Create an ideabook for your next remodeling project!
Browse more than 1,000,000 photos from top designers and save your favorites
Kitchen Islands: Pendant Lights Done Right
How many, how big, and how high? Tips for choosing kitchen pendant lights
How to light an island is a subject of endless speculation and worry, but it needn't be a subject so fraught with uncertainty. It helps to understand the three main types of home lighting: Ambient lighting, the general illumination you get from ceiling lights and some wall-mounted lights; accent lighting, which draws attention to a feature of a room, and task lighting, like pendants and under-counter lights.
In a working room like a kitchen, task lighting takes on an importance that's hard to overstate. Pendant lights, especially when suspended over an island, get all the glory and rightly so. Even though every room and lighting goal is different, here are some examples of island pendant lights done well:
In a working room like a kitchen, task lighting takes on an importance that's hard to overstate. Pendant lights, especially when suspended over an island, get all the glory and rightly so. Even though every room and lighting goal is different, here are some examples of island pendant lights done well:
| The most basic rule that isn't really a rule is something called "The Rule of Three." Essentially, The Rule of Three states that an easy way to achieve balance is to repeat an element three times. I like to think of it as the rule of odd numbers. Human brains are pattern-recognition machines, and the most basic pattern there is an odd number. In this kitchen there are three pendants over the island and a fourth coordinating pendant over the sink. This room's balanced because the three pendants over the island are on a single plane, and the one pendant over the sink is on another plane all together. |
| Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
|
| The Rule of Three takes a back seat to scale, always. This kitchen has a smaller island and larger pendants. The two pendants here illuminate the island and they're large enough that three of them would be overwhelming. The amount of light you require and the proportions of the pendants you're using always trumps The Rule of Three or any other rules. |
Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
Sometimes, pendant lights are a way to inject some color and interest. These three pendants over the island are the focal point of this kitchen and that's due to their bright color in an otherwise neutral room.
They are small enough that three of them fit comfortably in the space and they produce enough light to do their job.
They are small enough that three of them fit comfortably in the space and they produce enough light to do their job.
|
by Henrybuilt
»
Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
|
| Sometimes, a pendant isn't really a pendant at all. These articulated arm lamps provide an unexpected twist as well as flexible and effective task lighting. Their visual weight is offset by the graphic of the diver to the right. Despite its apparent simplicity, this is an exceptionally well-designed room. |
| The lights hanging over this island, like the lights from most manufacturers, come in a variety of sizes. In this case, the designer went with two larger sizes instead of three (or more) smaller ones. The cloud-like appearance of the Logico Suspension Pendants disguises the fact that they're hanging in a pretty rigid line. The line formed by these pendants, when combined with the crown moldings in the room, combine to imply a ceiling. This technique is a way to take high ceilings and draw them down to a more human scale by focusing a line or series of lines between eight and nine feet above the floor. |
| Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
|
| This kitchen is a study in how to light a room properly. The focal point of this room is the hood on the wall over the range. The three pendants that are in line with that hood don't distract from it at all. Notice how the curved shapes of the pendants complement the curved shapes on the sides of the hood, the corbels below it and the valance on the hood's face. Add the curves on the back of the chairs and stools and a motif is born.
Finding balance among all of these competing elements is difficult, and this designer pulls it off beautifully. |
| Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
|
| In this kitchen, the designer went with two larger pendants rather than three. The metallic highlights scattered around this room are repeated in the pendants and keep the focus low and centered. That the island is the center of this room is a point made with a combination of the lighting, the aluminum stools and the white, brick base. This is a kitchen that feeds multitudes and does it with grace and efficiency. |
| The focus in this kitchen is the interesting T shape made by the wall cabinets and the backsplash tile on the far wall. This island is set on the diagonal to that far wall, and the pendants follow that diagonal line. There's a bit of forced asymmetry at work here that keeps things subtly interesting.
