I prefer them to be high enough that they don't block the view to the other side of the island. I am no designer, though.

I also had to learn this in a hurry, lol, for the same reason. From what I read, anywhere from 32 to 45 inches above the countertop is fine.

Although, mine got hung at 48" and they look fine. (We have a vaulted ceiling and the fixture is 4'wide.)

Typical is....oh I can't remember exactly on the spot! I think it's 30-36" off the counter. Have your electrician hold one at 30" off the counter and see how it feels. Adjust up if necessary. Make sure you take into consideration not only your view across the room with them hanging down, but how the fixture looks hung at the height you like. Some pendants are so long that if they're hung up higher to keep them out of your face, they look squatty and odd tucked up that high.

Please take some pics when they're in! Very pretty.

love your pendants. Where are they from?

Mine are set at 36" which are really too high but my kids are 6'4" and so we set them high so they wouldn't bang their heads.. If they are for task lighting I would bring them down to about 32", if they are decorative you could go higher.

I would hang them low enough so when you are sitting at the island the bulb is not glaring at you. My girlfriends pendants are kind of high, and the bulb practically blinds you when sitting there.

Thank you for your responses! Sorry I am so late in replying - I had to get to work after the electrician started and it's been a long day!

Anyway, it ended up that I didn't have that many options since the pendants had different size metal stems so the longer one was definitely way too long(at my eye level and I'm 5'6") so picked the next longest one. So the pendants
ended up 38" high from the counter top.

joy824 - thanks! They are Thomasville Lighting Santiago collection. I got them from a lighting store, but the link below has them online at Home Depot.

breezygirl - ok, here's pic below. I have a dilemma though - I think 3 pendants is too much for our island! What do you think?? DH says he likes it, but I think it is too much. The island is 68" x 38(at it's widest in the arc). The pendants are 16" apart and each pendant is a little over 6" wide. I don't know what it is, but I was disappointed when I got home & saw them installed:-( I'm
thinking maybe 2 over the island will look better?? (The glass to pendant light closest to range was broke when unpacked).
View from family room:

View straight on:

Here is a link that might be useful: pendant at HD

I agree with you: it looks from the pic that two centered over the island top would look better. They have a 'crowded' appearance. Really pretty lights, though!

Before I even read where you asked about the number of pendants over the island, I thought 3 looked like too many. Can you fix that now though?

I agree - 2 would be perfect. Love them with the kitchen design. What is that granite? It's beautiful.

What kind of hassle would you have to go through to bring the pendant count down to two? Would it be worth it? I would weigh the aesthetics against the rerouting of the electrical, the repair of the drywall, the repainting.........

Yes, deedles, that is it - crowded! DH of course thinks it looks fine (& I know he doesn't want to even think about the mess of having it changed!).

mercymygft & kellied - it can be changed, but like kellied asked would it be worth the hassle. I am so ready to be done w/ this (and we are far from done due to issues w/ the floor install!) - I can't imagine opening up the ceiling to reroute electrical then the drywall repair & esp the drywall dust EVERYWHERE, repainting, etc - ugh.

So I think that I am going to give it some time and see if they grow on me in like a week or so, and if it's still really, really bothering me then I will get it changed.

35ftcabo - thank you! It's Sienna Bourdeaux (which I'm told name is interchanged w/ Typhoon Bordeaux too). We looked so long for granite and we LOVE it!!

Good plan. I've lost track of the things that I thought would drive me crazy that I'm now living with, dog hair tumbleweeds included. If it really bugs you, it always will and you can always change it. The lights are beautiful no matter what. Hey! Can you slide the island down a bit and put a dummy cap over an end light box, thereby having two lights without ripping anything up?

Set a time for determining if you want to redo those lights. A week isn't long enough to give them a fair trial.
Tell yourself that you'll redo them next summer. Next summer see how you feel about them. You may not have to redo them at all.

Love your pendants! I almost bought those at Home Depot, but I ended up with a brushed nickel mini pendant from Home Depot. I have Typhoon Bordeaux granite with mascarpone painted white cabinets. I think the height is perfect. Once you put the other shade on the pendant, it will look fine. i had to move my pendant holes in the ceiling and it's a pain. I think 2 is fine. Good luck.

I wouldn't redo them for anything in the world. Two might look better, but then again, it might look like it's not enough since they are rather slender. Also, I wonder if two would put off enough light.

Your hood is lovely, your granite is lovely, the island shape is lovely, the pendants are lovely - just enjoy the lovely kitchen and don't fret about the pendants.

BTW, I was loving the answers to your original question. And the answer is... 32-45, or maybe 48, or 30-36, or 29 is fine, or 36 unless it's 32. And from that you figured out that 38 was perfect. Good work!

I just measured mine and they are 32, and higher would probably be a little better.

A lighting guy told me the bottom of the shade of the pendants should be level with my eyebrows. I'm 5'4" so that brings things down quite a bit.

Love your kitchen, heidigo! What faucet did you get?

Update - ok, the 3 pendant lights are growing on me! My first thought when I say them was "nooo, that's not what I envisioned!!" - just as deedles said I thought it looked too crowded. I thought it would drive me crazy and I'd want it changed NOW, but I'm glad I'm giving it some time. Not to say that I won't want it changed, but it def doesn't seem like the "emergency" get it changed NOW that it was last week.

deedles - no, can't slide the island down - it's already in place as is the floor so that would be a HUGE deal. But thanks for the idea.

kellied - I agree, I need to set a time. And summer sounds like a good time to reevaluate! I am so ready to be done w/ this remodel that I don't even want to think about changing it anytime soon!

EMH107 - thanks! And I do think the 38" height is perfect - I thought it would be too high, but it looks great and isn't in anyone's line of sight when in the kitchen. And the pendants def gives off enough light and do not glare in anyone's eyes. I'm thinking too that it would be a BIG pain to change the pendant holes. Funny how last week it seemed like such an issue and I wanted it changed right then, and now it's not so much an emergency!

mpagmom - thank you for the compliments! So very true - 2 might not look like enough! I couldn't imagine going through the work of getting them changed to 2 and then not liking that! The more I keep responding to msgs, the more and more I am leaning on keeping them as is. And I guess it goes to show that there isn't a "normal" height for pendants!!

linelle - that seems a little low, esp if you have taller people in the kitchen since the pendants would be right in their line of sight. I do like the height that our pendants are - but I guess it all depends on what type of pendants you have. Our pendants do have good light output and the way they are designed you wouldn't have bulb glare in your eyes unless you mounted them really, really high. I do like that we don't have to "dodge" around the pendants to see and talk to others that are in the kitchen and family room.

Thanks for the compliment, linelle. The faucet is Moen Arbor w/ the new reflex technology - LOVE it!!

So glad I found this thread. I was not finding pendants I liked, and then I saw heidigo's. We will be twins!

I don't think the thought of too many would've crossed my mind had you not mentioned it. They look great! When we built out house (years ago), it seems like many things took me by surprise at first. Then, given a little time, turned out perfect (esp. paint colors) :)