Can I just note -- no offense to you, beagles -- that Ms Beagles has been very upfront elsewhere, about the paucity of actual cooking-experience likely to be seen in her kitchen. It's about as gorgeous as they come, but it doesn't have to brave the complications of things like grease, smoke, soot, grime. True enough, with a massive hood (which beagles also has of course), in theory these problems should be mitigated. I'd still worry about grime build-up, though.

Not that I'm speaking from experience, just fear. Maybe it would be OK and if someone has personal experience to back this up I'd back down.

Very valid point aliris19. Form over function was the rule. In the interest of full disclosure, I should note that I am also not the one who will be dusting the chandies when they inevitably need whatever sort of cleaning they will require.

A good point to ponder . . . but they are so very BEAUTIFUL!

I had them in the "old" :*( kitchen. Just small ones, my island was small. I put shades on the bulbs to cut the glare on the one over the island. And I found a sheer drumshade for the one over the table. So they were the same fixture, but didn't have the same appearance.

I did not have any trouble with grease or dirt. The hood was a workhorse. It really is amazing what good ventilation does. I used a product called Sparkle Plenty. You just squirted it on the chandy, and put a container or towel under it and let it drip dry to perfection.

Dust catchers.

And in a kitchen grease and oil.

Unless it is a 'for looks' kitchen that is rarely used, keeping a chandelier clean in a kitchen is going to be a never ending battle.

Good ventilation is an absolute MUST to keep a kitchen clean anyway, so if you have that covered well, and you are OK with the cleaning chore, then go for it if it will work stylistically. A good vent with enough CFM and proper coverage can be as expensive (or more so, if you have to have makeup air) as the range that it covers though, so do take that into account in your budget along with the potential budget buster of the crystal.

To get back to your actual question, do you have pictures of the mini pendants? That would help in making suggestions about a fixture for over the table.

I am replacing mine within the next few weeks. It's a dust catcher for sure.

We have weathered silver & crystal chandeliers over our island. I know the chandelier came in a larger size so you could use the larger one over the table. So far so good as far as dust, grease or grime buildup on ours. We've been in the house 6 months now, cooking up a storm on our 6 burner pro rangetop with 42" hood (just across from the island and those chendeliers). I give them a quick swipe with a swiffer when I dust the rest of the house & clean the crystals with a damp cloth when they look like they need it--we've done it once in 6 months not counting the cleaning when all the construction was over. We cook practically every night--and I mean COOK, from scratch, with multiple burners going at once. We have fried, sauteed, seared, roasted, baked, prepped & also prepared a huge Thanksgiving dinner & 2 Christmas dinners with ALL the trimmings. No big deal. I think the trick may be to not have one that is all crystals like Beagles has (although they are gorgeous, aren't they?) so cleaning is easier & takes less time. You will have to clean whatever you put up there, so you might as well put something up that you like.

Just my $0.02.

Here is a link that might be useful: Kenroy Home Antoinette Collection

I've had my crystal mini pendants about my island (and induction cooktop) for almost 9 months now and I still love the bling they add to my kitchen. I Swiffer them about once a week and there isn't any build up that I can see. My pendants were O.co finds and not very expensive, so if they get grimmy, it's not a big loss.

My dining room table is also a O.co find and while not matchy, matchy, I like the look.

Good luck with your lighting design

I love crystal in the kitchen. Frosting on the cake!
As far as cleaning...I find that if I like my things
I don't fret about cleaning them.
~boxer

Dandy Chandies.

a mix of crystal and a pendant looks nice here

We have matching crystal chandeliers over the island and eating area. A bit more modern than those posted above though.

Quite a bit of cooking takes place in this kitchen, and I find that the 900 cfm hood does a nice job of keeping grease and grime off the crystal. When needed, we'll be cleaning down the fixtures with something similar to bkw's Sparkle Plenty. I hear it works like a charm!

Glad to read this thread. Thinking about a single chandelier over our island. It has some sparkle but isn't all crystals. One of the things I had to compromise on was going with a downdraft vs a hood for ventilation because the cooktop will be in a peninsula. My kitchen has a funky shape with lots of angles and options were limited.

This is the chandelier I'm thinking of, except in bronze.

R has a crystal chandelier, 'fantasia' by Schonbek.

It takes about 6 hou\res to take everything den, clean it, and put it al back again.

Abut every 6 months.

After seeing what collected on a 2' x 4' florescent fixture after only 3 months, having anything more ornate in a used kitchen is not worth the effort.

even a very god range hood does not capture 100%, ad it ends up everywhere.

It shows on chandeliers worse.

