Hi Michele,

For dining tables we always say 30-36" above the table.

Island are a little more personal based on your height- since your husband is taller Try 36" to 42". I think it helps to hold the fixture up or if that is too difficult a tape measure works.

I would not have a light over a cooktop only 36"-42" off the counter.

Do you have a vent even?

Personally I'd be worried about having a fixture over the cooktop and would instead just do a pendant on either side of the cooktop. Think of the heat and grease wafting up.

OP: In case you hadn't already seen this, Wayfair has this pendant (very pretty, BTW!) on their site here. Scroll down the page, and you'll see a general 'distance' guide.

One reviewer posted a pic of the light in their space -- were you ready for how the pattern will throw onto your ceiling? :)

You could try hanging either to-scale squares of paper or balloons at various lengths to determine the best height i.e. [see the comments in this post[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/6-1-2-or-7-ft-long-island-2-or-3-pendants-dsvw-vd~2469569)

Woah! That’s some very... uh... enthusiastic shadowing! ;)

I second the idea to use to-scale balloons. I recently put several new lights in my kitchen. The one over the table has 3 pendants, all of which can be hung at different heights. I did a mockup with cardboard, balloons blown to the size of the pendants, and strings and positioned the table under it for a few meals while I played with the heights. (DS is 6'6" and I wanted to make sure it worked for him.)

It was very helpful, as I changed my mind about the heights after sitting under my fake lights.

the mockup:

the results (as you can see the electrician swapped the locations of the highest and middle pendants; that's ok I mostly wanted to make sure the longest was toward the corner):

My 3 pendant lights are 33" above the countertop. This allows for the light to be above most everyone's eye level when sitting on barstools at the counter.

lovely kitchen, by the way!