This can be subjective according to how you use your dining room (i.e., formally or informally) and your aesthetic. More formal, traditional dining rooms often have lower hanging fixtures. Some rules of thumb we recommend are hanging the fixture 36 inches (3 feet) above your table or 72 inches (6 feet) off your floor. Many people consider these lengths too low for casual entertaining and prefer to have their fixtures hang 78 inches (6 ½ feet) or 84 inches (7 feet) off the floor. Since any pan and pendant fixture built to a specified length is considered a custom order, we strongly encourage customers to actually hang a string with a balloon or cardboard from the ceiling to help determine the overall desired length of the fixture with shades.