I see you are doing a renovation but you did not mention why you are moving the table. With existing doors it seems like you will be blocking traffic flow. Why are you moving the table? Not sure how it will feel with table halfway between rooms??? Hmmm. You must have a reason. Will the flooring be all the same?

I don't think that would be any different than having the light fixture you have now hanging down as long as the chandelier is still hanging from the 9' section and not right on the line and as long as it is centered over the table.

Laurie

Yes, I think it would look odd to have a pendant light hanging at the end of the area with the 9-foot ceiling. I would skip a hanging light and install recessed lights.

I would shop around or search the lighting forum to see what's available in small recessed lights and then put in two or four of them to light that area. Then you wouldn't have to worry about making the table fit under the fixture. Maybe there are LED recessed lights out now, I don't know.

Omigod -- you and I could be living in the same neighborhood! Friends up the street have the same floorplan (well, okay the kitchen - breakfast - family part). I totally get the removal of the kneewall and moving the table down -- it's to make accessing your patio / porch / backyard easier, right? So you don't have to shimmy around the table. When we redid our kitchen a few years ago we took a window out in the family room and turned it into a door for that very reason. I'm with you!

Based on what I know of your style (from your to-die-for inspiration pic for your new fp mantle / built-ins) I'm going with you on the NO for track lighting.

I also think a chandelier hung right at the edge of your 9' ceiling (where it transitions to the vaulted) will look odd.

I know it's hard now because you haven't yet started the demo, but do you know where the **approximate** center of your table will be? If yes, will that be at least 6" from the edge of the ceiling? If yes, then I think the chandelier will be fine. I'm concerned anything closer than that will look cockeyed.

I know you haven't yet chosen the style of your chandelier but I think that will also help make the decision. If it's grand with lots of gew-gaw (and I like gew-gaw so that is not an insult) then the body of the chandelier itself should still be sitting under your 9' ceiling. If it's a simple style then you can get away with a bit of it inching out into the vaulted space. But not by much! I think if too much of the chandelier / lighting fixture is floating in the vaulted space it'll look careless, and your design is clearly not careless.

I am so excited about your project!!

If you're interested, of our kitchen, and . From before, and from the family room . Now remember, the after photos were taken right away, when everything was done. Now every surface is covered with clutter / kids' pictures, like , and that was a good day! I'm just telling you because of your comment about clutter. I couldn't find any clutter in your photo, and I looked!

Yes I think it would look odd. I like where the table is now. I wouldnt do the track lighting. I also would change the fan you have in your family room and hang it in the centre. There are plates you can buy to install light fixtures on a slanted ceiling.

If you hang the chandelier high enough to be ABOVE where the mirror is now, won't it be too high to give good lighting to the table? How about setting the chandelier LOW enough so you could see the TV above it? It's hard to tell what the perspectives will be from other places in the kitchen. My chandelier is about 30 inches from the table top and I want to lower it.

Thanks everyone for the input. The redo will replace the existing linoleum & carpet with solid white oak. The kitchen will have a total of 3 windows (2 at the island and one at about where the existing glass door is. And the bay window in the fam. rm. will be replaced w/ a french door w/ sidelights. The kitchen island and perimeter counter & cabs are going to be longer --basically pushing out the kitchen by about 3 feet into the fam. rm, The idea was to increase the size of the kitchen w/o doing an addition, and to create a more integrated space with the fam. rm. Our scanner's not cooperating, so here is an older version of what we're doing. There won't be a banquette --just a table --but this shows the approx. location of where the new round table will go.

rmkitchen - thanks so much for the positive vibes! I love your kitchen pics - I remember looking at them months ago!!! I have different thoughts about the light -- from geegaw (pic below) to drum shade (you can see the chandelier I saved in my photobucket acct).

roseabby - I never really even notice the fact that the fan's off center and hope it won't start bothering me now b/c DH is not changing it -- I had to laugh at his reaction. It looks very off-center from the angle of the photo --another shows where it actually is on the ceiling 6-8 inches off center).

javachick, I'm including a couple more pics (showing lots more clutter!)

It's hard to explain the changes -- I wish I could just invite you all over! Thanks for your feedback.

The island will be 108" (9 feet) -- not as long as shown on this:

and here's Bella!

I'm not sure how reccessed cans along the ceiling's edge would look, or if they'd give enough light for homework & stuff -- but I hear what your all saying about the oddness of a light right at the edge.... Still not sure what to do here. . .

lets see if i can bump this. would love some more thoughts....

Wow -- your new space is going to be fabulous! What a great kitchen. (and a beautiful dog!)

What kind of lighting are you planning for your kitchen?

I still think you can have your chandelier close to the edge, esp. if you think your new table will also be both under and beyond the kitchen ceiling. Then, the eye will focus more on the light being centered over the table rather than its placement in the ceiling.

Does that make any sense? I can see it perfectly in my mind but as I'm typing it out it seems to be coming across convoluted.

