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Lighting Design Dilemma Kitchens

Pendants over island or recessed lighting?

3 years ago

We are trying to decide between pendants or recessed lighting over our new island. I think I prefer recessed but the room is very long and I don’t want it to look like a landing strip. I’m wondering if I need something like pendants to break it up some. We are worried about pendants being in the line of vision as my husband is 6’ and our ceiling height is 7’6”. Opinions please!

thanks!

Featured Answer

lucky998877

3 years ago

Originally I chose only recessed above my island...a few months later I ended up adding 2 pendants...the space needed something (I was going to do ceiling beams and backed out last minute). I would hang 2 balloons from the ceiling and see if you like the room better with them or without.

Comments (8)

Jennifer Havin
3 years ago
if you use something not visually heavy and glass I think it would be fine
Maw · More Info
Lor Castle
3 years ago
I decided against the island pendants even though the electrician wired for them as I couldn’t decide. I found it was just way too much in the space. I have a pendant over the eating area. Most important are the Under cabinet lighting I have them on all the time.
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For the Dishwasher and Sink area, I would suggest Semi-Flush Mounts, or Flush Mounts. Mini Pendants would look great also.
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Thanks, everyone! I am attaching a picture of the pendant over the island. I took your suggestion, Bee, and opened a Flickr account, but realized it is limited storage and you have to pay to upgrade. This is not my kitchen, but it shows the pendants. My kitchen will be identical in lay-out, and will have the stainless appliances, a lighter granite and medium stained maple cabinets. I would be getting these identical pendants - so, do you think they will provide enough lighting for the island if I am prepping? No doubt, nice ambiance for the evening and using just the pendants, but I want to be sure it is enough lighting for the island. Because this is a beach/summer home, I will not be doing a lot of cooking, but the kitchen will be used.
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We put our 7 halogen can lights onto 2 switches. 3 lights are the lights we use most--one can in the center of the work area and 1 can at each end of the pathway through the kitchen. I like having these on dimmers. There are times of day when full light seems too harsh (just as it's getting light in the morning and at dusk.) The other light we have on a dimmer is the hanging 3-light fixture (pool table style) over the peninsula prep zone. I often use the dimmer because the fixture is fairly low and can seem too glaring in my eyes. But I haven't been dimming this fixture lately because we've been replacing the incandescents with cfl's---hope to get dimmable cfl's down the road. My preference is to have it dimmable but it's not horrible in a non-dimmable state. We rarely use the second batch of 4 can lights that are spaced over the perimeter counters but when we do it's because we need lots of light so we would never dim them. I rarely dim the pendants over our sinks because they're only on when I'm washing or prepping veggies and I want the light. We have undercabinet lights that have a low/high switch (as do our hood lights) but I very rarely use the uc lights (maybe 10 times in the last 3 1/2 years.)
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I don't have pendents or recessed lighting - so no help there, but if you don't have under cabinet lighting, add that to your list. My under cabinet lighting is the most helpful lighting I have. At a guess, I would say 2 pendants over the island, but your lighting store should also be able to help you. It depends on what you use and if your recessed lights light up the island - then pendants aren't necessary. Change out the track light over the sink for sure.
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Lor Castle
3 years ago
Depends on the size of your kitchen and island
PRO
Celadon
3 years ago
Short ceilings look best with recessed. You would have to use under 9”H mini pendants to get any hang to them with your low ceiling.
HU-451034196
Original Author
3 years ago
Thank you everyone! Lor, your kitchen is beautiful! It looks like your recessed is directly over the island, do you find that there is a glare at all on the white countertops?
Lor Castle
3 years ago
No glare as they are on a dimmer, we mostly use the undercabinet lights for task lighting. Rarely will the recessed lights be turned up max. We used to have the old halogen recessed lights and replaced with LED which is so much brighter. Decided to just use the same holes instead of moving and repairing all the holes. That is why I have so many and are not really in the correct position (close enough). You really dont pay attention to all the details in time. I found I stressed over so many little details that dont matter any more.
rosine
3 years ago
I just redid my kitchen and did recessed lights over the island. I have statement fixtures above breakfast table and adjacent living room. I prefer how open the kitchen feels with the recessed lights.

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