I prefer frosted.

I had frosted and wanted to go solid. I was afraid that the solid would not not throw enough light. I pondered switching for about a year, finally bought the solid and I am really happy with them. We have recessed lighting too so all is good. we have dimmers on all of the kitchen lighting including the under counter lighting. We have the Benson pendant in brushed nickel.

Oh abfaamy - I soooo feel your pain. Pendant lights was the very. last. decision. I made and it was extricating! I have come to the conclusion that whatever decision you do last is the hardest b/c you are so sick of it and ready to be done.

Anyway - I love the look of clear glass too but so many people complain about it here and my KD was really against it that I decided to get over it and pick something else. I'm glad I did b/c the small-ish pendants I picked have exposed bulbs underneath and when you sometimes see the bulbs, it is awful. I can't imagine having the bulb showing all the time. Granted, I know there are different types of bulbs and what not but when I read someone on here took her naked pendants out after only a few months, I said I don't want that to be me. Good luck.

Same issues as everyone above. Wanted to go with clear or exposed bulb and finally decided that the distraction/glare wasn't worth it. So we went with frosted over solid b/c we wanted to eliminate blocking the open layout.

Thanks for the input! I think I've searched every website, but I can't seem to make myself order. I really hate the idea of buying, installing, turning on, and then realizing I've made a mistake...again!

And, New Southern Belle, you are so right, I am totally burned out and sick of making choices.

OK, so no clear shades or exposed bulbs. Frosted is chancy, but really haven't heard if anyone really didn't like them.

Door1, your pendants are so beautiful! Did you put them above eye level? I do worry about having something hanging "in my face".

Any other opinions/experience? This is really helpful.

I have frosted and it is one of favorite elements in my kitchen. The light it gives off is so soft.

CKGM, what pendants did you select? Do you have any pictures?

dragonfly08, I do like yours alot. I can see how the pattern in the clear glass would diffuse the light. We also have 8' ceilings (another problem!). Do you have a photo from farther away so I can see them in scale?

Appreciate the responses! I'm feeling a little more confident about making a decision...I think :)

The new iphone commercial with Samuel Jackson shows a fabulous kitchen, I think those may be Restoration Hardware. The Clemson I believe it is called. I am thinking of ordering them when I start the kitchen redo.

Personally, I can't stand seeing the bulb, whether through a clear shade or from underneath. I love the industrial look of some "exposed" pendants, but it would annoy me in real life. I like dragonfly's, because you wouldn't actually see the bulb or have a direct glare. Recently we went to a friend's new-kitchen-warming party, and my partner had to hang out in the living room the whole time because the clear pendants gave him a headache. To me, pendants over an island or peninsula are task lighting, so a fully-downward glow is appropriate. FYI, Rejuvenation has been great when we have purchased a fixture and shade, but needed to exchange the shade because the size or glow wasn't quite right. Plus, they're made in the USA. Consider getting the fixture you like, and if the shade doesn't work out, just exchange it.

we went clear, hung them higher, and put them on dimmers. I LOVE them.

Oh my gosh, slonewby, those are gorgeous pendants that fit beautifully in your kitchen!

Mizinformation, I have lights from Rejuvenation on my shortlist right now. The shade is what I'm stuck on. What lights did you get and what shades? Do you have a picture?

Anyone else have lights or insight to share? Love the input...very helpful!

Here's a photo of my pendants from afar. For reference, they hang about 23" down from our 8' ceiling and are 13.75" in diameter.

Here's a shot of them at night. They do not appear as bright white in person and are on dimmers. We placed LED bulbs in (all other lights in kitchen are LED).

