bulb is out of sight, and that is the difference between a light that is pleasant and one that is merely bright.
Hanging it
Find the joist or use a cavity fixing rated for the weight — a large pendant is heavier than it looks, and it is hanging over the place people sit. Wire it through a ceiling rose with the flex cut to length rather than coiled, and put the join in a junction box above the rose rather than inside the shade.
Centre it on the table, not on the room. A pendant centred on a room with a table that is not centred under it is a permanent small irritation, and it is one of the most common fitting mistakes in a dining room. On a long table with two pendants, space them at even intervals along the length rather than clustering them in the middle.
The light itself is a separate calculation: the lumens figure works out how much light the room needs in total, which is a different question from how big the shade over the table should be. The table underneath was sized by the dining table figure, and the ceiling it hangs from by the ceiling area figure.
Do
- Size the shade off the table's short side, not its length.
- Hang the bottom 75 cm above the tabletop.
- Check the bulb is hidden when you sit down.
- Use two or three small shades on a long table rather than one huge one.
- Centre it on the table, not on the room.
Avoid
- One enormous drum over the middle of a long table.
- Hanging it high enough to glare into seated eyes.
- Centring it on the room rather than on the table.
- Using a translucent shade and lighting the whole room instead of the table.
- Coiling the surplus flex inside the shade.
Where the numbers stop being true
The size rule assumes a single central shade over a rectangular or round table. An oval table, a very narrow one, or a table that extends all change the answer, and an extending table is the awkward one: a shade sized for the closed table looks small over the extended one and usually cannot be moved.
Nothing here accounts for the shade's depth, for a fitting that is a cluster rather than a single shade, or for a linear suspension light, all of which change both the scale and the hanging height. A cluster of small glass shades has no single diameter and is effectively its own category.
And the drop assumes a flat ceiling with a fixing point above the table. A vaulted ceiling, a beam in the way, or a fixing point that is not where you want it all mean the pendant has to be swagged or the ceiling adapted — and a long swag over a dining table is a design decision, not a fix.
How the figures are produced
The shade diameter is the table's short side times the share you chose. Clearance each side is half the difference between the table width and the shade. The bottom of the shade is the tabletop height plus the clearance you want above it, and the drop is the ceiling height less that. The drawing shows the table to scale with its area, and the stack splits the ceiling height into the table, the light gap and the flex above.
Questions people ask
How big should a pendant be over a dining table?
About two-thirds of the table's width. For a metre-wide table, around 66 cm.
How high should it hang?
About 75 cm above the tabletop, so the bottom of the shade is at roughly 1.5 m on a standard table.
Should I use one or two over a long table?
Two or three, at a third of the width each, spaced down the length. One large one leaves the ends dark.
Why does mine glare?
It is hanging too high, so the bulb is visible over the top of the shade from a seated position.
Can I centre it on the room instead?
No — centre it on the table. A pendant centred on the room with an off-centre table under it looks wrong permanently.
What colour bulb?
Warm, around 2700 K, and dimmable. The pendant is a mood light rather than a work light.