One question we seem to get again and again is in regards to lighting over kitchen islands. How many pendants. What style works best. How big should they be. Every space is so different it is hard to respond to everything with one blanket answer.
But there are a few guidelines we like to follow when designing a kitchen with an island. When it comes to style and size of the actual light, keep in mind the size and style of your kitchen. The larger the kitchen and larger the island, the more freedom you have. If it is more of a confined space, you may be limited to pendants that don’t block sight lines or feel heavy.
In the Riverside kitchen below, we chose to go with two large statement pendants. We had freedom to do so because the scale of these pendants in in line with the scale of the room.
The Hartford kitchen wasn’t as large but we were able to get away with two larger (for the space) lights because they are simple and don’t hang down too long. The simple glass and coloring doesn’t interfere or separate the space.
We chose to go with three small clear lights over the island in the Morgan Residence. We didn’t want the lighting to overwhelm the space or feel too heavy. The clear glass maintains an airy feel while anchoring and drawing subtle attention to the island.
A lot of confusion can also come with where and how high the lights should be hung over the island. We use a simple formula when centering and hanging these lights.
These are pretty universal rules of thumb among designers.
And what would all this information be without some good options?!
Here are a few pendants that would make great options for your island.
1 / 2 / 3 – 30 inch & 16 inch / 4 / 5 / 6
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