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Are you trying to choose between a chandelier and pendants above your kitchen island?
First, decorative lighting is more about personal style than real illumination. Your task lighting should be provided by recessed or track lighting, so buy what you like.
Decorative lighting is like jewelry so, find your personal style and go with it.
Pendants vs. Chandeliers
Consider the style of the kitchen and the size of the kitchen island. Pendants are more ideal but newer kitchens are being made with bigger islands and therefore many people have been using chandeliers.
For larger kitchen islands you may want to do chandeliers and for smaller kitchen islands you may want to do some mini pendants.
In this article, I will show you examples of both for your consideration.
Chandeliers
My personal preference is a chandelier over a smaller square island.
For a larger island, you can do two chandeliers.
You can also opt for one stand out chandelier to make a bold statement in your kitchen.
Popular Chandeliers
There are a multitude of options when it comes to chandeliers, here are some of our favorites that will work well over an island.
Visual Comfort's Mini Lantern Chandelier
CHC2175AI - $360
- (3) 60w light bulbs
- Available in different finishes as well as different sizes
Crystorama Solaris 6 Light Chandelier
9226-OS - $398
- (6) 60w light bulbs
- Available in English Bronze, Old Silver, and White finishes
- Available in different sizes
Visual Comfort Chapman Square Tube 6 Light Chandelier
SL5820PN - $798
- (6) 60w Candelabra bulbs
- Available in Bronze, Polished Nickel, Antique Nickel, and Antique Brass
- Designed by Sandy Chapman
Feiss Lucia Burnished Silver Drum Chandelier
F2568/3BUS - $595
- (3) 100W light bulbs
- 18” Diameter
- Sunflower shaped crystals
- Burnished silver finish
Troy Lighting Sausalito Silver Gold Chandelier
F1285SG - $722
- Available in silver gold and deep bronze finish
- (5) 60w candelabra light bulbs
- 25” wide and also available in different size configurations
- Matching wall sconce and flush mounts also available
Sonneman Connetix Bright Satin Aluminum LED Bar Chandelier
2133.16 - $1,990
- 26 LED light bulbs
- Comes in different size configurations
- Matching wall sconces and flush mounts available
- 6ft of adjustable cable
Pendants
Using two or more pendants over an island is a great option as well.
Depending on the size and length of your island, the pendants should be evenly spaced out. This shorter kitchen island below has two evenly spaced pendants.
A current trend in lighting design are large kitchen pendants over an island.
Popular Pendants
Much like chandeliers, pendants come in many difference styles and you have lots of choices. Here are our most popular pendants.
Quoizel Lighting Grant Mini Pendant
GRT1508IS - $157
- Available in Brushed Nickel, Imperial Silver, and Palladian Bronze finishes
- (1) 100w light bulb with an opal etched glass
- Available in all metal without glass
Besa Lighting Domi Low Voltage Pendant
1XC-1743VM-SN - $160
- 12v Low voltage pendant with a 50w bi-pin halogen light bulb
- Many different glass color available
- Also available in LED version
- Comes with 8ft of adjustable cord
- Comes in Satin Nickel and Bronze finishes
George Kovacs LED Pendant with Laser-Cut Metal Shade and Crystal Droplets
P989-077- $250
- Built in with a 12w LED light bulb
- Laser cut metal shade with crystal droplets on the inside
- Chrome finish only
- Different size configurations available
Tech Lighting Benton 1- Light Pendant
600BENPWS - $336
- Available in Antique Bronze, Polished Nickel, Satin Nickel finishes
- Comes with 6ft of adjustable cable
- Available with halogen or compact fluorescent light bulbs
Hudson Valley Pelham Satin Nickel Pendant
2210-PN - $536
- Available in different sizes
- (1) 100w max light bulb
- Comes in Polished Nickel, Satin Nickel, Aged Brass and Historic Bronze finishes
- Matching wall sconce and ceiling fixtures available
Hudson Valley 3-Light Pendant from the Hampton Collection
252-PN-C3 - $696
- (3) 60w Candelabra bulbs
- Available in Polished Nickel, Historic Nickel, Aged Brass, and Old Bronze finishes
- Available with 3 different glass options
- Comes in 3 different sizes
- Also available as a semi-flush mount
Final Thoughts
Whatever style kitchen you may have, there are many different chandelier and pendants that you can choose from.
Chandeliers and pendants should be hanging 30-36” from the top of counter to the bottom of the light fixture.
This light will be above eye level so you are looking past the light fixture when standing. You can choose anything, as decorative lighting is more of an accessory than a functional light.
Do not be afraid to add color or mix metals for a truly unique ambiance. It is your space!
Additional Resources
Have tough questions about lighting your kitchen? Get the Yale Kitchen Lighting Buying Guide. The Guide will take the mystery out of proper illumination. We will show you how to layer lighting, better effects for accent, task, ambiance and decorative. Well over 130,000 people have read a Yale Guide.
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Pricing on this blog is for reference only and may include time sensitive rebates. We make every attempt to provide accurate pricing at time of publishing. Please call the stores for most accurate price.