Getting the Pendant Light Right

I shared the Rejuvenation Powell pendant light trio hanging above our kitchen island in a previous post about pendants and sconces: 

But lately my eyes are adjusting more to the industrial lighting look. That’s probably inevitable — industrial lighting is everywhere right now. But where and when can you use it without it looking ridiculous, misplaced, a misguided attempt to be updated or trendy?

Could these Rejuvenation George pendants go in my kitchen instead of the Powells above?

Heck if I know! And that will remain a rhetorical question for y’all. Although I have a perfectly nice kitchen, everything high quality and very nice and roomy, it’s still not the kitchen of dreams. Mostly because it’s a typical Midwestern kitchen with the orangey grainy oak cabinets. I think industrial lighting would look silly in our kitchen right now.

I intend to someday get our cabinets painted an antiqued beige, plus remove a desk and overhead cabinets in one corner and replace them with an antique Chinese cabinet for contrast. We have vintage/antique and reproduction Chinese furniture peppered throughout the house and this would tie all that together as you move from living room to dining room, to kitchen to family room.

I could see these George industrial pendants looking very cool if my cabinets were beige antiqued with dark gray accents, and with a black Chinese cabinet in the corner. (Our counters are dark green granite with black flecks.) The utilitarian simplicity of the Chinese furniture we like could mesh well with  industrial lighting:

Check out advice and photos from Houzz about how to get pendant lights right. It discusses using pendants for kitchen task lighting and advises hanging them 28 to 34 inches above the countertop. In addition, when hanging pendants over kitchen islands, hang them high enough so you’re not staring into the lights when you’re standing at the island. Here’s more from Houzz about installing pendants above a kitchen island including beautiful photos of kitchens to illustrate.