I'm midway through rebuilding a flooded house and need some suggestions for lighting. I've taken out a wall separating the kitchen from great room and I'm in the process of replacign it with a 6' two-level bar. I'd planned on installing pendant lights above the bar. The wall I removed was a support wall, so I went back in with a 12' beam to span the opening. My issue now is that I'm struggling with how to hang pendants from the beam. I'd like to keep the beam as inobtrusive as possible, so building in a space around it to mount fixtures isn't ideal. Is there such a thing as a pendant light that would work with its base above the beam, a wire hanging through, and a trim piece of some sort where the wire comes out the bottom of the beam? If I could keep everything but the bulb and a thin wire above the beam I'd have my current headache solved.

I going to take an opposite tact. Know your skill level. One of the best pieces of advice I got in relation to doing a kitchen on a budget was inexpensive materials can look much more expensive if they are well installed. If you can do an excellent job then go ahead and you can double your savings if not downgrade some of the materials and stick with the professional labour. I think you have to be very knowlegable to get the most you can out of a small budget and you are swimming a little bit against the tide so you have to have a little bravado because generally you don't have a lot of positive reinforcement (that isn't about folks here as much as it is magazines, HGTV and the neighbours). Quality is very important especially when working with a smaller budget but you need to be able to read through certain biases. Consumer Reports on one hand will tell you that Mills Pride and Ikea performed better than many mid-priced cabinetry products in their testing and then tell you that plywood construction and face-frame cabinets are really the only quality product (neither of which is offered by either of those companies). European frameless cabinetry dominates the market in all sectors here in Canada. Many lines do not even offer face-frames as they are generally perceived as an antiquated construction style that reduces the functionality of the cabinetry by most Canadians. One semi custom shop here told me they would quote on plywood but almost no one ever buys them no matter how opulent the kitchen. A well constructed 5\8 commercial grade particleboard cabinet will probably last a lot longer than you want it to. Ever see anybody poke their head into a cabinet to see what its' made of on House Hunters? Plywood cabs won't sell your house, impress your neighbours or improve the function of your kitchen. Is a well constructed plywood cab better than a well constructed particleboard one, absolutley but how good do you need it to be? Re-facing isn't usually cheap (the doors and drawer fronts are a big part of what cabinets cost) but it can be a good alternative if you have good cabs and a layout you love.

Update - ok, the 3 pendant lights are growing on me! My first thought when I say them was "nooo, that's not what I envisioned!!" - just as deedles said I thought it looked too crowded. I thought it would drive me crazy and I'd want it changed NOW, but I'm glad I'm giving it some time. Not to say that I won't want it changed, but it def doesn't seem like the "emergency" get it changed NOW that it was last week. deedles - no, can't slide the island down - it's already in place as is the floor so that would be a HUGE deal. But thanks for the idea. kellied - I agree, I need to set a time. And summer sounds like a good time to reevaluate! I am so ready to be done w/ this remodel that I don't even want to think about changing it anytime soon! EMH107 - thanks! And I do think the 38" height is perfect - I thought it would be too high, but it looks great and isn't in anyone's line of sight when in the kitchen. And the pendants def gives off enough light and do not glare in anyone's eyes. I'm thinking too that it would be a BIG pain to change the pendant holes. Funny how last week it seemed like such an issue and I wanted it changed right then, and now it's not so much an emergency! mpagmom - thank you for the compliments! So very true - 2 might not look like enough! I couldn't imagine going through the work of getting them changed to 2 and then not liking that! The more I keep responding to msgs, the more and more I am leaning on keeping them as is. And I guess it goes to show that there isn't a "normal" height for pendants!! linelle - that seems a little low, esp if you have taller people in the kitchen since the pendants would be right in their line of sight. I do like the height that our pendants are - but I guess it all depends on what type of pendants you have. Our pendants do have good light output and the way they are designed you wouldn't have bulb glare in your eyes unless you mounted them really, really high. I do like that we don't have to "dodge" around the pendants to see and talk to others that are in the kitchen and family room. Thanks for the compliment, linelle. The faucet is Moen Arbor w/ the new reflex technology - LOVE it!!

If you have 2 pendants they will be close together so on a windy day there is a good chance of them colliding, so you have to keep that in mind.