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srlaufer

island lighting for a mixed ceiling height

8 years ago
What type of lighting is best to hang over a 120” kitchen island where half of the island is under a 9 ft ceiling and half is under a 13.5 ft ceiling. We are concerned to have sufficient task lighting as well as the proper look. If 3 pendants are appropriate, then one would have to be hung in the vault portion of the ceiling.
Or is a 4-5ft linear fixture more appropriate for lighting and aesthetics. In this case the canopy would be hung in the center of the island which is within the 9 ft ceiling area so that half the linear would be over the 9 ft section and half would be over the 13.5 ft area.
Thank you in advance

Comments (17)

  • PRO
    8 years ago

    I would do the drops at the different length cords to all hang at the same height from the counter

  • 8 years ago
    Thank you...I appreciate your comments. Could you please share your thoughts as to why a linear fixture would not be preferred. I would like to consider an elegant yet graceful crystal linear with 10-12 candelabra bulbs that offers a good amount of light.
  • PRO
    8 years ago

    I also recommend the individual separate lighting as well. When you choose a light fixture that is more of a linear fixture but have to hang the cords on either side at difference lengths it will look off balance even if it drops exactly level. Instead I recommend doing either 3 pendant lights and hanging them separately. I would recommend hanging them staggered a bit to add some interest since you do have the dilemma with the ceiling heights. Hope this helps!

  • 8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    Don’t do different ceiling heights. That’s just poor design. Drop the ceiling to all be the same. Or raise the other part to be the same. Don’t try to fix bad design with kludges that only draw attention to the bad design.

  • 8 years ago

    As described, I agree with Sophie.

    Let’s see some pictures, though, please.

  • 8 years ago

    I had this situation, and vaulted my flat ceiling to avoid it. I would have been equally happy dropping the side that was vaulted, but my husband had a strong preference for the first.

    If you leave the ceiling as-is, I would definitely do multiple pendants, instead of one linear island fixture. And keep in mind that only some fixtures are appropriate to hang on a vaulted ceiling, especially depending on the pitch. Your choices will be limited significantly, compared to if it was all flat.

  • 8 years ago
    Hello Shared Treasures,
    I agree that cords of a linear hanging from different ceiling heights would be odd. However I would like to clarify that the canopy with the 2 cords would be on the
    9 ft portion of the ceiling as the center point of the island is exactly within this area before the ceiling rises. The body of the fixture (lights, frame and crystal) would hang half on the vaulted portion and half on the 9 ft ceiling as the length of the kitchen island is between these two ceiling heights.
    I hope this detail further helps to visualize the space.
  • PRO
    8 years ago

    That does make sense but if the island is exactly half under neath then I am having a hard time visualizing the linear light fixture that will be centered on the island. Can you post a picture of the island?

  • 8 years ago

    Fix the ceiling’s poor design. The world is your oyster for lighting once that error is rectified.

  • 8 years ago
    Several of you have asked for photos. As my kitchen is in demo phase I have searched on line to find pics that are closest to my renovated kitchen to be. Even the two ceiling heights appear to be identical...notice the ceiling rises at approximately the island’s center. I sincerely hope this helps clarify whether pendants are best and provide great lighting and how many pendants are suggested (with appropriate lumens), or a large linear (4-5ft) with 10 candles equally distributed over length of the fixture over a 10 ft island would look better and offer more light.
    Thank you all.
  • 8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    Posting more photographed bad designs doesn’t make it good design. Those are Kitchens That Ate the Breakfast Room. Not good designs.

  • 8 years ago
    Not a fan of your inspiration pics. I would’ve done same ceiling height throughout for the house shown in the pics. A breakfast space off the kitchen doesn’t need a raised ceiling nor drama. As for lighting over your kitchen island that straddles two rooms it’s best, at this point, to choose individual pendants.
  • 5 years ago

    I’m having the same Issue here with having two different ceiling heights to deal
    With and a lighting I wanna hang. I can’t vault the one ceiling because there’s a room above it but would anyone think it would be werid to hang a chandelier type lighting in between the 8ft ceiling and the vaulted ceiling??

  • 5 years ago

    We are gonna remodel the kitchen....new flooring cabinets, get rid of soffits and hopefully counter tops and my sister in law suggested instead of the small circular table I have, to instead get a big rectangular one and cap both the other two lights you see and drop a chandelier down from the higher ceiling once we get a table so that it would centered. Thoughts??

  • 5 years ago

    Yea I see that but I’m new to this app so I’m lost at how to start my own thread. I found this thread on google actually and it brought me to the Houzz app 🤷🏼‍♀️ sorry. Will look into that

  • 5 years ago
    last modified: 5 years ago

    Hi swilkindon. To start a new thread all you need to do is post your dilemma at the top, where it says “Start a discussio...”. https://www.houzz.com/discussions/kitchens