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What size lights should I use over my new kitchen island?

2 years ago

I have decided to use the Darlana lantern from Visual Comfort in black iron as the lighting over my island, but I am having a hard time deciding on size. My choices are the small which is 12.5 in wide and 18 in tall or the medium which is 17 in wide and 24.5 in tall. My island is 8.5 ft long and 4 ft wide and the big catch is that my ceilings are only 8 ft. I am just struggling with what to go with. Any advice appredicated.

Featured Answer

clt3

2 years ago

We just installed the larger one in our foyer, with the ceiling at about 10 1//2 feet and I think it would be too large for an 8' ceiling.

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Comments (15)

lana_ayscue
Original Author
2 years ago
These are the lights I plan to use.
calidesign
2 years ago
Usually bigger is better, but with 8 foot ceilings I would not use a pendant that is 2 feet high. That dimension doesn't even include the mount or chain. Tape a piece of paper in that dimension to the ceiling with string and painters tape to help you visualize how low and wide the light would be. You want the pendants to be well above eye level.
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Your current set up looks nice; however, your island would look more balanced if you spaced out the lights a bit. If you like vintage-style lights, you should check out our hanging oldage barn lights. They'd look great with your island!
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Thank you all for your input! I drew it on paper and the lights look too close together using the 1/3 rule (28" from edge), and they look too far apart centering them on the sides of the sink (13.5" from edge). So, I've decided to split the difference and center them 21" from the ends. This gives 24" between the pendants in the center of the island, and 12" from the edge of the island to the pendant. Even with hubby being 6'5", I don't think he'll hit his head. I drew it out (side view and top view below). Please let me know if there are any fatal flaws in this plan! p.s., our ceilings are 9', so I can easily have the bottom of the pendants 36" from the top of the island - thanks for the tip Jan!
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Hi hc07645, For a kitchen island of that size, you may be able to squeeze two small 10" dia pendant lights with 5 inches of space in between the fixtures plus 5 inches of space at each side of the edge. With that set up, we would recommend the following fixtures from our sister brand Luxe Light and Home: Ducello Sorbonne Both the Ducello and Sorbonne can be made as single pendants. The Ducello has 3 glass styles: Piccolo (7 1/2" w x 7 1/2" h), Media (8" w x 9" h), Alto (7 3/4" w x 10 3/4" h) with 5 different glass color options. Or you can possibly have a single 26" dia chandelier at the center. With this set up, we would recommend these Luxe fixtures: Pirelli Portia Gio Medici Both the Pirelli and Portia have 25" Dia and 26" Dia sizes respectively. These Luxe fixtures are sold exclusively through the Kravet showrooms so we highly encourage you to visit one near you so you can see the quality and workmanship yourself. We hope this information will help you make a more informed decision on your home needs. Very Best, Tai Truong Elements of Design 3400 Medford Street Los Angeles, CA 90063 tai@lusivedecor.com www.elementsofdesign.com
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It is slightly off centered, but mirrors the oven on the back wall of the kitchen. This shot might be more helpful. I will attach links to the pendants I had in mind! Thank you for your help!
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lana_ayscue
Original Author
2 years ago
Thank you!
Maureen
2 years ago
This may help
lobo_93
2 years ago
@lana_ayscue I have those lights (X3) in my kitchen and LR. I have just moved to this house and I am still getting used to their size. If it helps you any, then here is the pic below.

@clt3 You gave me an idea of moving the one light by the LR to the foyer with a tall ceiling like yours. And I would just keep the two over the kitchen island sides as @lana_ayscue intends to do. Thank you both!
lana_ayscue
Original Author
2 years ago
I have done the measurement & while I would like the width of the medium darlana pendant, it just won’t work well with my 8 foot ceilings. I am going with the small 12 in w x 18 in w ones.
lana_ayscue
Original Author
2 years ago
18 in h not 18 in w
lana_ayscue
Original Author
2 years ago
I have done some more measuring and with the smalls, I can only get about 8 inches of chain total. I’m not sure that I want the fixture starting that close to the ceiling. I could do the mini ones which are 9 1/2 inches wide and 14 inches tall and then I could have about a foot of chain. I could do three of those over the island. What does everyone think?
calidesign
2 years ago
Three mini's might work. I would do a mockup to see if you like the size and spacing.
lana_ayscue
Original Author
2 years ago
I did the math, and I think I can do three small darlana lanterns on my 102 in island. I am going to order three of the 12 in w by 18 in h and just see how it goes. I can always return if they don't work.
lana_ayscue
Original Author
2 years ago
If they look too close to the ceiling, I can swap out for the minis. I'm just going to get them and see.
chloebud
2 years ago
Just posting something I saw recently. This blogger went from these...

...to these...
lana_ayscue
Original Author
2 years ago
What blog is this? Just curious. Thank you
chloebud
2 years ago
@lana_ayscue, it's this one...very pretty lake house. The second link is for the kitchen.

https://www.thelilypadcottage.com/house-tour/lily-pad-cottage-ii

https://www.thelilypadcottage.com/tag/kitchen

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