Style my lighting...suggestions wanted for strip lights and dining room
March 20, 2025 2:40 PM Subscribe
I'm going to be doing some renovations and since we're doing stuff with the ceiling I'm going to make some lighting changes. I need some ideas for what kinds of lighting might work for me. Mainly I would like aesthetic opinions/recomendations I need a light that can be not-directly-under-the-electrical-box in my dining room and strip lights for the solarium. Bonus points...how crazy would I be to buy a light fixture on Temu (safety wise...if it's ugly cheap looking, I can return it).
Dining Room:
Currently I have one of those big white round things stuck to my ceiling. It's the very definition of "standard issue. whatever, it's fine." The problem is, besides looking utterly basic, is that it's located weirdly too close to the wall so it's not centred over the table and really cannot be centered over the table. The problem is that ceiling is concrete, so I can't do anything inside of the ceiling and the junction box is where it is, so the electrical has to come out of there. So I guess I'm looking for a solution where the electrical is where it is and then the cord/cable get's hooked from another spot a foot or two away.
BUT...note that the ceilings are eight feet high. And the way my condo layout works is that there's the kitchen with a counter that faces over towards the dining room (so if you're standing at the sink or at that counter and facing the counter/sink, you're looking at the dining room and then the living room. So I don't want something big/prominent view-interfering just to keep the sight-line from kitchen to living room open Not that it's some amazing view or anything, I just don't want to feel like there's a light fixture in my face when I look around. Can you give me some idea what kind of light fixture might work in a space like that?
Solarium
Another concrete ceiling and this time no electrical box on the ceiling, so it's going to have to be track lighting with a visible but camouflaged conduit. The conduit will run along the ceiling at the top of the window (window goes all the way to the ceiling) so basically there will be some kind of track lights ...but maybe strip lights? from just in front of the window and they will be pointed in towards the room. Probably two strips given the width of the room. What's the least ugly look I can get here? And the lights will be in front of the window and it's not like I'm 8 feet tall, but it still feels like another sight line-ugly problem to have the fixture directly in front of the window.
Solarium Alternative Option A
There is a non-window wall in the solarium...two in fact. But there are bookshelves against both. One is a wide wall lined with Billy bookshelves sporting glass doors. There are things on top of this shelf that are half decorative/half storage. So basically things that I don't have another spot for but that are pretty. So track lighting up here would basically have the little light fixtures peaking out from between decorative items...I don't think this works. Also having a tall piece of furniture directly below the track lighting seems like it limits the ability of the light to "get out." And yes, it would still be tracking lighting. This will is concrete so we'd still be talking about a conduit.
Solarium Alternative Option 2:
the other piece of wall in the solarium is a tiny piece of wall (a little narrower than the width of a narrow billy) between two doorways. It faces out towards the windows. That wall is not concrete. But it does have a narrow billy against it and at the very top there's a ventilation shaft directly behind it so I don't know if it's possible to electric that up. It might still be conduit-requiring, but possibly not. But here there's nothing on top of the shelf and I wonder if some sort of "pointing out from the wall spotlight -- kind of like one big track-light-like fixture might work there?
Solarium Alternative C
OK, I just thought of this. You know that wall between two doorways? One of those doorways is just a doorway going all the way to the ceiling. But the other is two french doors with a piece of wall above. I could put the track light against that wall (either on the wall or on the ceiling near that wall) instead of by the windows? This might actually be the winner...but the question remains..
What kind of track lights might look nice in any of these solarium options.
the Bonus
And for bonus question: I was looking at the ikea website and seeing basic clear-glass-ball over a light bulb for the dining room. I don't really want to look directly at an unshaded single light bulb, so I was wondering if I could buy some etching cream and frost a pattern onto the glass. So then I went to temu to get some stencil ideas...and then I decided to see if they have light fixtures and they do! And some of them look nice. Like nothing that is obviously "the one" but some things I could definitely imagine buying for imaginary other places. But I avoid buying anything electrical from Dollarama...Do I trust light fixtures from temu? Do they have to met CSA standards for import which would mean if they're offering them they meet Canadian standards?
Dining Room:
Currently I have one of those big white round things stuck to my ceiling. It's the very definition of "standard issue. whatever, it's fine." The problem is, besides looking utterly basic, is that it's located weirdly too close to the wall so it's not centred over the table and really cannot be centered over the table. The problem is that ceiling is concrete, so I can't do anything inside of the ceiling and the junction box is where it is, so the electrical has to come out of there. So I guess I'm looking for a solution where the electrical is where it is and then the cord/cable get's hooked from another spot a foot or two away.
