Will shortening and rewiring three lamps and finding longer shades with the proper diameter fitter be more cost effective than finding a shorter brighter fixture?

I generally think fixtures with rods or stems need to have a certain length to the drop or they start to look badly proportioned.

Can't tell where your junction box is, but you might want to see if there is a semi-flush light for that area.

Here is one at Home Depot: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Minka-Lavery-Harbour-Point-3-Light-Liberty-Gold-Semi-Flush-Mount-Light-4177-249/205942878

I've looked for months for an alternative fixture. One of the big problems is that the electrical wiring (junction box) is not centered over the island. So I looked for something I could swag over but nothing that was quite right. Among other things I wanted a dark grey pewtery color fixture that would match the others. Choices are limited if you don't want bronze or silver. Other problems included inadequate wattage, too long, etc. Oh and if I get something with a different footprint I will have exposed mismatched timber.

I know you are asking about this fixture and you're probably going to get lots of suggestions about alternatives, so my apologies for doing the latter.

That configuration would make me crazy (with the site lines, as you mentioned). I would want something up out of the way, but able to provide light where I want and as bright as I need.

So I thought maybe something like this would be perfect. I added some like this to my kitchen because it was so inadequately lighted and I couldn't (at the time) afford big changes. The ones I put in were halogen, because they were the brightest lights available, but I am now switching the bulbs out to LED, which are every bit as bright and not as heat producing. I love them! I like these type fixtures because you can concentrate the light exactly where you need it. Mine aren't on dimmers, so you'd have to research that, but I'm sure it's possible.

How is your light fixture attached? It looks like it's floating in the air. I was going to suggest the same type of solution that olychick showed. I have similar in my kitchen with led bright white bulbs, it's fantastic. I would suggest that you try replacing the current bulbs with bright white led bulbs and see just how much more light you will have.

I live in a timber frame house so I totally get the issue. When we redid our kitchen lighting was one of my biggest issues. I am assuming no junction box, just wires out of beam making connection in the long rectangular mounting plate. Is that right?

We had similar wire We took that wire added a surface mount pancake connector than ran surface mount wire to center a fixture over the new island. You could do similar and have a flush mount or less obtrusive fixture centered over the island. On the perimeter can you use the electric from the rope lighting and get lights that will cast light further out? I used library lights on my perimeter but I don't have soffit.

When we did our basement, we left the ceiling timbers open like yours are. We used mostly can lights between the beams but we also used that kind of snake-y track lighting that Olychick showed. If you want something that is up and out of the way and not really noticeable, I think the track lighting is the way to go. We got ours from IKEA for much cheaper than similar options at lighting stores and it has held up for years. I don't know how dimmable it is and it was a pain in the butt to install as far as getting the curves figured out (you should have seen my husband and I trying to do math and charting stuff on graph paper - ha). Ours is black which just kind of blends in with the ceiling (which we also painted black)

With respect to your bulbs sticking out, it seemed to me there should be LED bulbs available with a lower profile (since LEDs are quite flexible in how they can be configured). While most seem to be configured to mimic incandescent bulbs, I found a Philips 100W equivalent dimmable LED at Home Depot that, if their spec info is to be believed, is an inch shorter than most of the alternatives. You might try that before replacing the shades (I like the existing shades).

Do you really have three 100-Watt-equivalent lamps in that fixture? That's a lot of lumens.

A few answers/comments:

I'm open to a different fixture if I can figure out something that works, that I like and that is consistent with the somewhat rustic nature of the place.

I don't think I want to do something bright above the cabinets. I like the ambiance lighting plus that switch controls both the under cabinet and above cabinet lighting.

Yes, just wiring coming out of the beam - no junction box. The fixture is attached to the beam and then floats out in the air to the side.

localeater - do you have a picture of yours that you could post?

I currently have three 60 watt incandescent bulbs and won't go higher as I can't find any maximum wattage rating on the fixture. The current lighting is fine in many cases (I've lived with it for two years) but sometimes I need more light. I tried the smallest LED bulbs I could find to get 100 watt equivalent but they weren't dimmable and too much bright light right in my face. If they were higher and dimmable that would work but the dimmable bulbs are larger. Lower wattage equivalent are smaller but then I don't have more light than I do now.

Thanks for all the advice - much appreciated!

I did a search for "rustic track lighting" which gave me a lot of ideas. Some interesting things on Etsy including some ideas of how I might rework the current fixture. I'm not fond of the bare bulbs that are so popular right now. I always seem to want what is not popular or trendy and thus nearly impossible to find.

I have been very pleased with the led variety of bulbs I have purchased on ebay. I have been able to find much smaller dimensions with the high watt equivalent. I learned a lot about bulbs. I didn't know about COB or Corn bulbs but I now have both of them in various lights and they are perfect. My husband has been amazed at the great price and quality of the products I have purchased. I like the bright side not to the blue extreme but a good daylight look. Especially in my kitchen, good clear light is essential in the space I will be using knives! Reminds me of the operating rooms, a kitchen is now my operating room lol.

Check out the options on ebay, they carry the name brands.

Raven - can you tell me what brand you purchased that was small size, high wattage and dimmable?

I will check my order history and get the link.

I saw these lights, several here that could be a possibility

https://m.beautifulhalo.com/black-wrought-iron-6-light-industrial-large-semi-flush-ceiling-light-p-259825.html

Here's one of the ebay sellers I bought these bulbs from. They are a bit smaller than the other led bulbs and have the vents which helps keep them cool.

http://m.ebay.com/itm/10x-30x-Dimmable-7W-10W-E26-110V-Energy-Saving-Bright-Light-LED-Globe-Bulb-Lamp-/261621965027?varId=560773689842&txnId=1994322162016

These are the corn led bulbs you have to choose from the base type E26 is standard, and the warm or cool and the strength.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/E12-E26-G9-110V-LED-Corn-Light-Bulb-Lamp-5W-7W-9W-12W-Warm-Cool-White-Bright-/291734467775?var=590756685061&hash=item43ecbab4bf:m:moWg4J_0qOZhqcr0p9wJAsg

Some offer dimable some do not. I didn't want dimable.

Thanks!

3katz-

This is my kitchen (its a little messy right now)

And here is a close up of where the flushmount wiring starts, behind the white rectangle is the wire coming out of the beam.

Because I needed to relocate the fixture I ran surface wiring painted ceiling color to the correct location. There is a round white surface box that is mounted to the ceiling and the fixture is suspended from that. I did need to consider fixture weight, but the fixture I have is heavy, its just one i considered was ridiculously heavy and got nixed. Had I wanted to run the surface mount wiring on the beam itself I could cover it with trim to disguise it. Notching beams is also possible and then you can cover the notch with trim, but that gets more complicated and how much you notch if they are structural has to be considered. I am happy with our solution.