Lighting sets the mood throughout a home, but perhaps nowhere more than the dining room.

Candles, buffet lamps, rope lighting, recessed cans or chandeliers :quot; each can give a different feel to mealtime.

As the holidays approach and the focus turns to dining rooms, it’s a perfect time to think about ways to light the room for ambiance.

“Lighting is everything in setting a mood,” said Suzanne Warthen, who operates a lighting-consulting business, Lighting by Design, in Columbia, S.C. “Low levels of lighting make food more pleasant. It makes the whole environment more pleasant,” she said.

Designers suggest combining various types of lighting and spreading it around the room.

“The biggest mistake people make in dining-room lighting is they depend totally on the chandelier,” said Laurin Johnson, of Laurin Johnson Interiors in Columbia. “That isn’t sufficient. It doesn’t give you the mood you’re going for.”

Interior designers suggest adding a couple of lamps on a buffet table, or using sconces as a secondary source of light. The idea is to spread the light around the perimeter of the room.

And :quot; increasing in popularity is recessed lighting and rope lighting.

Whatever kind of lighting you use, designers agree on this: Always use the dimmer.

The options have never been more plentiful for the types of lighting you choose. Here’s a look at some:

Chandeliers

The traditional star of dining room lighting, chandeliers come in all styles, sizes and :quot; shapes.

“A chandelier is the center of attention whether on or off,” said designer Kris Deaton of Deaton and Trussell Interiors in Chapin, S.C.

Chandeliers often use small flame-shaped bulbs to simulate candles, and there are a large variety of shades available for them. Lighter colored shades will allow more light into the room, while dark or black opaque shades will dim the light from the bulbs, Deaton said.

Recessed lighting

Recessed lighting :quot; where the bulb is recessed into the ceiling :quot; is gaining popularity in dining rooms, particularly in newer homes.

Recessed or track lighting provides general lighting and allows you to highlight items in the room.

Buffet lighting

Two lamps on each side of a buffet or sideboard can add a traditional touch to a dining room.

Buffet lamps generally have narrow shades so they look best placed a short distance from the wall rather than pushed against the wall, Deaton said.

Johnson suggests a couple lamps with at least 60-watt bulbs on a buffet table as a secondary source of light.