We used schoolhouse flush mounts on our 8' cellings. I think they look great, but the pendants would not have worked there.

I really like the ones we got. They were very affordable, and I think they look great.

Here is a link that might be useful: Schoolhouse flush mount

Hi Senator. I had that idea in the back of my head! Would you mind posting a picture of your lights? Thanks!

I have schoolhouse semi-flush in a 7'9'' ceiling.

One thing to warn you about: senator13's only take 60W bulbs. I bought a fixture that can take 100W bulbs, which gives me more flexibility with light levels. My island is a prep space for me, so I wanted good lighting. After playing around I bit, I settled on 75w bulbs. (I also have a dimmer on these guys, so light levels can be tweaked further if needed.) My can lights have CFL's, and the incandescent semi-flush also help warm up the cooler fluorescent lights.

Semi-flush fixtures reflect light off the ceiling more than can lights or pendants, so they are good general lighting. If your pendants were intended to be accent lighting, semi-flush may not be the best choice. A smaller-scale pendant might be better?

I never considered pendants because I'm tall and didn't want lights near my face, and with such short ceilings pendants weren't really an option.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{!gwi}}

We have 7 1/2' ceilings and used Restoration Hardware's Optic Pendants, which are schoolhouse-y, sort of. They came with 3 different pole lengths, we used the middle one, the smallest was 6" (I think).

Here's a pic:

"http://s283.photobucket.com/albums/kk312/KrisMA_photos/Kitchen%20Remodel%20of%20a%201949%20Cape/?action=view&current=64Chouteaufinal23.jpg"; target="_blank">

I also like these kind of lights but I wonder if the provide enough light for work areas - task lighting. Anybody have experience with this?

Lynn

Here is a link that might be useful: Schoolhouse lights

we just got a schoolhouse for our 8' high kitchen--above the sink. have not installed it-- but have viewed it after holding it up, and it is perfect. we paid a little bit more and bought it at rejuvenation.com (see link) so that we could pick the exact size. got the 12 inch shade and shortest length for the fixture we chose (18 inches ceiling to tip.)
http://www.rejuvenation.com/fixshowC888/templates/selection.phtml?newC888[24OALENGTH]=18&custom_code=jt0l

it's more expensive than the world imports light (which we like, too) but we wanted to pick the exact shade, length and fixture. (considered the fixture that's on a short chain as well.) they have a really good little video showing all the different schoolhouse lights-- and how each one changes the look--under "advice & ideas" then "tales from rejuvenatoin" then the video that says "schoolhouse style."

the light should not be too big-- i'm pretty sure.
if you want to test it out, i saw this light a lowes (but it was brass)-- you could buy it and see how it looks-- then return if you don't like it.
kawh

Thanks so much for responding!

Janet - thanks for making me think about what I'll be using the lights for...I will be using the island for prep but would also like them for accent lighting.

Kris - love your kitchen. Your island looks similar in size to mine. Could you tell me the dimensions? Also, do you know if your lights were the small, med or large size (9", 11" or 15")?

Kawh707 - thanks for the links. Those are very helpful.

I have 8 foot ceilings and did three pendants over my 8x4.5 foot island and then also did schoolhouse semi-flush over the windows by my range. Here is the thread from when they went in...

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg0612450328977.html

Thanks for the kind words, Legoeggo. Our island is 3'7" x 7'7", so just a little smaller than yours both ways. The optic pendants are their 11" size.

Aokat -- love your kitchen! I'm looking at the Hudson valley catolog...do you remember the size of your Pelham pendant? 8", 10.5", 14"? Thanks so much!

Here is a picture of ours. They are 60W, which is fine for the rooms we have them in (bedrooms, office) because we have other lighting as well (lamps) and I don't like my lights really bright in those rooms. It seems like if you have two, it may still be enough light over an island, but I am not sure how bright you want it.

They are the 8". Some of my inspiration photos with similar pendants had larger ones but they had higher ceiling heights. I figured with the 8 foot ceiling I had to be careful of proportions and the bigger ones would look "squatty" with a shorter rod.... hope this helps! The semi-flush schoolhouse lights are also by hudson valley.

we have 9 foot ceilings and did 1 schoolhouse pendant above island - about 3 feet up from island top. it's rejuvenation, ORB fixture, classic schoolhouse shade in opal.

still in finishing stages...