Maureen,
Okay, you tore me away from the Canadian election results. I can hardly bear to watch. We're sitting here at our marble topped island bar, laptops open, drinking wine, and watching the election results (not yet legally posted), and we have three bare bulb 25 watt clear pendants shining down on us. So far, the filaments haven't burned out our eyes. And yes, they're on a dimmer, but we still adore them.
We have the Franklin pendants in antique silver and I'm stockpiling incandescents so we always have new bulbs at the ready. (And we love Shanghaimom's kitchen, but we think our bare bulbs are gorgeous).

Here is a link that might be useful: clear glass pendant

sandn -- looking away from the election results just to post that I'm glad I'm not the only Canadian stockpiling incandescent bulbs...

Becky

Are you Canucks about to ban the standard bulb?

I have never had one of these fixtures, but I sure love the look of so many I see. I'm afraid the bulb nudity would bother my eyes. Glad to hear some love them!

Do bare bulbs bother you right now? Have you ever turned off a light because the light hurts your eyes? I'm sure you've seen a bare bulb peeking out of the edge of a lamp shade -- what has your reaction been to it?

Some people will be perfectly fine. Some it may bother occasionally. It may be the bane of his existance for another.

My mom CAN'T stand bare bulbs... even begs me to turn off my kitchen light which is top shaded, but you can see the bottom of the frosted bulbs... she is very light-sensitive and gets migranes.

I am a bit more tolerant, but there are definitely times when bare bulbs "hurt."

And as you can see from these other posters, some people are perfectly fine with it. I suggest you take a close look at a few of the light fixtures in your house and see how your eyes react...

Good luck!

I really think it also depends on how you want to use the lights in question. If it is general, diffuse, all-over kitchen light, similar to an old-fashioned ceiling fixture, naked bulbs will be fine--similar to a chandelier. Also, lantern-style fixtures (like kitchenaddict's or redroze's) use little chandelier bulbs which, in my experience, aren't nearly as annoying as a regular old bulb. I have exposed chandy bulbs in almost every other room of the house--no problem. I would certainly never say they "hurt"! They're a nice sparkle.

Over our island, however, I found I needed something that created more of an ambient "pool" suitable for leaving on in the evening or as a task light for homework. The single bare bulbs did not provide that for us.

Maureen,
I guess you'll have to make the call. The bulbs I have now, after all kinds of trials, are oversized clear globes--the kind that you'd see over a backstage dressing table. Every bulb style lends the fixture a different look. Some incandescents are available with a silver bowl to hide the filament (see link).
Becky, you're not alone. Breezy, we are about to phase out the standard bulb up here. I'm usually all for green regulations but I think this one is misguided. Maybe I shouldn't confess, but I pick up a few more bulbs every time I see them. The ban may not apply to decorative incandescents, but I'm taking no chances. It's the first time I've ever hoarded anything.

Here is a link that might be useful: bulb with silver bowl

I use the frosted globes in my glass pendants and do not have a problem with glare at all. The bulbs are designed to show and look good in the fixtures. With so many great non glare bulbs to choose from, there was no reason to limit pendant options.

How about the Edison bulbs that keep popping up in photos these days?

This is from Restoration Hardware:

And these are my kitchen ceiling lights - I don't have them in yet but am dying to see what they look like with bulbs in:

I L-O-V-E my glass hurricane pendant lamps. They have to be dusted every couple of months but they're totally worth it. We have all of our lighting on a dimmer including the pendants. I thought originally we would use them just for ambient lighting but they actuallly provide very good task lighting for the island, which I was pleasantly surprised about. There may be a slight glare every now and then but it's not distracting.

Here is a link that might be useful: My blog

Pauline,

Would love to know where you got the pendants in the second picture.
Thanks