Should Foyer And Dining Room Lighting Match?

Perhaps you're considering buying new lighting fixtures and you wonder if your foyer and dining room lighting should match? If your foyer is adjacent to your dining room, this is a valid consideration. We've checked with interior experts and gathered our research here for you to judge what's best for your home and room layout.

Your foyer and dining room lighting do not need to match but it's great if they are related. Just like other design elements, you can choose lighting that will work well with each other but forgo an exact match.

We've found great examples so you have an idea of what we mean. In addition, we'll discuss the proper bulb brightness for both rooms, the best types of lighting for the foyer and dining room, and if the foyer is always next to the dining room. So please, keep reading.

A white color painted wall foyer area, white banisters, and wooden handrail, carpeted stairs steps, and wooden flooring, Should Foyer And Dining Room Lighting Match?

Should Your Dining Room Lighting Match Your Foyer Lighting?

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A gorgeous grand foyer of a mansion with wooden flooring and a carpeted flooring on the wooden steps

In many homes, you walk directly into the foyer and the dining room is to the right or the left of that entry space. Because of this, both light fixtures will be visible at the same time. So it makes sense that you may be wondering if you should have matching lighting for both the foyer and the living room. What we've found in looking through countless interiors is that they don't match more often than they do match.

Interior of a modern rustic living room with a grand foyer with white painted banisters and wooden flooring

For instance, in this home, both the dining room and foyer utilize chandelier type lighting, but the foyer light is larger and brighter. The dining room light hangs lower and is more intimate with the mass of small shaded lights clustered on the frame.

A large staircase with dark wooden painted stair railing and white painted walls

This home's foyer and adjacent dining room use related chandelier type lighting. The one in the grand foyer is larger and more elaborate. But the one in the dining room is the same style, just in a smaller and simpler version.

How To Pick Related Lighting

When you're looking for lighting for your dining room and foyer, you want to consider the spaces and what you need. Dining rooms often have low hanging lighting that is directly over the dining table. On the contrary, the foyer's lighting hangs higher and allows for visitors to walk beneath it without fear of bumping their heads. We've found a few examples of pieces that would work well together in a home.

Rustic Chic Style

This rectangular 5-light chandelier with Edison bulbs is the perfect size to hang over a dining table. The rectangular shape provides lighting for the whole table and it's hung low to create the ambiance you want when dining.

Click here for this lighting on Amazon.

This 4-light chandelier is a different shape and size than the light above but is from the same collection. Picking lights from the same collection is the way to create that relationship between the two interior spaces.

Click here for this lighting on Amazon.

Contemporary And Urban Styles

Another way to approach related lighting is through basic style and color. This sputnik chandelier is contemporary and urban in a brass finish. It could be used over a dining table or in the foyer.

Click here for this lighting on Amazon.

But what can you pair with it without being too matchy-matchy? Here are a few ideas that also fall into the urban and contemporary and brass category.

This clean-lined black and brass pendant chandelier contains similar elements of color, lightbulb choice, and smooth metal collars, but adds just enough difference to make each light unique.

Click here for this lighting on Amazon.

This brass chandelier gives you similarity yet difference. This one is a modern play on more traditional styling, yet still works well with either of the lights above.

Click here for this lighting on Amazon.

What Is The Best Light Bulb Brightness In The Foyer And Dining Room?

There are so many different types of lightbulbs, but what you want to pay attention to on any of them is the color temperature of the bulb. This is measured in Kelvins which is represented by a capital K, preceded by a number. For example, daylight bulbs are typically 6000K.

Foyer Lightbulbs

Your foyer is the greeting place, it's the warm welcome to your home, so think of it as a place for warm light. In your foyer, stick to lightbulbs that range from 2700k-3500k for soft, warm light. Of course, if you want it cooler, then choose a higher number bulb, like 4000K. As for lumens (brightness), aim for around 3000 lumens. Higher if you want it brighter.

Dining Room Lightbulbs

In the dining room, you probably want a bulb that dims. This way you can change the ambiance for a formal meal or a casual meal with family. Look for a range of 3000-6000 lumens in the dining room light. As for the color, you may want to go for a neutral 4000K. 

What Is The Best Type Of Lighting For A Foyer?

A grand foyer of a luxurious mansion with a winding staircase, white flooring, and a luxurious chandelier

The foyer is your home's welcome mat and introduction to your style. Foyer lighting can be as grand as a crystal chandelier or as subdued as can lighting in the ceiling. What you choose is really a reflection of you and what you like.

The most typical types of lighting fixtures in the foyer are chandeliers, multi-bulbed pendant lighting, and flush-mount fixtures. Many people will also layer their lighting by having table lamps on an entry table as well.

What Is The Best Type Of Lighting For A Dining Room?

In the dining room, you want a light that is large enough to illuminate your table and the meal being served. In addition, you may choose to have lights or wall sconces on a nearby buffet table.

Many homeowners choose to have lights that will dim in order to change the ambiance for a meal. Dimming the lights on an above table chandelier can give the feeling of flickering candlelight without the worry of an open flame.

In recent years, the use of rectangular lights has grown in popularity. The shape of these low-hanging lights is perfect for illuminating long tables for large family meals. They don't encroach into the space where you need to walk around but provide plenty of light for eating and serving meals.

Rectangular lighting fixtures like this one are perfect for above kitchen islands and dining tables.

Click here for this lighting on Amazon.

Is A Foyer Always Next To A Dining Room?

House layouts are fairly consistent but have changed over the years. In recent years, we've seen the rise of the open concept floor plan and the doing away with formal dining rooms. In these floor plans, the dining area is often next to the kitchen which is usually away from the foyer.

In older homes, one typical design is to walk into the foyer and have the dining room to one side and the living room to the other. But in some cases, the foyer is to one side, then the living room, then the dining room is beyond the living room and closer to the kitchen. That being said, there really is no one exact standard in home layouts and depending on what you have, your lighting choices may be wide open.

Keep Your Style Cohesive

Though you don't need to have matchy-matchy lights, it's always good to think about the elements you do want to match. Match your overall style: contemporary, transitional, traditional. Then think about materials and shapes and see how you can relate fixtures in that way. Finally, print out pictures of your choices and place them next to one another and see how they look. Do they look related?  If so, then you're on the right track.

If you enjoyed this post here at HomeDecorBliss.com, then please check out a few of our others below:

18 Entrance Hall Lighting Ideas You Should Check Out

11 Awesome Dining Room Decorating Ideas

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