Seeking Opinion on Pendant Lighting

10 years ago

We took a break from working on our kitchen to enjoy the Christmas, and well....now its the end of April :-) Back to work! I am currently working on lighting over our island and backsplash. Pretty sure we will keep it simple with the BS and use whitish subway style tile..maybe change up the size or shape but solid color. Anyhow, the lights. What should go here? One light? Two mini pendants? Our ceilings are 8 ft, island measures 75x36. Here is a recent pic of the kitchen....

Here are a few lights I found online that appeal to me. The first one is super cheap (under $100, sale ends today). But it is seeded glass...do I like seeded glass? :/

This is a mini pendant, much more expensive but just wondering if style/size is what should go here.

Something larger?

or something shorter? i don't think this is what i want..

couple mini's from Pottery Barn..

I guess my thoughts are

1. our ceilings are only 8 ft.

2. kitchen is a part of the family room, so I don't want something to block the view, leaning me more towards something glass for open/airy feel? I don't really envision a line of pendants dangling down. Just a statement piece.

Give me your thoughts !

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Comments (9)

shmeal
10 years ago
With your 8' ceilings and the fact that you don't want to block the view between rooms I would vote for #1 (the seeded glass) or the mini's from PB. The mini's are my favorite. The other choices have more visual weight.

Good luck with your decision. I'm starting to narrow down my lighting options too so I can relate.
breezygirl
10 years ago
Hi Missy. I still love the texture those counter stools provide. Yum!

I have short ceilings also. The other thing to take into consideration in our situation is the height of the fixture itself. I had to rule out the pendant I'd loved for soooo long as it was too tall. By the time it hung the appropriate distance above the counter, the fixture would only have had a couple of inches of hanging cord between it and the ceiling. Proportion would have been all wrong.

Like you, I didn't want light fixtures blocking my view to the family room beyond. Well, it wasn't so much about blocking the view as it was about having a peripheral view of the fixtures annoy me with visual clutter. I'm sensitive. :-)
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I think the light looks fine at the height it is, but it's the tile frame that's throwing it off. I think I'd be inclined to find some art that would fill that frame or a wall sculpture to float in it and the light would look more like it was placed to feature the art. Even a contrasting tile (or maybe a few relief cast tiles) would add some interest inside the frame. If you lower the light to the center of the frame, it's going to look like you intended the light to be a framed art piece. At first I thought this was a mirror but I guess it's a pass through. You can't see the whole pendant, but based on the cabinets, it looks to be about the same height. I like how they have the contrasting back splash and even though you can't tile it like this, maybe you could do something contrasting with tile in that lower area to make the higher frame seem deliberate. Like tiling a piece and have it installed in front of the existing tile, kind of like this, still with something interesting in the framed area? [Contemporary Kitchen design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2103) by Cleveland Design-build Artistic Renovations of Ohio LLC
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I just popped online as a cool-down treat to msyelf (I've been in the backyard doing touch-up paint [with my four year-old's "help"] where we had doors installed [where just windows once were]) and HOLY COW what a treat it is, Mindi, to get to see that teaser picture. YES to the brushed nickel finish for the pendants. While I understand your thinking about the bronze finish, I think the brushed nickel will just "make better sense" with all the silvery finishes you have (hardware, appliances). I love the red accents in your kitchen. I was just using this analogy the other day ... who was it? Anyway, you know how the teeny slice of colored matt board can totally make a picture POP? That's how I feel about your red accents: they just make all the other elements sing -- your insanely fabulous marble, your black cabinets, your pewter hardware, your stone backsplash. You have got to have tons of dinner parties so you can tell people the hood story -- it is great! (I mean, in addition to showing everyone the entire kitchen. What I wouldn't give to live in the Northwest so I could be invited, too!) I am really so impressed with and excited by your beautiful space. What a wonderful way to start your summer .... Enjoy those raspberries! -Brooke xo
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Hi, David. Thanks for your response. Answers below: This is our main work space where we write and read frequently, so I would prefer better direct lighting. The recessed lighting we installed is definitely a help, but I think we want more. I'm guessing we will spend $100 or $200 putting these in. We can go higher if necessary, but I haven't really seen a reason to based on what styles we are looking at. We personally just like the look, and we would like to modernize the space somewhat. We would like better direct lighting over this area as we eat, read, write, etc. in this exact spot all the time. We are a little limited because of the wood trim and relative traditional style of the home, so we want to modernize without making styles clash. So far, we are leaning toward three mini-pendants with shades that are roughly 8" tall and 5" wide. We would like to bring some color into the space, so we are leaning toward red as this matches the red in the other parts of the kitchen which unfortunately isn't visible in my pictures. Absolutely nothing. In fact, that is what we are currently leaning towards. We were always going to do individual mini-pendants, but we were struggling if we should have two over by the chairs and nothing by the section by the carpet since there isn't a chair there or if we should just do three mini-pendants and uniformly light the BB. Honestly, I think my wife is simply uncomfortable with putting pendants in an arc since she always sees them in a line, but I think that's simply because 99% of the pendants that I see are over straights pieces like BBs and islands. Do you normally see pendants curved to follow the lit area? I would assume you would, but you are the expert, so I thought I would ask.
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I am doing a kitchen remodel which will increase our kitchen size (going from galley style to a U-shape with an island. Proposed layout from the cabinet builder is attached (I penciled in the bar top and I put circles where the cans approximately will fall). The island is sized to be 64" x 83" -- a prep sink in one corner and seating (15" knee spacing) on opposite sides of the sink. This puts the bar top off center of the bases. My wife has a preference of a particular 6" pendant. My questions are: 1) Do I install 2 or 3 pendants? (two looks too far apart for the 6" pendants -- three looks too close together at times to me) 2) Do I put the pendants on center of the bar top or on center of the base? Center of the base will put the pendants on the kitchen/food prep side, but I worry about symmetry. Your thoughts and recommendations are appreciated! If you need additional information or have thoughts outside of the two questions, I would appreciate them! Thank you!
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MIssyV
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks shmeal for your thoughts. I appreciate the reply.