Duh! It would help to show you them! I got them on amazon cheaper but this is a better pic :)

Here is a link that might be useful: Pendant

thanks, abfaba~ I think pendant lighting and backsplash are the most difficult decisions in the kitchen...at least they are for me! Good luck~

Dragonfly....can you tell me what tile you have on your BS? Is it grey?

abfabamy: We haven't purchased the pendants for the kitchen yet (just past demo, now in the structural rebuild, so fun stuff like lighting is still quite a ways away!). But we have two Rejuvenation flush-mount fixtures, one in a hall and the other in the bedroom. We went with the Jefferson and Russel fixtures, one takes a 6" fitter and the other a 4" fitter, and there are 60-70 different shades to choose from, in all different styles. (See the link below for photos.) I think this is one of the big pluses to Rejuvenation fixtures -- so many Chinese-made fixtures have specialty shades, and some can't be changed out at all if one breaks or you get tired of it. We went with the opal school-house style shade with a hand-painted butter-colored band in the bedroom, and a similar but different shape in the hall with a red band. We use CFLs, and the light from the opal shade is warm and glowing. Simple, inexpensive, and we can always switch the shades out if we want to.

In our kitchen remodel, we'll likely go with Rejuvenation again for lighting, 2 pendants over the peninsula, but perhaps something more industrial-looking. Again, each pendant fixture can take all kinds of shades, so if a future owner doesn't like the industrial look, they could replace the shade with something more modern, Arts & Crafts, Victorian, etc., but not have to replace the entire fixture.

One last fun note about interchangeability of shades and fixtures: When a well-loved local pub closed, we got a shade from one of their historic fixtures, but the fixture couldn't be salvaged. It's an 8-inch opal globe (4-inch fitter) with the word "Bar" painted on it in old-timey script. We found several sconce fixtures at Rejuvenation that will work with the antique shade, and we plan to install it over our beverage center in the kitchen.

Here is a link that might be useful: Rejuvenation's

Sloanwby... My tiles are 3x6 tiles from Bellevue line in Glacier which is a blue-grey ceramic tile. Purchased from Best Tile.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bellevue tiles

You're not kidding, this was a HARD decision. Especially when you're on a budget. Our project is just an update, so we were trying to keep costs down. I finally just chose this clear shade, and DH hung them a little higher so that they weren't in our line of sight. I like the clear, because I didn't want pendents to divide the space, and these don't. It's not been a problem for us, but I can't speak for the next person.

I meant to say that we also needed extra light in this area of the room, so clear (or frosted) provides that. They are on dimmers, also.

Thanks to everyone for the pics.

Dragonfly08, those pictures from afar really help me to see how the scale of an 8' ceiling and larger pendants would appear. Your kitchen is just lovely, by the way!

Lake Girl, you are absolutely right about the budget issue. Seeing as this is the end of the ordeal, money IS an object! I do like the simplicity of your pendants.

Sometimes, too many choices can be too many choices! Tired of this struggle...maybe just recessed lights? LOL

Lake girl---what is the name of your pendants and where did you get them?

dragonfly - love your kitchen. how long is your island? ours will be about 8' and i was thinking about 3 small pendants, not as large as yours but it's so helpful to see how larger pendants look so nice.

we have 7'6" ceilings and plan to hang them at most 18" down, so that limits us.

Here are a few considerations:
https://www.houzz.com/photos/hudson-valley-7308-haverhill-mini-pendant-lighting-universe-phvw-vp~777852-Valley-7308-Haverhill-Mini-Pendant---Lighting-Universe

https://www.houzz.com/photos/mill-valley-ca-transitional-kitchen-san-francisco-phvw-vp~206934-Design-contemporary-kitchen-san-francisco

https://www.houzz.com/photos/kitchen-traditional-kitchen-minneapolis-phvw-vp~163478-traditional-kitchen-minneapolis

http://www.lumens.com/uu156612/product?ad_id=houzz&utm_source=houzz&utm_medium=cse&utm_campaign=houzz&utm_term=Solitaire%20Pendant%20by%20Niche%20Modern

https://www.houzz.com/photos/feldman-architecture-modern-kitchen-san-francisco-phvw-vp~17781-Architecture-modern-kitchen-san-francisco

https://www.houzz.com/photos/rustic-glass-pendant-pottery-barn-phvw-vp~822053-Glass-Pendant---Pottery-Barn

Love to hear any opinions on these. White cabinets, dark stained island, oil rubbed bronze hood.

