Hi Lizzie, The bottom of the pendant should be at least 75-90cm / 30” from the surface of the island. Pendant lights should be hung around 72” from the floor to the base of the light fixture. Good proportion practice should be exercised when hanging lights over a kitchen island, with equal space left between each pendant. Approximately 75cm (this depends on the diameter width). Smaller diameters can support a smaller gap between each fitting. To help give a visual reference before installing the fixture, a clever trick is to hang balloons roughly around the size as the pendants, this will help visualize the space more accurately and help determine is the light will look right. https://www.mullanlighting.com/blog/correct-height-hang-pendant-lights-chandeliers/ I hope it works out for you! Your friends at Mullan Lighting.

What's the rest of your lighting plan like? Recessed ceiling lights? I'm asking if the pendant lights are needed for the function of your island, or whether they are going to be there to make more of a visual statement. check out How to Light a Kitchen Island from YLighting Their products are all very modern, but just read for the principles.

yikes. i dont know what you decided in the end, but i would have gone with a huge, single light fixture over the island - like those ones with multiple globes. not 3 piddly lights. they would just be dwarfed in all that extra overhead space.

Ideally, you will want the space between each pendant to be the same as the width or diameter of each fixture. For example, if you have 18 inch pendants, the space between each fixture should be 18 inches. This rule of thumb remains true, even if the pendants are hung at staggering heights. To determine the appropriate size of your kitchen island pendants, follow the steps below: Measure the length and width of your table, kitchen island, counter, bar, or desk in feet. Subtract 12 inches (or 1 foot) from each of these measurements to ensure there is 6 inches of clearance on all sides of the fixture. Take the remaining measurements in feet and add them together. This number is the approximate width allowable of each pendant. To determine the allowable number of pendants over your desired surface, take the length of your table and minus 12 inches and then divide by any number under the maximum allowable width (as determined in the previous step) and divide by two. This number is the approximate number of pendants that you could hang over your kitchen island, dining room table, or counter-height bar. So I'm getting 18 inches is a good size. But my math may be off