Schoolhouse pendants over island: How big and how high?

12 years ago

Demo started this week, and so far no big surprises. I'd been holding my breath in fear that old house issues would throw a wrench in everything, but right now looks like I can stop watching everything and get back to planning!

One thing I hadn't gotten to yet was lighting. Kitchen is 10x16 and currently lit by a 48" four bulb fluorescent fixture that has been perfectly adequate. I like things brightly lit, but I'm really debating whether I need the recessed lights in the original plan or if I can just get by with pendants and undercabinet LED.

Island is in the center of the room and is 72" long. Ceiling is 9'10". I've been looking at doing a pair of schoolhouse pendants such as Rejuvenation's Baldwin. Shades vary in width from 12-18" on the different models I've been looking at and chains can be ordered in different lengths. I'm not really crazy about the idea of having low pendants (Rejuvenation's help desk said they are supposed to hang at 6') as it seems like it would be visually overwhelming with something this big. Electrician was here yesterday and suggested hanging them at between 24-30 inches below ceiling height, which seems to make sense to me as far as diffusing the light. Or if I'm going to keep them close to the ceiling, would I be better off going with a semi-flushmount?

Here is a link that might be useful: Rejuvenation Baldwin

Comments (5)

senator13
12 years ago
Our schoolhouse lights are mounted over our raised counter. Our counter is 158" long. We have three. They are 10" wide I belive.
From Gardenweb photos
iroll_gw
12 years ago
This reminds me of my biggest misstep so far in our new kitchen: the two schoolhouse rounded opal shades I chose are 16", in a semi-flush fixture (Jefferson, from Rejuvenation), and they are WAY too big for our 8' ceiling. They look comical. I'm going to have to get 12" ones, and try to sell these (been too long to return) :( They were just installed yesterday. Our previous flush mounts had a 16" outer diameter, and they were proportionately fine, so I thought pendants that size would work. Not.
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As most common distance to have the pendant over the island/tabletops are 36", I would go with that distance but as you have a high ceiling and more room to play with I don't see why 4' couldn't work! I think it can look fine! Also, our lighting could be a great addition to your home. We do custom lighting so we will be able to work to feed your needs and wants. Different amount of pendants, and size of canopy etc. We also do 2D drawing before so you can have an idea of what it would look like before committing! Feel free to visit onhttps://shakuff.com/ or our instagram @shakuff_ :)
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oldhousegal
12 years ago
I have one Rejuvenation Baldwin pendant over my island (actually it's centered in the 12 x 15 foot kitchen), which is toward the end of the island. I toyed with putting in 2, but with that much light, it would be overwhelming. My island is 45 X 67. I initially wanted to center it over the island, but didn't want to tear up that much of the ceiling to do so.

This particular pendant can take up to 300 w bulbs. I tried one of those and found it super bright in such a small space. I went with a 150 watt CFL and love that. In fact, with being used to the old single light, I find that sometimes I just work with the UCL and the overheads off completely.

I think these initially were designed to replicate those gorgeous schoolhouse fixtures that hung from ceilings of larger warehouse buildings, down into the room. So, I thought, how could this fit in my small kitchen? But, you know what, it really works in that small space! My ceilings at 9 foot and it hangs down 33 inches total from the ceiling. It doesn't feel too big with the 12 inch shade, and my taller friends don't seem to notice it at all. byw, I'm just under 6 foot myself. I still haven't adjusted the chain properly as I've been unsure of the height, but I think I'm ready to take off the extra chain and leave it where it is.

Here's a shot of it- its early morning here so it's hard to get a great shot on my IPhone with the light on, but you get the idea.... Still in progress kitchen...
njannabelle
Original Author
12 years ago
Senator13: Thanks for the picture. It looks like you skipped the cans--does the lighting seem adequate?

Iroll: I'd been looking at the Jefferson as well. Had been considering doing two Baldwins over the island and then a Jefferson over the kitchen table, but I'm still thinking that may be too big despite the high ceilings. Might do Jeffersons over the island (somehow bigger in the middle of the ceiling seems like it makes more sense than in the corner over the table).

Oldhousegal: That looks lovely in your kitchen! Thanks for the info on light--I've been worried about creating enough, but I'm beginning to think with these big diffuse schoolhouse lights that may not be an issue. I want to be able to use CFLs, so that's one reason for fixtures with concealed bulbs. And the height does look just fine. I think I will order the extra chain, and then if I decide I want them higher I can do that.
iroll_gw
12 years ago
The Jefferson fixtures are fine, it's just the glass shades that I ordered too big. The 16" shade is 9 1/2 " high by itself, the 12" is 7 1/2 " high, besides the wider width. With your higher ceiling height, the Jefferson should not be a problem. By the way, they give off lovely bright light.
I'm keeping the fixtures, and will order new shades. If you would like pictures, I can take some (wasn't going to until I replaced them).