Breezy, what did you end up putting in your kitchen then?
kaijutokusatsu
10 years ago
I vote for the minis two. I don't think they will obscure anything like the bigger ones.
remodelfla
10 years ago
My vote is for two small pendants. I'm not sure how big the first is...might make too much of a statement; but I like it. I also like the 2 from PB.
nini804
10 years ago
I really like #1 (the sale one!) and #3 and #5. I am weird...I like big fixtures, and a short hang wouldn't bother me. (I have an enormous chandy in my dining room that is really meant for a two story space...even though we have 10' ceilings, it has barely any chain hanging.) at $100, I'd buy #1 and just see. If you don't like, I am sure you could easily sell it.
MIssyV
Original Author
10 years ago
I did go ahead and buy the $100 one "just to see" :-) Its free shipping, and the return label includes shipping to go back, so I figured what do I have to lose?! I am one of those people that have to see something in the spot to make a decision, which is probably why I have drug my feet on the back splash.

I will let you know how it looks, but still seeking other options in case it is too big or just doesn't fit my space.
babs711
10 years ago
I'm going to be the lone dissenter. Your space seems very nice, warm, comfortable and casual to me. The first fixture has a dressier feel to it than the room does. The second option down feels very heavy visually to me and since it's directly over your dark island top, I'd avoid that one.

The bottom of your pendants will come 30-40" from your countertop. So as long as you have your fixture hit at that level, you're fine. That gives you roughly 22"ish inches to play with for the height of your pendant. And your length of your island is a good length to work with.

I like the fourth option down. I'd put two those lanterns over the island or two of the other smaller PB pendants. I think they're both nice and casual and pretty and keep the warm feel of the space. I could see something like 3 working if the scale was right. But I'm not sure with the 8' ceilings. But I want it to have more than 3 lights on top yet not as many as 5 does. I've seen quite a few online with those same lines.
jmcgowan
10 years ago
I love the looks of glass pendants, just make sure you or other family members are not sensitive to the direct light of a glass pendant -- I remember seeing some threads about this. I've linked to a couple, below.

Is glare a problem with clear glass pendants?

Clear glass pendants for island lights

Seeking Opinion on Pendant Lighting

Comments (9)

shmeal

breezygirl

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Seeking Opinion on Pendant Lighting

Comments (9)

shmeal

breezygirl

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