As with GrannaBelle, our DR chandelier and pendant lights (2 over peninsula & 2 over sink) are from Murray Feiss. They are part of the "Morningside" collection. Our peninsula pendants & DR chandelier are approx the same distance apart as yours. My feeling is that when they are so close together they should compliment each other. IMO, they should not be starkly different or clash. Here are pics of ours: If you check the link below, you will see they have several different styles, all complimentary, that can be chosen from. As you can see, they do not have to match exactly. (They have some new ones for 2008!) Here is a link that might be useful: Murray Feiss' Morningside Collection

I'm not going to get into the conversation over height of pendant lights, but I will add that you should definitely mix metals. It's what gives kitchens visual interest, makes them look custom/new/modern, and keeps them from looking like builder grade. And that would be especially important to you because your kitchen is so white and could lean to the boring side if you're not careful. So in other words ... do not match your pendant lights to your faucet finish.

I'd go for a drum shade pendant. It doesn't have to match, just a similar design.

I have the same pendants as @mihelene. I have NO issues with glare although plenty of folks on this site warned about that and said it would be a problem ----- it has not been. I will second, though, that they do have to be cleaned regularly and that is another task to keep up on; although I often wonder if I had something not clear, surely it would be getting just as dirty and need cleaning.....? Maybe I should just feel grateful that my lights make me keep a cleaner house. ;) Also, it seems to me that the height of your ceiling isn't such an issue as the height the pendants are recommended to be hung is 30-36" above your counter top regardless of what height your ceiling is. I have 9' ceilings and my globes are about 15.5" long. I don't think an 8' ceiling would be a problem. (My sister in law has 8' ceilings and she just installed fixtures similar to your posted picture. They seem bigger than mine (perhaps just in width) and they look good.)