Sorry it took me a while to get back..was out of town. The paint in the dining room is a soft white, not bright, more like a vanilla. Here is the floor. The floor in the dining room is hardwood oak. Also, I think I might like these for over the counter lights. See the link below. Or these - see this link. http://www.restorationhardware.com/catalog/product/product.jsp?productId=prod1870136&cm_ps=modal_add_to_cart-_-none-_-other_items_you_may_like&categoryId=cat1701013 Here is a link that might be useful: possible light

One of the things that I will say about these lights is yes, they will cast shadows, and No, they should not be the primary light source That said, there is not a single ornamental fixture in my house that is the primary light source in any room in the entire house, particularly not in a kitchen or bathroom. The kitchen and bathrooms are (or will be in the case of the upcoming kitchen) primarily lit from the ceiling by recessed lighting and by task lighting at the counters. The ornamental ceiling lights I took out of the bedrooms in my parents' house had been turned on so infrequently that the original 45 year old bulbs (all six) were in two of the fixtures. Those rooms were lit primarily by lamps switched by the door. My assumption regarding these lights by the OP is that the kitchen would primarily be lit by recessed and task lighting and that the pendant lights would be be adding sparkle and some lighting and that the weird shadows they may cast would be obviated by the "real" lighting, recessed or close-to-ceiling and task lighting.

Good stuff from Beverly above. If you're a visual person (like me) you can also try the balloon trick. Blow up some balloons to be the same size as the lights (as close as possible.) Or you could mock something up with cardboard which would work well since your lights are rectangular (and very cool by the way.) Then hang your mockups on strings from the ceiling. You can play with positioning and length of string to see what you think. Stand by them to check your sight lines when working at the counter, and check them from further away to see how they look. I did this when I replaced a light in my kitchen with a light that has 3 separate globes that can be hung at different heights. I moved my table under the mocked up "light", sat the kids down for dinner, and fiddled around with the strings until I was happy with the heights of the balloons compared to the table. Then I kept the mockup hung nearby for the electrician to follow as a guide.

@ RL - very good points re: cleaning. @groveraxle - goodness, I love your candor. Here's the thing. Those are knock-off Beat pendants and they're served me over the last 5 years but I'm ready for an update. They are also very low wattage so provide very little down lighting. I'm also SUPER fussy about finishes matching, and I'm doing chrome faucets and pulls. I don't like brushed + chrome look lol. I'm picky-picky. We have vaulted 16+ foot ceilings and the space feels large at over 20 feet long (even though the island breaks up the middle), I really feel like we need pendants over the island to break up the space. But I am definitely going to hold off on the pendants over the eating bar. @Patricia Colwell - i love that look but probably for another room. Thank you so much everyone!