Kitchen Pendant Lights

What height should a kitchen pendant light hang at?

Too low, and the pendant blocks the view and gets knocked. Too high, and it shows the bulb and gives less light on the surface. The measurement is taken between the surface and the bottom of the shade, never from the ceiling.

Rules of thumb, to be adjusted to your height and to the shape of the shade. A shade that is open at the bottom hangs a little lower than a globe.

Above an island where you cook standing up, aim for the top of the range: your line of sight should pass under the shade. Above a table, go lower, so the bulb stays hidden. In a walkway, keep the bottom of the light 200 cm from the floor or more.

How many pendant lights above a kitchen island?

All the pendant lights on this page measure less than 30 cm in diameter, most often between 11 and 29 cm. At this size, a single light point lights around 60 to 80 cm of surface. Over an island, they are therefore hung in a row of two or three, at regular intervals.

Spacing: the distance between the centres of two neighbouring pendants. Beyond 240 cm, add a fourth pendant.

• Centre the row on the middle of the surface, along its length as well as its depth.
• Keep around 30 cm between the last pendant and the end of the surface, so you do not light empty space.
• Leave between two shades at least the equivalent of one diameter, otherwise the group looks cramped.

Over a round or square table of 90 to 110 cm, a single pendant of 25 to 29 cm is enough. A large table calls for a wider model or a row.

Kitchen lighting: what light to see clearly without glare?

The kitchen is the room that needs the most light. Allow around 300 lumens per m² for the room as a whole, all light sources combined, so close to 3,600 lumens for 12 m². A small pendant provides 400 to 800 depending on the bulb: it lights its own surface, not the whole room.

Rules of thumb. Keep the same colour temperature for all the pendants in one row.

To avoid glare, the bulb must not be visible when you are seated. A metal or ceramic shade hides it and directs the light onto the surface. Opal glass diffuses it. Clear glass shows it: in that case, choose a low-powered decorative bulb.

In the selection, only a dozen models have integrated LED. For the others, you choose the bulb, and therefore the brightness and the colour. To vary the intensity, pair an LED bulb marked ‘dimmable’ with a dimmer designed for LEDs.

Glass, metal or ceramic: which material for a kitchen pendant light?

In a kitchen, grease and steam settle on everything that hangs. So the material matters as much for cleaning as for the light. In the selection, close to four pendants in ten are in metal, around one in four in glass, and a little over one in ten in ceramic.

Switch off the circuit and let the bulb cool down before any cleaning.

The design houses in the selection each have their material: blown glass at Ebb & Flow, glass and aluminium at Muuto, ceramic at Ferroluce, wood and ceramic at Schneid Studio, lacquered steel and brass at &tradition and Gubi.

Four small pendant lights for the kitchen

Muuto Pendant light in white glass and black metal 18 cm Rime - Muuto €275,00 &tradition Pendant light in steel blue steel 16cm Flowerpot VP10 - &tradition €204,00 Schneid Studio Pendant light in clay ceramic 10.5x26.5cm Stucco no2 - Schneid Studio €349,00 Ebb & Flow Gold and obsidian pendant light S Futura - Ebb & Flow €239,20

Pendant light, chandelier, ceiling light or spotlights: which lighting for a kitchen?

A well-lit kitchen combines three layers of light. The pendant light is the second.

• General lighting: a ceiling light or recessed spotlights, for the whole room. Essential under a ceiling lower than 240 cm, where a pendant would get in the way.
• Zone lighting: pendant lights, above the island, the breakfast bar or the table, where you eat and prepare food.
• Task lighting: strip lights under the wall units, for the worktop against the wall.

Kitchen chandelier or pendant light?

In everyday language, ‘kitchen chandelier’ means any light that hangs from the ceiling. Strictly speaking, a chandelier carries several lamps on one frame, a pendant light just one. This page brings together almost only single pendants: for the effect of a chandelier, hang three in a row or group them in a cluster.

Pendant light or recessed spotlights?

Spotlights give the same light everywhere, but need a false ceiling and do not mark out any zone. Pendant lights are fitted to an existing ceiling point and define the island or the table, without lighting more than 60 to 80 cm each. Above 8 m², the two work together.

Which pendant light to choose for your kitchen?

In a small kitchen

Under 8 m², one or two pendants of 15 to 20 cm above the breakfast bar or the table are enough. Choose opal glass or a white shade, which bounce the light back towards the walls.

In an open-plan kitchen with an island

The row above the island can be seen from the living room and acts as a boundary between the two spaces. Three identical pendants give a calm overall look. Pick up a colour or a material from the living area.

By style

White and black dominate the selection, ahead of gold. Black metal suits a contemporary or industrial kitchen, opal glass and pale wood a Scandinavian kitchen, glazed ceramic and brass a retro look.

On a tight budget

You often need three small pendants: work out the price of the set, bulbs included. Around four models in ten are offered at under €200, and more than nine in ten at under €500.