can't get a perspective from you picture. Normally you center them over the island. But without seeing a complete view of your kitchen, can't really say. maybe a diagram? or take the pic from the french doors?

Maybe this diagram gives a better sense of it? Sink isn't centered in the island but is centered on the French doors. There is also the 12" overhang.

well, if you center them on the doors, would any of the lights hang over the island edge? you're getting 3 lights? how far apart are you spacing them?

I still think you place them over the island. middle is about 48-49". place one in the middle and go out from there. how wide are the lights?

The pendants are only 6.5" wide. I could hang them at 18", 48, and 78. But that would mean the left-most pendant would hang 30" in from the breakfast bar. The light at the other end of the island would be 18" from the end. Also, the center light would not be centered over the sink. Do you think that's okay?

the island counter is 97.5 inches. Hang one right in the middle at 48.75. then hang the other two 24.375 inches to the left and right of the center one. At least that is what I would do. Visually I would want them to line up with the counter on the island, no the sink or the door. If you are not standing square in front of the door you will never notice whether it lines up with it or not, because the door will appear different at different distances and angles.. The counter top is the visual reference your brain will see.

6" wide is small for an 8' long island. why not get something a big larger and eat up a bit more space? that way the overhang gets the light. I wouldn't worry about centering it over the sink. you're going to see the entire set up over the island.

look at how these look w/ the offset sink.

this one is centered over both island /sink. if the sink was offset on this one, I would take out the lights a little further from each other. (I still think these are too close and these are prob a bit wider than yours)

This advice is super helpful. Thank you both. I considered a larger sized pendant but to me the ones I chose seem big. This is a picture of of the old kitchen with the tiny pendants.

I worry the larger pendants would obstruct sight lines (although I am only 5’2” so I probably have nothing to worry about.

Thanks
Lisa

you are going to have an 8' island. putting in tiny 6" mini pendants will look out of place. You will also need to lower them. countertop to the bottom of the lights really shouldn't be more than 25". (otherwise people sitting at the island will have the bulbs glaring in their eyes. mine are actually at 20") The ones you had over your previous peninsula are far too high (and too small)

My island is 75". I have 6.5 pendants. If I put them in a line (they are in a triangle over the overhang because of the way the island/ceiling is built) they would be fine for the length. you have another 2' compared to mine. you could go a tad bit bigger or spread them out evenly. Don't worry about the sight lines. they aren't big enough to block anything!

The next size up in the fixture that I like is 10" diameter and 12.75" height. That seems much bigger to me. Do you think it would it be better to go with three large ones? Would 4 of the smaller ones also work?

I also really like the fixture below. It comes in 8.7" diameter. Maybe three (or four) of these would fill out the space better without seeming too big.

Balloons--blow them up to the approximate size of the pendants under consideration. String. Duct tape. Hang them and take a look and maybe a few photos. Move them around. It will be obvious what "works". One thing that is not apparent when one draws them is the foreshortening that happens when you are in the space. The French doors being further away will be smaller and your eye will see things differently, so anytime things are not completely symmetrical (and sometimes even when they are) it is worth a real life experiment.

Lisa, I have the same issue as you had. Did you end up centering the lights around the counter top? or the cabinetry of the island? we're you happy with the results? would you have done anything differently?

I followed the advice here, went with a larger pendant centered three over the counter, and then never thought about it since. I guess that means I’m happy with the result.

Sorry about the mess.

Hmmm. They seem too scrunched up over the island, and frankly, still too small in proportion to your island. Next time you do a kitchen update, think about choosing bigger pendants. And they definitely need to be spread out further from each other, leaving 12” from pendant to end of island.