Lighting Over a Kitchen Island.

[DawnCt1]

After almost a year of planning to move, we have decided to stay here so we will be redoing our 1985 kitchen. I am finalizing plans and rather than the pennisula that we have currently, we will be having an island. I thought that i wanted two pendant lights. Then I considered one light with three lights attached meant for over an island. The kitchen designer said it is all personal choice of course, but he prefers nothing over the island except recess lights because the pendants hang low and are distracting. Any thoughts?

 

[jen0610]

We have one friend that has a narrow island - we guess that it is a little smaller than my desk at work. She has two pendant lights that hang over it. Every single one of the male friends have bounched their heads off of these lights when they have bent/stooped over to serve themselves anything that is placed on the island. Everybody hates the height of her island lights - even her husband.

Couple of other friends have larger islands and no one has bounced their heads on the pendant lights over these.

I like the lights hanging over the island, as long as they are up high enough to not interfer with using the island.

My one light issue, that will be adressed when we do something with our kitchen, is the lack of lights under the upper cabinets. I HATE how dark it is on our counters.

 

[TimeforMe]

We have 3 pendants hanging over our island and they are centered enough that they are not at all distracting. They look great. The one thing I do not like about them, however, is they are not bright enough. My suggestion would be that if you are going to do pendant lighting to have another source as well.

 

[sunnyday123]

After almost a year of planning to move, we have decided to stay here so we will be redoing our 1985 kitchen. I am finalizing plans and rather than the pennisula that we have currently, we will be having an island. I thought that i wanted two pendant lights. Then I considered one light with three lights attached meant for over an island. The kitchen designer said it is all personal choice of course, but he prefers nothing over the island except recess lights because the pendants hang low and are distracting. Any thoughts?

whats the difference between a pennisula and an island?? Also, I've seen very few homes that have an island without a hanging light fixture over it, unless it's a comtemporary styled home. How low is he planning on hanging
the pendant lights??

I have a chandelier over mine, and I love it.

 

[jrmasm]

kitchen designer said it is all personal choice of course, but he prefers nothing over the island except recess lights because the pendants hang low and are distracting. Any thoughts?

I think your designer is nuts. I cannot imagine not having pendants over my island. When we had ours installed we picked a height that didn't get in the way of conversations across the island but still provided task lighting.

I would never have an island without pendants.

 

[Oreo Cookie]

We have pendants over our center island and it looks wonderful. The lighting is great and the pendant lighting helps to pull the entire room together.

 

[tonilea]

I think they would look great, but I wonder if your designer is thinking that they might become dated soon?

ETA: We just finished our kitchen - we also ditched the pennisula for an island - LOVE IT!!!

 

[Monte Cristo]

After almost a year of planning to move, we have decided to stay here so we will be redoing our 1985 kitchen. I am finalizing plans and rather than the pennisula that we have currently, we will be having an island. I thought that i wanted two pendant lights. Then I considered one light with three lights attached meant for over an island. The kitchen designer said it is all personal choice of course, but he prefers nothing over the island except recess lights because the pendants hang low and are distracting. Any thoughts?

We have recessed lights over our 6 year old colonial. We were going to put a pot rack over the island, but it was going to hang too low. We never considered pendants for this same reason. Looks great in our house.

 

[FloraFauna]

We have 3 pendant lights hanging over the island. We also have other light sources in the kitchen.

I really like when everyone is finished in the kitchen for the night, we turn off all the other lights and just put the pendants on. It looks really pretty.

 

[Tinkermommy]

I have a large island (4.5' by 4.5') and I have 5 recessed lights over it. That's the way it came. It does give lots of good light and they are on a dimmer so I can control the "mood."

I have thought about adding pendants because they have some beautiful ones but decided against it. For one, I always have tall candlesticks or flowers in the middle of my island, or if I am serving buffet, I like to create a lot of levels with small shelves and such so they might be too close to the lights.

I do like pendants though. They can add a lot of interest to a room, but I would be concerned about height as one PP said people can bump their heads.

 

[SaraJayne]

I have a large peninsula in my kitchen (4 x 7) and I wished it had pendants over it. The light source for the kitchen is behind me when I stand there, so everything is always in shadow.

I have to turn on the dining room light (open concept) to get the type of light that I feel is safe for chopping.

I have no doubt my kitchen was designed by a man. Actually, I know it was. lol

 

[SpecialK]

I wanted to put in pendants and the builder talked me out of it so I have recessed. I regret giving in to this day. I think the pendants give a warmer look to the room.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

We just put recessed also and it was a good decision. I thought about pendants over the island but they would have seemed "in the way". We did put a pendant light over the sink and DH is forever hitting his head on it, lol. A lot probably depends on the layout of your kitchen and the island itself.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

we also ditched the pennisula for an island - LOVE IT!!!

Ditto!

 

[ndelaware]

I wanted to put in pendants and the builder talked me out of it so I have recessed. I regret giving in to this day. I think the pendants give a warmer look to the room.

Home Depot and Lowe's both have a kit that converts a recessed lighting fixture to a hanging pendant fixture. It's very easy to install and can be done in about 30 minutes.

 

[elgerber]

I have 2 pendant lights over mine, I love it that way.

 

[mtemm]

we have 3 pendent lights over a fairly good sized island, so no worries about head bumping. we also have recessed lighting.

 

[Buckalew11]

Just built and have 2 separate pendants lights over a smaller kitchen island. I have recessed lighting around the sides (4) and use them a lot when I'm preparing. The pendants would not be enough for tasks.

Have fun!!

 

[DawnCt1]

My island will not be that big. Maybe 44 inches wide, 5 ft long? . Yikes. I wish I could see it both ways. Maybe once my kitchen is gutted I will get a better sense of what it will be like. There will be a divider (where the sink and dishwasher are). It was the original exterior wall and the beam above it is a structural support so I will hide the beam (again) inside the cabinets. The kitchen is 14 ft plus a couple of inches wide.

 

[DawnCt1]

Good news! I can see what it looks like! I can have recessed lights installed and there is an adapter that can go into the recess lights and accommodate a pendant fixture. So, for those of you who regret not getting the pendants, you can change. I just called a lighting company. http://www.worthhomeproducts.com/installationlight.asp?header=light