Wow Wendy! Those look great. I've admired your kitchen so much over the past year or so and I never noticed your bare ceiling until you posted for pendant help. Did you have cans there before? And how tall are your ceilings? Mine are low, and I'm debating pendants over my island which is open to the family room.

Please post some daytime pics. I never get tired of looking at your kitchen!

Very, very warm. I love those plates in your glassed-in hutch (is that the right word?) Is there a story to them?

Thanks so much Breezy. :) We were wired for the pendants, but I looked at silver cardboard covers for the last 19 months. I'm happy to have something pretty there now, but moreover, having a well-lit island is wonderful!

Our ceilings are only 8 feet and so I was nervous when we were installing the pendants that the rods looked really "stumpy." I'm ok with it now.

We still need to install in-cabinet lighting in our glass-front cabinets as well. Hopefully I can get hubby on board for that next. :)

Thank you aliris. Warm is the perfect compliment. That is what I strive for. The architect called our hutch a breakfront, but I think he is the only one that refers to it as that. :)

I love my plates too. There is, in fact, a story behind them. I have enjoyed and admired Italian dishes for quite some time. Whenever I would come across dishes that I really loved, I would always discover "Made in Italy" on the bottom. When I was 4-months pregnant with my daughter, my husband and I had an opportunity to visit Italy. I knew that during our trip we just HAD to visit Deruta so that I could swoon over Italian dishes. We visited Rome first and then rented a car and drove through the countryside to Venice and stopped in Deruta along the way. I had researched which factories/store fronts I wanted to visit. I fell in love with what I saw at the factory of Ubaldo Grazia. We met the owner, who spoke very good English, and he gave us a tour of the factory and chatted us up for quite awhile. I chose my favorite patterns and ordered 4 dinner plates and a platter. I took tons of photos and hope to add to my small collection with more beautiful pieces. Thanks so much for asking. I enjoy sharing that story. :)

Funny, I never noticed the hole covers in your ceiling during my many admirings. My ceiling is 7.5' so I have the same worry about pendants as you did. But yours look great! Thanks for showing us.

Oh, one more question if you don't mind. Do you know the measurement from the floor to the pendant bottoms?

Those are beautiful pendants. They lend warmth to your kitchen and look smashing with your chairs! Congrats!

ooolala, so pretty. Your kitchen is looking awesome!

Thank you so much doonie and bee. I really appreciate it. :)

Breezy, from the floor to the bottom of the pedants is 68'' and from the top of the counter to the bottom of the pendants is 30.5''. My counters are high, so hanging them any lower really seemed to impede on the space.

I have to say only one person out of about 8 that has come into my home since we installed them on Friday night has noticed them. I think that is a good thing. They must fit in well and seem like they have always been there, I guess.

hi cali...

Your kitchen looks amazing as usual..I love your style. Yours is one of my favorites..

KA:)

Thanks again Wendy. I think you're right about making the right choice if most people don't even notice the change!

-Wendy

Wendy- what are the dimensions of the pendants....online stores say 6" diameter, but 53" tall...I just want to know the height of the capiz shell shade.

They look fabulous and really go so well in your beautiful kitchen.

Aww, thanks KA. :)

I hope you're right, Breezy!

Med, thanks so much. The shade is, in fact, 6'' in diameter and measures 10'' high.

Cali_wendy - would you mind sharing the info on where you bought your dining chairs? I have been looking at x-back chairs but I really like that those seem taller... as I feel like I need a little bit of height around my table... thanks so much!

I love them!! They look great!

Can I ask you a question? How did you come to the decision of adding that little raised section on the end of your island? I ask because we are going to end up with a very similar layout in our kitchen. I assumed our island would be all one level. But seeing all the different variations here is amazing! So I'm keeping my options open! Thanks!!

Oh wow! I don't think anything looks "sad" -- I would take the whole thing as is! I really like your style. I'm sure you posted the details on your kitchen at some point -- if so, could you link to that? Would love to know about your cabinets, countertops and backsplash. Thanks!

I was so excited to see your post just to see more pics of your kitchen.... I really love it! One of my all time favorites. The pendants are beautiful and a subtle touch which warms up the space even more....I agree that people not noticing is a good thing! As always, I love your style...everything about your space just flows, yet it has such clever touches... and I love your plates too.... and especially the story. Those are the best kind of pieces!

I am sure you posted this in your details page, but would you mind sharing the name / manufacturer of your backsplash tile?

Thanks! Rachel

Aokat15, my dining chairs are from Cost Plus World Market. They are the Verona Dining Chairs. I've linked the Verona collection below. Our set is the mahogany color, but I see they have it in a lighter honey color now too, which is really pretty. I feel like our set is too dark and sucks up all the light in that area.

Babs, the idea of the breakfront at the end of the island was our architect's idea. He originally had presented it as a nearly ceiling-height piece, but I couldn't imagine something that high right there. So we collectively lowered it to provide a little separation between the casual dining area and the kitchen without blocking views completely. I love how it turned out. It totally blocks any mess on the island and cooktop while seated for dining, which is a great aesthetic benefit. I came across very few photos of the design, but did find one I liked very much in the book New Bungalow Kitchen.

Thank you so much, Dash. I've certainly posted details in a few threads, but I am not very good at managaing where those things are. I'm happy to answer again here though. :) My cabinets are custom maple with BM Linen White finish by a local cabinetmaker and finisher. The counters are honed (and pitted) Colonial Gold. The backsplash is Crema Marfil (tumbled marble).

Rachel, thank you for the incredibly kind words. They make me smile. Here is a link to our backsplash tile:

http://www.cooltiles.com/cv39c.html

As I mentioned above, we got the turmbled marble Crema Marfil. I believe the manufacturer is Marble Mosiacs. I also looked at the polished version, but ultimately went with the tumbled and added the color enhancer to bring out the warmth in the tile.

I've seen so many gorgeous back splashes on GW, that I am always oooohing and ahhhhing over that I sometimes wonder if I should have gone with something a little more exciting. But, ultimately I like that it keeps the monochromatic scheme. If the tumbled stone comes off as "dated" down the road, I guess I can pick something new! The store we bought our granite from did the tile job for $300 including materials, so I won't feel too bad if I ever want to replace it. :)

Here is a link that might be useful: Verona Dining Collection from Cost Plus

Hi Wendy!! They look great! I just installed mine yesterday. They came with a weird canopy (inside part) that was waaay different than the ones that were in there so after two hours of standing on my island fiddling, I finally re-installed my old ones and just used the new shades.

I have the Verona benches from Cost Plus. Sturdy and good finish! A steal. (-8

Thanks so much!

Thanks for the reply! I've had your kitchen saved in my inspirations folder for a while now. It's just lovely! And the pendants add even more zing!

Hi Wendy, I have looked at your pretty pendants several times and just now noticed that you have honed granite - which is what I've spent the last two weeks trying to chase down! One of the slab places near me has a new shipment of Colonial Cream that has some lovely banding and movement. I have been told that Colonial Cream and Colonial Gold come from different areas in the same quarry, or neighboring quarries. They certainly look similar.
Did your slabs come honed or did your fabricator do it? Have you had any problems with staining? I love that y.ours have a soft glow in the light instead of mirror-like reflections.
Your kitchen is beautiful!

Looking awesome! Fabulous Pendant Lights! Nice work! I absolutely love it!

Here is a link that might be useful: Pendant Lights