Hi everyone, I've been a long time lurker and occasional poster on this site and always find excellent suggestions here. I was wondering if I could have some advice on where to place pendant lighting over our kitchen island (with raised breakfast bar area). We ordered 3 pendant lights but am not sure where we should hang them. I'm attaching a link to the floor plan of my kitchen for reference. The island is sort of a stretched L-shape, so the placement is causing us some confusion. Specific questions I have are: 1) Do you center the lights over the work/prep area or over the raised bar area? 2) How high to do you hang the lights (how much space between counter/bar and bottom of light?) 3) Do we spread the lights out or have a closer grouping of 3 lights on one side of the l-shape? If the shorter grouping, which side - sink side or the other side? 4)How far apart do you place the pendants? Thanks so much in advance! DB Here is a link that might be useful: Kitchen Floor Plan

We used hanging pendants made by Roost. They only sell to wholesalers who then retail them. We bought ours locally, via our builder, from a design center so got a deal. Don't know hwat you can find in your area, but I have provided an online link below. We also used the Edison-reproduction, multi-filament bulbs they show in the pic. They are about 11 bucks each w/ shipping, but look waaaaaaay cool, esp. when dimmed, and provide all the light you need when at full power. If you go that way, order some spares. We have not had a burnout in 4 years, but we do not use them daily. Also, we did not want a track sitting across our ceiling to steal the eye away from the task lighting hanging below. Close-up of pendant: http://www.velocityartanddesign.com/details.php?classid=2575&productid=20072&defval=images_products/20072-Cylinder_det.jpg&title= Edison bulb: http://www.antiquelampsupply.com/product/3690 This isn't the greatest pic, but will give you and idea what they look like on our large island. There is seating for 3 on the right side of the L. Here is a link that might be useful: Roost retailer link

I think you are referring to monorail lighting. It definitely has a more modern vibe and is not for everyone. The reason I think what you have now does not work well is that the shades are very small/narrow and you probably have lower watt bulbs in them. It looks like you have recessed lighting as well. Is that not working for you as far as lighting the sink/prep side? I can't quite tell, but the spacing may be too far apart for the size--plus it looks like you have tall ceilings and all this has an impact. Do they cast a shadow when someone is working on the prep side? What I'd do is make a scaled drawing of your kitchen with the light fixtures and wattages and take it to a good quality lighting store that helps with lighting design and see what they recommended since you already spent money on one solution that is not working. When we remodeled our kitchen the place I ordered my lighting from did our lighting design. In many cases, their recommendations differed than my electrician's and most cases I went with their recommendations and am very happy that I did. The kitchen forum is another source you can solicit feedback for your lighting problem. I'd love to see something like this in there Here is a link that might be useful: Schoolhouse pendants

Generally, a pendant light over a peninsula or island should be spaced about 24 inches apart. You don't mention the length of the counter, but 7 lights seems a little (lot?) excessive. Maybe 5 lights at the most?