Light Fixtures in an Open Floor Plan

A friend of mine recently moved into a new house. She had a lot of questions about how to replace light fixtures in an open floor plan.  Here are a few of them:

• Do all of the light fixtures need to match?
• Should they all be the same finish?
• Do they need to be similar shapes?
• If they are different, how different can they be?

I’m asked these questions so frequently. I’ve developed a few tips you can use if you are tackling this task too.

Fixtures do not need to match but should go together.

I never buy matching light fixtures from the same collection.  Let the idea of matching go! Variety makes things interesting. Generally speaking, all of the fixtures should share a common style. You wouldn’t want super modern pendants over your kitchen island and a French country chandelier in the living room.  When you look at the light fixtures together, they should look good together, especially if you can see them simultaneously in your open floor plan. Try taking screenshots of the fixtures you’re considering and looking at them together on a Powerpoint or Google Slide.  Do they work together? 

Vary the shape of your fixtures.

Using a variety of shapes will make things interesting. Avoid the situation where all of your light fixtures in your open floor plan are spheres or all are chandeliers with shades.  

It’s ok to mix finishes.

I wouldn’t recommend using more than two different finishes in areas that are really open and where multiple light fixtures can be seen at once.  If you have more defined or separated areas, then you can likely be more liberal with the number of finishes used. 

Need help selecting lighting?  In my one hour curbside consult, we can meet on Zoom, talk about your space, your preferences and the measurements of your rooms.  I’ll help you select the perfect combination of light fixtures for your space!  Click here to schedule.