Very interesting.

I actually really like the festoon lights! Fairy lights remind me too much of Christmas to have as an all year round feature.

If you are in New Zealand, I have often found great lights (and a big range) at Lighting Plus. When I was putting my house on the market I put three of these: http://www.lightingplus.co.nz/lighting/pendants/contemporary/jaga-bcopal-1light-pendant.html over my kitchen benchtop, and they looked just gorgeous. So gorgeous in fact, that I have already bought three new ones in advance for when I upgrade the kitchen lighting in my new house. They also have these : http://www.lightingplus.co.nz/lighting/pendants/contemporary/hudson25-whitegold-1lt-pendant.html or these: http://www.lightingplus.co.nz/lighting/pendants/contemporary/trumpet35-pendant-blackgold.html  if you like the look of the internal gold under the shade. There are also others similar. I have also found some great lights at : http://www.edenlighting.co.nz/collections/pendant-lights . All of these are very affordable. However if you want to go really high end, and you like NZ timber lights, you can't go past : https://www.davidtrubridge.com/collection/lighting/  Just my 2c. Enjoy.

Thank you for your responses. Both areas are separated by a bulk head in the kitchen with the kitchen light a bit hidden by it. The dilema is that the dinning have traditional beige courtains with rectangular palmets and there is nothing black on it should i choose something that matches the color of the kitchen which is predominately black and beige or  something that matches the colours of dining wich are beige with the same colour of the wood as the shutters in the kitchen ( honey colur). I apreciate your feedbak.  Thank you.