The spacing of the pendants sounds pretty good. I'm skeptical that the little 4" models will look proportionate to the island, or cast enough light to work by, but that's probably not critical at this stage; it sounds like your builder just wants to install the rough wiring and ceiling boxes.

As for can placement, many builders prefer to put cans out over the aisle spaces. While this does make exact fixture placement more forgiving, it also makes it inevitable that your own body will cast a shadow over the area of counter where you're working. I'm of the 'directly over the counter edge' school of thought. This prevents such shadows, but also places noticable splashes of light across the upper cabinets, which makes it necessary to place these cans especially carefully. With 9' ceilings I'd probably use 5" or 6" cans, shoot for about 4' spacing over the counter edges, and plan to use 75 watt, 40-degree floods.

Thanks for the response...actually, the builder wants exact placement and numbers.

I kind of have my heart already set on the mini-pendants I saw...the are upside down triangluar cones...and so pretty :) the height is about 8 inches and the opening at the bottom is about 4 inches

So if I were to use these mini pendants, would you suggest that I use 3?

Thanks.

I have an island 8ft long and 36 in. deep. how many pendant lights can I place over it?

What beam spread for the bulbs and how far form the counter are they?

Covering the area twice (100% overlap) reduces sharp shadows.

If it were me, I would use at least 3, maybe 4 mini pendants. Our island is 4 1/2' by 8'. We hung 4 pendants, evenly spaced and set in from the edges by about 1', in a square. Hanging three, I would suggest a triangle. Our ceiling is 10'.

Good luck!