Because when my husband and I were shopping for pendants, we came across this style, and he said that he liked this one the most. But it was a bit over our budget... Now it’s almost Christmas time and I wanted to surprise him :)

Don't love it, but I think the silver. Your budget is restrictive, ...........so up the road perhaps a switch : )

Silver

Silver. are your pulls bronze?

According to you silver is not better option but my opinion that you will have to go with silver and you can manage it time to time.

I like the silver since the other one connects to nothing in the space and IMO a colored barstool would be a much better choice to get out of gray for everythingI have a gray and white kitchen but orange and whit stools . Just make sure whatever light you get it ights the island and in your kitchen all that lighting needs to be LED 4000K to keep the whites white

Chrome ! Always !!

I know you're not asking this, but are those pendants 100% set in stone? Your kitchen looks like a blank slate, which means you can go pretty big and dramatic with your island lighting. Something with a little more "oomph" to it. If you are really loving those pendants I would go silver and 13", and look for other ways to add warmth with your styling, perhaps swapping out the stools for cognac leather instead. Something rich like that would pair beautifully with your backsplash and help to ground the space, keeping it from feeling too grey/ cold

I agree with Steph - go big(ger) and dramatic with your lighting fixtures. I might suggest that your selection include some visible glass.

Like you said, I worry that the silver will make everything one-dimensional, but I do think they coordinate better than the gold. What about something with texture? I don't know your dimensions, but these might be large enough that two would make an impact.

These tie in some texture with your colors.

So you’re retrofitting the 3 recessed lights to be pendants? Are those currently centered over the island?

These are pricey but they would balance your dark backsplash - Niche Solitaire Pendants:

https://www.houzz.com/photos/corna-del-mar-transitional-kitchen-orange-county-phvw-vp~89661864

Here are a few designs of ours. Please notice the pendants and how they work well in the kitchens.

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