BUT...note that the ceilings are eight feet high. And the way my condo layout works is that there's the kitchen with a counter that faces over towards the dining room (so if you're standing at the sink or at that counter and facing the counter/sink, you're looking at the dining room and then the living room. So I don't want something big/prominent view-interfering just to keep the sight-line from kitchen to living room open Not that it's some amazing view or anything, I just don't want to feel like there's a light fixture in my face when I look around. Can you give me some idea what kind of light fixture might work in a space like that?
Solarium
Another concrete ceiling and this time no electrical box on the ceiling, so it's going to have to be track lighting with a visible but camouflaged conduit. The conduit will run along the ceiling at the top of the window (window goes all the way to the ceiling) so basically there will be some kind of track lights ...but maybe strip lights? from just in front of the window and they will be pointed in towards the room. Probably two strips given the width of the room. What's the least ugly look I can get here? And the lights will be in front of the window and it's not like I'm 8 feet tall, but it still feels like another sight line-ugly problem to have the fixture directly in front of the window.
Solarium Alternative Option A
There is a non-window wall in the solarium...two in fact. But there are bookshelves against both. One is a wide wall lined with Billy bookshelves sporting glass doors. There are things on top of this shelf that are half decorative/half storage. So basically things that I don't have another spot for but that are pretty. So track lighting up here would basically have the little light fixtures peaking out from between decorative items...I don't think this works. Also having a tall piece of furniture directly below the track lighting seems like it limits the ability of the light to "get out." And yes, it would still be tracking lighting. This will is concrete so we'd still be talking about a conduit.
Solarium Alternative Option 2:
the other piece of wall in the solarium is a tiny piece of wall (a little narrower than the width of a narrow billy) between two doorways. It faces out towards the windows. That wall is not concrete. But it does have a narrow billy against it and at the very top there's a ventilation shaft directly behind it so I don't know if it's possible to electric that up. It might still be conduit-requiring, but possibly not. But here there's nothing on top of the shelf and I wonder if some sort of "pointing out from the wall spotlight -- kind of like one big track-light-like fixture might work there?
Solarium Alternative C
OK, I just thought of this. You know that wall between two doorways? One of those doorways is just a doorway going all the way to the ceiling. But the other is two french doors with a piece of wall above. I could put the track light against that wall (either on the wall or on the ceiling near that wall) instead of by the windows? This might actually be the winner...but the question remains..
What kind of track lights might look nice in any of these solarium options.
the Bonus
And for bonus question: I was looking at the ikea website and seeing basic clear-glass-ball over a light bulb for the dining room. I don't really want to look directly at an unshaded single light bulb, so I was wondering if I could buy some etching cream and frost a pattern onto the glass. So then I went to temu to get some stencil ideas...and then I decided to see if they have light fixtures and they do! And some of them look nice. Like nothing that is obviously "the one" but some things I could definitely imagine buying for imaginary other places. But I avoid buying anything electrical from Dollarama...Do I trust light fixtures from temu? Do they have to met CSA standards for import which would mean if they're offering them they meet Canadian standards?
Strip lighting: They make really good LED strip lighting these days. I just had some installed in the attic. I ordered it in "extra warm" to avoid the eye-stabbing awfulness of blue-white light. Extra warm gives you a pleasantly golden glow and, if used at night, is more conducive to good sleep.
Dining room: From your description, it looks like you wouldn't want anything hanging down lower than a foot from the ceiling. Mmmayyybee 14 inches, but that's it.
If you have concrete ceilings, maybe lean into a more industrial look. Make a branching pattern with metal conduit to several bulbs around the room, or use a wooden bar pendant hanging close to the ceiling. Metal conduit comes in all different finishes (and can be painted); braided cable comes in all different colours. You should be able to make something that will suit your style and taste.
posted by Pallas Athena at 7:05 PM on March 20
Dining room: From your description, it looks like you wouldn't want anything hanging down lower than a foot from the ceiling. Mmmayyybee 14 inches, but that's it.
If you have concrete ceilings, maybe lean into a more industrial look. Make a branching pattern with metal conduit to several bulbs around the room, or use a wooden bar pendant hanging close to the ceiling. Metal conduit comes in all different finishes (and can be painted); braided cable comes in all different colours. You should be able to make something that will suit your style and taste.
posted by Pallas Athena at 7:05 PM on March 20
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It is illegal to install non-certified electrical equipment.
Now whether TEMU cares about that IDK. I looked at several of their lights and the posted instructions for ones where they were provided. Generally listing/certification information is in the install instructions (though I don't know if that is actually a requirement). Most of the light's instructions instructions lacked any mention of certification. Some instructions like for this fixture have a series of marks listed but no recognized Canadian marks (IE: The UL mark lacks the small C and therefor isn't a recognized mark in Canada). This one has a CE mark but that again isn't a recognized certification in Canada.
Amazon.ca is rife with electrical equipment that can't be used in Canada legally (plus rampant counterfeiting). I'd be surprised if Temu is any better.
posted by Mitheral at 6:47 PM on March 20