You know, the more I think about it the more I'm sure that's the only piece which matters: the light being centered over the table. That's what we're trained to see, to feel. Maybe not trained, but it's our innate ability to see if something is "off." You know how little children just "feel" balance, they don't know to look for it but they can feel it in their hands. Then as they get a little older they learn that often putting something in the middle = balance, but it's that initial feeling I'm talking about.

That's what'll happen with your light if it's not centered over your table. Instinct will tell you "it's not right," even if you've placed it just so for the ceiling issue. Trust the table placement.

So you know we're in the middle of doing our family room built-ins, right? We had round windows added to either side of the fireplace and then sconces will go on either side of the windows (so four sconces). The windows were placed a little lower than I'd planned so the sconce won't be centered (vertically) on them anymore. I was literally just in there, trying to decide if I should have the wiring moved down two inches. The drywall was already repaired but now's the time, etc.

And then I realized: it won't matter. Right now because I'm obsessing over every little detail as if it matters like a liver transplant. But once it's done, painted, all our gew-gaw put in the symmetry and overall design will make it work and it won't matter.

That's what I think about the chandelier. Right now the ceiling is the issue because the kneewall is still there so that's all your eye has to focus on. But once the wall is gone, the table is moved, the eye will have other, beautiful things on which to focus, and only if the light is not centered over your table will it feel funny.

rmkitchen, obsessing like it's a liver transplant LOL --yes, that would be me. I think I have about a week before the electrician comes and I have to decide on the placement of the outlet box location(s). Thanks again for the uplifting vibes!

Instead of a circular-circumference fixture, I suggest one with a rectangular circumference to be mounted parallel to the seam where two floors meet today. This would help define the table area as a valid place instead of an afterthought.

Just looked at Lighting Universe as a trial search--look into the pool table lighting or island lighting categories. Many fixture series have a rectangular option. There are countless choices, with some quite airy and some more substantial in their presence. The t.v. viewing is going to be a challenge, but my own bias says "if you're intent on watching t.v, go into the other room." There is only so much accommodation you can make to multitasking. And I suspect you can hear t.v. whether you look at it or not.

Some fixtures I have seen have a counterweight system so they can be repositioned, which might allow you to retract the light for parties, etc. but some are intended to be set it and forget it and not repositioned after installation.

In my own dining room with a chandelier hanging on a chain, I use an S-hook to quickly shorten up the chain when the table gets moved out of walkpath during parties. Works for me.

How's this light fixture? Would echo the arch in the distance.
http://www.lightingshowplace.com/decor/product.pl?mid=104145&fh=Marble%20Bronze&CID=shz_193771&AID=

http://image.lightingshowplace.com/prodimages/kichler/300x300/2915mbz_angle.jpg

Here's your fixture. I like it; it's very unusual.
Dee
{{!gwi}}

If you find your center of the table is under the transition or beyond, you could do a downlit sconce on the side of the transition or some nice track type lighting (some does exist, I swear, lol).
I would not order a light until you have things chalked out. My kitchen clearances changed some once the framing was done and I could walk the spaces and layout the kitchen on the floor.

What a construction... Hard work seemed to be paid off...
you may visit lighting by lux.. for some chandeliers...

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.lightingbylux.com/Chandelier-s/45.htm

Will be beautiful when you are done...Just a note...I noticed by your before pictures that when you are standing in the kitchen, your light over your table blocks the top of your fireplace, where your TV will be. May not be a factor but it might be. Sitting at the table will be fine though.

I wouldn't have a hanging fixture at all. If you install the proper number of recessed cans, there should be sufficient wattage at the table for reading. The cans don't have to be right over the table. Will you still have seating at the island in your new plan? Maybe the children could do homework there rather than at the table.

Oh, I'm sure you have made a decision by now?

IF not, I would suggest adding can lights, but you can center one of them above your table. It could be on its own switch. That way, you could always add a chandelier there in the future if you find the right one.

I agree with the last poster in that recessed cans seem best for your space... but at least this suggestion would give you some flexibility in that choice.

PS. Nice doodle! I have two of my own :)

You absolutely can have the fixture hanging at the edge - I have the same situation in my house and it looks fine -- our breakfast area has half of a vaulted ceiling - it's weird. As someone said above, the most important thing is to make sure you are centering the outlet box directly over where the table will be. As long as the light is centered, it will look ok. (Our light was not centered when we first moved in, and we actually paid to have it moved because it was so annoying!).

I would probably stick with a light the same shape as your table as well - if you're going with a round table, I'd do a round fixture, not a long one. We have a very long and skinny table and recently swapped the fixture in the pics below (a round one) for a long skinny one like the one linked above and it looks much better.

I'll link to some pics I have, but they're really old -- we have color on the walls and a different light and table (and my kids are 6 and 10 and no longer sitting in the blue plastic high chair, LOL!). Plus the angles I have don't really capture how the light fixture looks jutting out into the vaulted area, but hopefully you can get the idea -- it's not that clear from the pics, but part of the ceiling is wooden and slightly vaulted and the other half (the part closest to you in the pics) is an open area straight up to the second floor ceiling with a balcony looking down at the table. I need to find the cord to my camera to take some new pics!