Need advice: 2 large pendants or 3 over large angled island

7 years ago

last modified: 7 years ago

We are in the process of remodeling our kitchen. We started by taking our large 2 level island down to one level and installing new quartz countertops and an apron front sink. We also replaced the backsplash and will be having the kitchen cabinets (and the walls) painted in the next couple of weeks. The kitchen originally had 4 pendant lights that were 8” wide. We bought large 16” Feiss globe lantern pendants and planned to use two of the original light locations and center a new one for a third pendant over the sink area. My question is, should we stick with that plan or is that too many pendant lights because the fixtures are large? The other option I thought about is moving the two pendant lights closer to the angled parts of the island, on either side of the sink and installing one recessed light on each end portion of the island. For reference, our ceilings are 9 ft high. The photos are in various (messy) stages of our renovation and I tried to show rough mockups of the options. (I am making my decision based on aesthetics rather than costs associated with the changes as we are only going to to renovate once and intend to be here a long time!)

2 pendant lights (moved closer to either side of the sink)

3 pendant lights (add one more centered over the sink)

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Adrienne
Original Author

5 years ago

last modified: 5 years ago

I apologize for not responding as I didn’t get any alerts to the comments. We hired this renovation out and did not do the bar top work ourselves. They cut the existing cabinetry panels and shifted them down and I had them remove all of the corbels as the countertop installer told me they were for “show“ only and didn’t provide any support. We went with the maximum overhang allowed for no corbels.

We wound up using 3 pendant lights and I am glad we did. The room is very large and needed more than just additional can lights, in my opinion. They are placed high enough with the high ceilings that they are not in our faces and we have not had issues with them getting dirty over the cooktop as there is a downdraft vent behind the cooktop. The seam in our quartz is centered behind the sink.

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Comments (14)

PRO
Purewal Contractors, Inc
7 years ago
Considering it would be easier to have one pendent light added in the middle and also it would look better as well

thanks

Purewal Contractors Inc
Adrienne thanked Purewal Contractors, Inc
wdccruise
7 years ago
I'd vote for 3 but might they be, well, a bit smaller?
Source: http://techlighting.com/Gallery?s=low-voltage-pendants&c=8192

-- amateur
Adrienne thanked wdccruise
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pgsd
7 years ago
Tough one. I'd not want to be doing dishes only to look up and have a pendant right in my face so, I'd vote for the two.

I'm not a lighting expert but, I generally like a canned light over my sink to give enough light when doing dishes (looks like you had lights there based on the current holes in the ceiling?).

And, I'm probably just seeing things but, is that your stovetop almost directly under the current pendant?!!
Adrienne thanked pgsd
Adrienne
Original Author
7 years ago
The previous owners had 4 small pendant lights (So no cans over the sink). Yes, we put in a new induction cooktop since there is no gas line and we would prefer to cook with something like gas. The pendant is centered over that cooktop portion of the island, so cleaning it may be an issue. TBD!
midcenturymodernlove
7 years ago
I hate pendants down in my face. I would have none, and can lighting above instead. Not a fan.
Adrienne thanked midcenturymodernlove
PRO
Chi Renovation & Design
7 years ago
We might look into smaller pendant lights and do three. However if you are keeping the ones you currently have we would do only two.
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HU-298716390
7 years ago
I also prefer can lights. I love your open kitchen. I have similar color cabinets. What is your paint color?
ci_lantro
7 years ago
I think can lights would be best, too.

You already have lots going on up high. Crown molding, the columns, large pendant over dining table in one direction. In the other direction, you have glass cabinet doors, the wine rack, ceiling/wall crown & crown atop the cabinets. Pendant lights seem just a bit too in this context.
Design2 girl
7 years ago
Your kitchen layout is very similar to the project we are just getting ready to tackle. Would you be so kind to provide the measurements of your island and the countertop color and paint choices you are going with. Love your subway tile on the perimeter. We are faced with the exact same scenario with the lighting issues except we also have a few existing recessed can lights over the island. I am leaning toward the idea of 3 pendants over the angled island, but will be interested to follow and see what you decide.
Jane
7 years ago
when you paint, Please, please take out that fugly grid thing. It’s hurting my eyes

seems a safety issue to place a globe over a cook top, where is the exhaust fan?
laurenkth
7 years ago
We are doing a similar project! How did the cutting of the bar tier go? Did y’all remove corbels entirely and do invisible steel supports?
leeklee
5 years ago
Hi- what did you land up going with? Also where did you put your seam/s in uour sngled island?Thanks
laurenkth
5 years ago
Thanks for asking! We did no pendants because they didn’t seem right for the space and glad we did that because it allows us to feature the breakfast nook and keeping room lights. Seam was centered on sink and we did mirror image slabs of quartzite