Poohpup, is that chandelier you are thinking of using by Elk Lighting? If so, I have the same one in my sunroom. It casts the most awesome shadows on the ceiling that look like leaves/trees reflected. It is one of my favorite chandies in the house! You should definitely use it!

If it is not, disregard this post :)

See- cool tree shadows on ceiling angle to right:

brickeye--Your post worries me a little. Please tell me you were using your phone or blackberry to post just before beagles or that you were in a big hurry and didn't check for errors. The errors are just not like you. Are you ok?

WOW! I am so happy to read your responses and see your beautiful photos. I am 100% sure about crystal in the kitchen now. It is gorgeous, and I love my bling! I so appreciate the warnings about cleaning, but I think it will be worth it. I cook just about very day, but nothing fried and greasy, and the new hood is awesome. Boxerpups, I agree that it's much easier to clean something you love....and how do you find and post all those wonderful photos?
I am computer challenged and don't know how to post pictures, but my island mini pendants are similar to Luv2Laf's, only with a chrome finish. Thanks so much for posting your photo, Luv2Laf, because I am not afraid to get a table fixture that doesn't totally match now. Yours coordinates beautifully.
Beagles, your kitchen is worthy of the cover of every home magazine out there. Spectacular! Bee, how clever of you to take one chandelier and get two different looks. I love it. Mydreamhome, thanks for the link. I'll be checking that and o.com soon. Thank you to everyone for your comments. It amazes me that you all took the time to help me with this. :)

Beagles, the chandelier is from the Ballard Designs website but I believe it is made by Maxim. I looked up the Elk fixture and it looks very similar. But I think yours looks more like the one from Ballard.

This is the Elk chandelier. The main difference that I can see is the bottom of the fixture.

I already have the Ballard Designs chandelier in my dining room and I love it. I think it will look great in the kitchen. I love the shadows yours casts on your ceiling. It's gorgeous!

I have always wondered about the rest of the homes of people who have crystal in their kitchens. Do you also have crystal in your dining room, and a similar level of formality in living spaces? I often love the look of crystal, but in every home we've had, crystal in the kitchen would have been roughly like living in a trailer and doing the trailer bathroom in marble.

Waterdamage, I wonder about the rest of the house as well. My dining room is next on the remodel list, and I plan on getting a crystal chandelier on a larger scale for it. I have a formal living room, and also plan on changing the foyer light for something more blingy. I guess I'm going through a 'crystal' phase, but I try to find bargains so that when I tire of them, it doesn't hurt so much to swap them out. BTW, I have 3 kids and 2 cats, so our home is very much lived in. I just think that there is no reason not to have a little sparkle here and there.

Poohpup mine is definitely an Elk fixture. It is the Elk Lighting 8054-5.

waterdamage I have crystal or formal chandies everywhere (even closets and pantries). I would not have put crystal in the kitchen if I did not have a similar level of formality elsewhere. However, there is crystal like formal crystal and then there is crystal like fun crystal. I think you can get away with fun crystal even if the rest of your house is not formal.

FingNugSnug, I got a lot of my chandies on ebay. Shades of Light also has some great fixtures, and I got a few off of Etsy.

Waterdamage--That's a good question regarding crystals in the rest of the house. In my case, no. I opted to put my crystal bling in the rooms I could enjoy them the most--the kitchen which is in the center of the open floorplan & the master bath above the tub. The dining room chandelier is dark like the accents on the kitchen chandeliers and has the scroll look going on, but no crystals. It does have lampshades, though. The scroll work & the color tie them in together--there is an open doorway between the kitchen & DR, so all 3 chandeliers can be seen from either room. The kitchen is open to the family room with a walnut ceiling fan and simple bowl light fixture. The master bath is the only other room with crystal and it's an oil rubbed bronze scrollwork mini fixture with crystals and 3 candelabra lights over the tub.

Just started thinking about a crystal chandlier 5 light over the kitchen and wondered about cleaning issues. Not sure if I would have to climb up on the island to clean it?? Not as agile as I used to be. The kitchen cabinets are going to be pure white and the marble counter tops for perimeter and island are green with white streaks leathered. All of the pictures are gorgeous in this thread and look like a home decor magazine!

I am loving the idea of crystal chandlier over the island but how do you determine the size you need? Thanks Beaglesdoitbetter for the James Moder info. Beautiful!

Hello Beagles, would you happen to know the model # of the chandeliers? Very much appreciated. They are absolutely stunning!

I have crystal mini pendants and chandelier in my kitchen. They don't collect any more grease and dust than my previous light fixtures. Plus I love the bling, like another poster mentioned.

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