Light over a dining table

A dining table reads better when the light sits directly above it and stops there. Ceiling light spread across the whole room flattens the table and lights empty floor instead.

Centre the fixture on the table, not on the room. Where there is no ceiling point above the table, a picture light on the wall behind it keeps the beam on the tabletop; mount it high and aim it down so nobody at the table looks into the source.

Dim to roughly half output for an evening meal. Faces stay lit, the table stays readable, and the rest of the room falls away into shadow.

If the room also gets used for work or reading during the day, a table lamp on the sideboard can carry that on its own, so the wall fixture never has to be turned up bright.