Tip: Pendants are usually hung 60 to 66 inches from the floor to their bottom rim. Those guidelines are subject to change, however. The height of the inhabitants, the design of the pendant and the task to be illuminated all work together to determine the proper height for a given installation. |
| Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
|
| This kitchen is stunning for a host of reasons, not the least of which is its perfectly balanced use of dark colors in an otherwise white room. Spreading around those dark colors makes this island appear to be larger and, at the same time, expands the whole room.
An island such as this is going to have activity going on all around it. The lighting needs to do its job while not creating a barrier. If you're lighting an area that people will stand around, the pendants should be high enough so that people can see each other, but no so high that those same people are blinded by light bulb glare. |
Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
In this kitchen, three pendants bring in a shot of color and draw up the red-toned stain on the island cabinetry. Long, conical pendants like these can be hung a little higher than some other shapes.
Here's how to determine how high to hang your pendants (you'll need three people, but it's worth it): Before installing your pendants, have one person climb a ladder and hold the light fixture in what looks like a good position. Have a second person measure the distance from the bottom of the pendant to the floor. The third person's job is to decide which height works best. Keep in mind that you want the pendant low enough to hide the glare of a light bulb but high enough so that the pendant doesn't act as a barrier. No room and no fixture will have the same sweet spot. When you find yours, record it.
Do you have a pendant light success story or tip?
Here's how to determine how high to hang your pendants (you'll need three people, but it's worth it): Before installing your pendants, have one person climb a ladder and hold the light fixture in what looks like a good position. Have a second person measure the distance from the bottom of the pendant to the floor. The third person's job is to decide which height works best. Keep in mind that you want the pendant low enough to hide the glare of a light bulb but high enough so that the pendant doesn't act as a barrier. No room and no fixture will have the same sweet spot. When you find yours, record it.
Do you have a pendant light success story or tip?
Ideabook updated on Jan. 11, 2011.
What are you working on?
News From Our Partners
Latest Ideabooks
People found the photos in this ideabook after searching for:
View over a million photos:
basements · bedrooms · dining rooms · entries · family rooms · garage and sheds · halls · home offices · landscapes · laundry rooms · powder rooms · wine cellars and more.
That single plate goes on the ceiling and three compatible pendants drop from it. Do you follow that?
Momof2cuties: I hate to be evasive but everything depends on the light fixtures you choose and the full floor plan of the kitchen. Your best bet would be to go to a lighting store and find the specific pendants you're interested in. The lights themselves will tell you the right way to proceed.
Cookingchick: Thanks for the compliment!
I keep wanting to put traditional Eichler globes in, but they're not task lighting, and they don't meet today's standards for non-incandescent lighting in a kitchen. Also, the architect, my contractor, my friends, and anyone who's been asked, protests that globes over the island will create a blocking mass between the kitchen and the big windows on the backyard.
I'm beginning to seriously wonder about using ceiling cans as task lighting.
Those articulated task lights have me thinking...I wonder if I can do something like stair wall lights off my center post onto the task areas on either side...I've already got (and love) articulated Kohler Karbon faucets, which must mean my articulation quota (for this room) is more than full. The center post is going to be twice as fat, alas, in order to contain necessary electrical and plumbing.
And yes, the task light in the above picture is a combined two-incandescent with pot rack. It Must Go.
'Which height?' Aren't these two the same height, if the second person measures the distance from the bottom of the pendant to the floor while the first person is holding it in a place that looks good? Or did you mean to say that the second person should measure and place the pendant in a position that is x-number of inches from the floor?
My contractor has installed 2 light sockets (not sure that is even what you call them!) above my kitchen counter where pendant lights can be installed. This counter (for eating) faces into the kitchen. Stand on the other side and you are looking out across an open space dining room and living room. My question is not how many (because that has already been determined) or even how low or high to hand them. Rather, how wide should these two pendants be? I am looking an options of 8 inches (too sparse?) or 13 " (too cluttered) spaced evenly across the 60" counter. If you have any thoughts, I would love to hear them. And, why is this so hard!