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Kitchens Lighting Design Dilemma

HELP please… How to space 3 pendant lights over 9’ island?

last year

My contractor is pushing me to tell him how to space 3 pendant lights that are 9” in width. Island is 108” or 9’ in length.
I know that the middle pendant needs to be in the middle at 54”.
How do I space the other two from the middle pendant?
I read 30” apart? That would give me 24” or 2’ from the outer edge of the island. Is that too much?
Should I space them 36” or 2’ apart and have 18” from the edge of the island?
Please help as I need to make a decision today. Thanks!!

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Comments (12)

lucky998877
last year
Make balloons the size of your pendants, hang them over the island (or island to be), and do the visual test... pleases your eye.
K H
Original Author
last year
The island is not installed yet in my house. Electrician has to run the wires before cabinets and island will be installed, unfortunately. :(
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What you should do is place the pendants absolutely centered on the island but place them 1/3 of the way in from the seating area. Then place a high hat directly above your sink for good task lighting. That's what I did and it works beautifully. Those sitting at the island get good lighting and you working at the sink get good lighting and no one will ever notice if it's slightly off because no one ever stands exactly dead center looking.
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My ceilings are just under 8' and I have a tall husband worried about bumping his head on pendants lol. Our island is 9' long but only 40" wide. We went with clear pendants so visually they weren't intrusive. Played around with how far off the island and found a height that worked for us (my husband). We originally tried the smaller 6" but in the end got the 10" version of these from PB: https://www.potterybarn.com/products/pb-textured-glass-pendant-hood/?catalogId=84&sku=3564536&cm_ven=PLA&cm_cat=Google&cm_pla=Lighting%20%3E%20Pendants&region_id=658780&cm_ite=3564536&gclid=Cj0KCQiA6t6ABhDMARIsAONIYyyT9EKIF7j5Z49P7maicy8XKMtK8CfyevVz58yNd1zpFvaXAbpyPc0aAjk3EALw_wcB
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lucky998877
last year
Yes, I had to do that too. Tape the island size on the sub floors or build one from cardboard...this will bug you if you get it wrong. Or just go with what you were reading as a recommendation. Good luck! Make sure that you have plenty of aisle width planned, the island electrical won't let you push the cabinets a few inches either way.
K H
Original Author
last year
Thanks. Might have to do the balloon trick. Never heard of it. :)

Yes. Thanks. We will have 4’ clearance around all sides of the island.
lucky998877
last year
Trust your eye! End result will be beautiful :)
PRO
Buildplan
last year
Make sure that they are hung around 30-40" off the countertop. For your horizontal spacing, you can go down to 6" from the edge of the countertop if that ends up looking best.
kculbers
last year
I suggest do a mock up with pencil and paper to scale to see what it may look like, and do different configurations. Also, find out what suggestion your contractor has too.
vinmarks
last year
I first laid out my island size with tape on the floor and used parchment paper cut in rounds to the size of the fixture to get an idea of spacing. I made a whole diagram to give to the electrician. I don't know if he understood it but the spacing turned out well.
PRO
RL Relocation LLC
last year
Divide the counter into three sections

3ft sections divide that into 2 so 1.5 center on each box

so center is 4.5 feet in, then put one 3ft to the left, and one 3ft to the right of center.
K H
Original Author
last year
last modified: last year
@kculbers my contractor doesn’t want to give ”design” advice as he’s not a designer. I get it and I’m ok with it as he gives advice about technical stuff, rather than design advice.
K H
Original Author
last year
@vinmarks This is excellent advice. never thought of actually doing the layout on the floor. I will do that in my living room tonight as my contractor gave me an extra day to make a decision. very helpful advice. thanks.
K H
Original Author
last year
@RL Relocation LLC Thank you for the formula to calculate. this makes perfect sense. Looks like my thought on 18” from the edge/sides are good. i will do the layout in my living room tonight with your dimensions and will see what it looks like.

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