There is something wrong with me, I cannot successfully embed a pic in this forum. Here is the link.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pendant light

Hello polly929

I have 2 pendants over my island that have ribbed clear glass shades that are wide enough at the bottom that I can see the bare bulbs when I stand at the island. They are hung so the bottom of the shade is 35" above the island countertop. I don't notice them at all. However, I have clear incandescent bulbs in them and I have a faint memory that when I first hung them I may have put those in after finding that regular incandescent bulbs were too glaring.

Are you able to test how the bulbs might look by removing the shade of your schoolhouse pendants, putting in the bulbs you would use in the new pendants and trying that out for a few days?

In order to imbed a picture, you have to save it to a photo hosting site (like PhotoBucket) and then paste the html addy into your post.

The pendant is darling. My only concerns would be that it's tiny - 4"x9" - and only takes a 40 watt bulb...is that enough for you?

Those pendants are very unique and I love them too.

The maximum wattage with that pendant is 40, will that give you enough light?

Forgot to offer that I am one who prefers bare, clear bulbs so I actually search for lighting that shows the bulbs. But if you are going to hear everyday from your DH that the bulbs bother him, you might want to keep looking (sorry!).

I am wondering the same thing, actually, as I love these pendants from Pottery Barn. But Im afraid they might be glaring.

Here is a link that might be useful: Clear glass pendants.

I was also thinking that 40 watts would not be enough.

cawfee, I was just looking at those this morning. I think they are wonderful! My personal taste makes it very tough for me to buy frosted/alabaster glass in lighting so I am constantly on the search for 'clear' glass!

Sandy

There is a difference between bare normal bulb and bare candelabra bulbs in my opinion. The first is usually encased though can be open if you buy particularly attractive ones, the second is meant to be open. They are shaped specifically to be open on chandeliers and what-not.

I would agree with your DH in most cases, but if you use a candelabra bulb as per one of the photos I think it would be fine, and the 40W would likely keep them from being too blinding.

Also, just to clarify an above point, you only need to upload to photobucket (or any photo hosting site, as photobucket is aweful in my opinion) if the image doesn't exist on the web. If it is on the web you should be able to right click on it, copy the path and then paste that path into an img tag. Just do (less_than)img src="http://image.com/path"(greater_than)

We have 3 globe lights over our island. DH and I are vertically challenged as well. i think they are place approx. 30" above the counter. When we first installed them, and I kept focusing no the bulb, they were definitely "blinding", but I don't even notice anymore. Take this with a grain of salt...my mother has mentioned a few times how she sees spots when she looks at them, but I think she's just trying to annoy me.

I love your pendants, but I too think that the 40w candle bulbs might not be enough light. Are they more for an accent, or for general or task lighting? If used as an accent, I say go for it. If they are more for task or general lighting, I think you might be lacking for wattage over an island with just 80w. They are beautiful though!

Amy

Polly, I feel your pain... We do not have an exposed bulb in our entire remodel because my husband says it will have too much of a glare. As much as I LOVE the look of the clear pendants (segbrown's are my absolute favorite!), I do think he is probably right. SO... we are going with the same pendants as cotehele (I was SOOOO excited that he loved them as much as me!) and I am going to do the clear glass in my laundry room. He keeps telling me I will regret it, but I don't care!! :)
Good luck!!
L

I'm with your DH. I don't like to see the bulbs as they blind me. I've been very careful with all hte lights we purchased for our house to ensure that it gives off good light without us having to actually see the bulbs. I love Mahlgold's pendants (heck, I love her entire kitchen) but I have to confess that my first thought was that the clear exposed shade would be my nemesis.

That said, I do have track lights in my kitchen since I didn't want recessed fixtures (couldn't figure out how many and where they'd need to go ahead of time, plus don't like the swiss cheese ceilings) and they do have an exposed bulb. However, here too, I iterated many times before I settled on putting in frosted glass diffusers over the xenon bulbs to reduce the blinding point.

Could you do a lighting test with the existing fixtures by removing the covers and putting in the 40-watt bulbs of your choice to see how the light looks over the island?

Or...even better...buy the fixtures, try them out and if you don't like them, return them.

Thank you all for your answers.

I know it's only 40 watts, but we also have recessed lights and undercabinet lighting (not installed yet- this is a DIY kitchen). Also if they are only 40w bulbs, I was hoping that would reduce the "blinding" factor DH is so worried about.
cawfeegirl, those PB pendants were also on my list, but DH vetoed them.
mahlgold, love your pendants, and your whole kitchen.
busyme, that's exactly what I thought I did to embed the pic, I guess I didn't.

A decision over pendant lights really should not take 2 years, or be so difficult. We still don't have a backsplash because we can't agree, not looking forward to picking one.

polly929, my 2 pendants have just 40W bulbs in them and they throw plenty of light on my 7 ft island since I also have ceiling pot lights. But, FYI, I recently bought candelabra shaped LED bulbs at a Canadian Costco ($18-ish for 3 bulbs)and tried them out in my pendants. They would have thrown plenty of light as well but without the sharp brightness of regular incandescents. Unfortunately the packages are now at my cottage so I can't tell you the brand but, if memory serves, they came with an adaptor so that they fit regular sockets and smaller candelabra sockets. Maybe they will solve your DH's worry about glare and you can have your dream pendants.