Are the pendants going to be your primary task lights or do you have recessed lights over the cooking area? I've found that many pendants don't give off good task lighting.

I have an island that is 75 inches on two sides and I have 3 lights -one in the corner and one on each end. The are about 36" apart. Spacing is all wrong - much too far apart, I'll probably tear the ceiling up so I can move them closer.

No, there are right now 8 recessed lights. They are 3 between the island and sink, two over the island and three on the other side of the island. The two over the island probably will be replaced by the pendant lights. However they are not centered over the island so they will have to be removed and new elec. boxes installed. I wanted them done when we remodeled but DH said we could do it later....here it is 3 yrs. later and he decided we should have pendant lighting. If I used the existing boxes I think it would look unbalanced or something.

kathieo, can you show us a picture of the light fixture over the eating area that is in the far right side of the picture? Are you planning to keep that one? BTW - love your kitchen. What is your granite?
Lezli

I would want something that is easy to clean. That cooktop is going to send up greasy steam. Personally, I'm impressed with the dust camouflage aspect of matte finish whitish down-facing glass globes. Might also camouflage greasy film.

Could one of those multi-light track sets work for you--anchor one end on the electrical fitting and the rest of the line extends toward other end of island. These are essentially assymetrical, so you might be able to cope without tearing out ceiling.

lezli, thanks, my granite is Mamibra Gold, we really love it. You don't see anything on it....including crumbs!! Sadly, there is no light fixture over my table in the breakfast area. The builder convinced us that they do not put fixtures there because of the cathedral ceiling and not knowing where the table placement would be. So we never put one in although I would love to have one there. I feel like the kitchen is unfinished and somewhat less homey without them. That is why I wanted pendants over the island in the first place. I can't imagine how long the chain or post would have to be to get to 36" above the table.

florantha, I'm not crazy about track lighting myself...too contemporary for my taste. Do you have the white pendants? Thanks for the suggestion tho.

I've been checking out lighing wwebsites but I'm so bad at designing, I really don't know what would be appropriate.
I know I don't want anything with chains, just posts.

kathieo - the kitchen/dining areas in our new home will have vaulted ceilings, too - so I know what a pain the light fixture selections can be. In fact, I still haven't decided ... :) We were told by our lighting salesperson that the mini-pendants over the penninsula would need to either hang from chains or the soft pliable cords so that multiple pendants could easily be adjusted to hang evenly. Apparently they're somewhat more difficult to position from a vaulted ceiling? I'm still not sure I get that ... but will pass it on FWIW...

I agree with florantha that a white matte globe - something frosted, alabaster or white marbled - would be good. I would use brushed nickel or similar finish and stay with something with simple lines/few details - and like florantha, with down-facing globes - all to make keeping them clean a little easier. You could either stay with a traditional look to coordinate with your kitchen/dining table, or introduce a tasteful bit of whimsy into your kitchen with some carefully chosen pendants ... :) I would probably use only two of them - spaced sort of just barely either side of your cooktop - and would hang them as high as maybe 40" over the bar. I would also go ahead and add a coordinating dining table chandy while you're at it .... And that's my two cents .... :)
Lezli

lezli, thanks for the suggestions. I'm going to press the
issue about a chandelier over my table while I'm looking.

Does anyone have pictures of a chandy hanging from a vaulted ceiling? I'd love to see how it looks and how long the chain or cord is.

Thanks.