If you have hired staff who have nothing better to do than dust the globes, you can go with anything. Matte white ones are good at camouflage for kitchens that lack domestic hired help. Not sure how much dusting the sold sided ones need.

I chose matte globes with open down-facing bottoms. Strongly recommend them from the "dust doesn't show" logic. But..if you put very strong bulbs into them, they are irritating. DH turns them up, I turn them down so they don't give glare when I sit at peninsula. Not as great an issue when I'm standing, but he and I definitely disagree as to how much light we need. Love the dimmers!

I urge you to look at ceiling shadows from the various types of pendants. Translucent ones throw more light toward ceiling and side walls than dense walled fixtures. How much light to the sides and ceiling do you need?

We have recessed lights all around the perimeter, so light down on the island is all we really need. We have been using the kitchen/island for a few months now with no light over the island, just the recessed perimeters. We have not even felt the need for more light, so I am now thinking the pendant(s) will serve more of a decorative and mood lighting function.

Phylhl... My island is 118"x42", so almost 10' long by 3.5' wide. If yours is 8' long, you definitely do 3 pendants, especially if you're looking at smaller ones.

Dragonfly,

Where did you get your island pendants?

I have also been struggling with this question. I just bought clear glass pendants at West Elm, but I'm really concerned about how dusty they will look.

I noticed the samples in the store were very dusty and unattractive because of that. I went ahead and bought them anyway because the whole process of shopping in person was so arduous, I wanted something to show for the experience. It's back to shopping online for me.

Here is a link that might be useful: these are the pendants I will probably return

I love the look of clear, but the glare is no fun. I have frosted and was amazed how much light goes out the side. I had to use lower wattage bulbs and even then don't like seeing their outlines through the glass. I wish I'd gotten something with a downward facing solid shade that sends all the light onto the counters.

We haven't installed these yet but liked the frosted glass. We had the same struggle worrying about glare. Our hope is that they will be soft enough with the frosted glass on dimmers. We have an eight foot island and 8 foot ceilings.

Here is a link that might be useful: Murray Fleiss Pendant

I have the same pendants as dreamingnh, but with black/orb metal. They've been up for almost 2 years and I'm glad we went with frosted shades. I would dislike seeing streaks of imperfectly cleaned glass and a view of the bulb through the clear. We have 75 watt bulbs in there, but with a dimmer, so they're rarely at full setting

Helene

Sorry annsch, I missed your question. I can't remember the name, but they're from Home Depot :)

This is just my personal opinion, but I hope it helps. For me, I don't like bright light, so I have all my lights on dimmers, even the canned lights in the kitchen. I also don't like direct light shining down on the island. It reminds me of a spotlight and removes the ambiance from the room. I'm in the process of remolding a new home and just as in my current home, I have canned lights throughout the kitchen, which will be the main source of light, all on dimmers, and I have two 18 inch pendant lights, Restoration Hardware Machinist Pendants, (see pic below) over the island. For me, the pendant lights will be more for decorative purposes, ambiance. The bulbs are low wattage and will remain on even when not using the kitchen and the canned lights are off. This will give enough light to be able to see when making a quick trip to the kitchen w/o having to turn on the canned. This has worked well in my current home where I have a huge island and a chandelier hanging directly in the center, with several 15 watt bulbs. My point is, if you don't use a glaring wattage bulb and don't hang the pendant at or just above eye level, I don't think it matters whether you have a clear, frosted or solid globe/shade. If you look at photos online, the majority of lights over islands have clear or no glass, which to me, it's not meant to be the main source of light. Now, if you don't have additional lighting in the kitchen and the island lights are the main source, then maybe it would be a good idea to use a solid shade/dome and a higher watt bulb, but in warm tone and not in white. I hope this helped. Good luck!