maybe a light like this?

click the picture for more photos

I had the same issue (7 feet 9 inches, to be exact) and I opted to just stick to recessed lights. But then again, my situation was further complicated by the fact that we have support columns at either end of the island.

But like you I thought the pendants would look silly with so little length.

giacomo it, I have never seen a light fixture like yours! I looked at your other pics and was amazed by your 'before and afters'. Thanks for sharing. :)

And coleen3201118, I'm hoping I can find something that would give the kitchen 'light layering' - a combination of undercabinet lights, recessed cans and a fixture with depth.

I have 8ft celings with a two tier island. One side is counter height, the other side is bar height. The pendants are centered in the middle. They are adjustable, so you can put them at any height you want.

patti823, your pic looks great! For an 8 ft ceiling the pendants hang down a good amount. I was afraid they would look 'short'. Thanks for posting.

Love the adjustables, but the look isn't right for my kitchen.

I've ordered pendants for my island w/8 foot ceilings, hope I can shorten the rods when they arrive...

Just wanted to pass along some advice from a lighting guy who has studied art and uses that to work with people. His philosophy, and i stress his, is that if you want artwork (as in beautiful pendants, chandeliers, etc.) buy it and display it, don't use lights as art. He recommends canned, low voltage directed at the features of your kitchen, ie. granite countertops or in our case highlighting a stone fireplace. I had my heart set on pendants but after spending time with him decided to go with him. Nothing is in place yet so i am not sure if this will really be what i wanted, but am hopeful. He utilizes different degreed lights (ie. 15 degrees would brightly light a small area, whereas 40 degrees would light a larger area and not be as intensely lit) to do the highlighting. So over our bar counter we have (4) 15 degree lights shining down, whereas at the sink counter adjacent to the bar we will have (2) with 30 deg radius. One good example is we will have 3 lights over the dining room table, the middle light will be a 15 degree to highlight my "art" centerpiece and the two on either side will be 30's to illuminate the table for dining. Those will be on the same dimmer switch and the middle by itself so they can be dimmed for more of a flush look if we want. His example of the dining area was imagine that the center light was on by itself just illuminating that beautiful centerpiece in the evening. It is a different way of looking at it for sure and like i said, not sure if i will be 100% happy with it but my dh really wanted just the small canned lights and then the electricians explanation of using the different degrees along with dimming totally sold him and since i have picked out everything else i decided i needed to go this route. One thing that also helped me is that the stone fireplace was the basis of color selection and highlighting that was a definite plus for me, i would have never thought to do it, but then again i didn't take a bunch of art classes. Just thought I'd chime in with his advice. I'll let you know the end result.

I'm a girly-girl, so I used chandeliers. Definitely not the choice for everyone, though!

thanks for all the great responses!

I can't wait to see pics oruboris and kas81057 - and you gave me food for thought.

twoscoops, I know which pendants you're referring to and was considering them. I'm glad you're happy with them.

reno fan, your kitchen is gorgeous. Thanks for sharing - I just don't think my husband would go for it. ;)

I think its a matter of personal taste. I think art in any form is interesting as long as it doesnt clash.
Im planning to use pendants over my island. Since our house is an open plan it will help define the kitchen.

My ceilings are only 7'9" high, and I have a 38"x87" island. I have a "white kitchen" (i.e. white painted cabs w/ white subway tile backsplash), which has an early 20th century institutional look. Over the center of the island I installed a single "schoolhouse"-type pendant light with an 11" polished nickel stem and a 7"-high white glass shade, flanked on either side by two low-voltage cans. The bottom of the pendant is 76" inches from the floor. I am 6'2", and I love the light. The kitchen, which is, in a way, a period-piece, would not have the same retro feeling without it. Below is a link to the light fixture. I'm sorry, but I do not have handy a picture of it in my kitchen.

Here is a link that might be useful: Schoolhouse Electric

There's nothing wrong with art for art's sake, which is what it sounds like kas's lighting guy believes in. However, I don't see anything wrong with art that also serves a function. Why not??

Anyway, I have 8ft ceilings. No island but I did use a pendant light above my sink and above my peninsula. My ceilings aren't high but I just didn't want to leave them naked so-to-speak. Nothing fancy or elaborate, but I think the pendants added a little bit to the overall look of the kitchen, and hey, they provide some nice lighting as well.

Pix of my kitch are in the "scenes of a finished kitchen" album linked on my page.

reading your messages; i'm getting a little sad about not having the pendants, they were one of the things i was really excited about purchasing....i guess i'll be going out and purchasing some really beautiful glassware to display on the dr table to be spotlighted, and if my dh so much as makes a peep he will know the sacrifice i have made :like i said, i am basically an art novice compromising; i'll have to admire everyone else's pendants :

kas
obviously you only read the negatives and not the positives. There are lots of postive posts here about pendants. I dont think you should deny yourself something that will make you happy.

Our KD wanted to discourage me from the pendants. The pot lights were the better (read: more functional) choice. Nevertheless, I did buy them and am very happy with them. We made sure that the pot lights would provide 90% of the task light and used the pendants as accents. That does work with our 8 ft ceiling. Just make sure that the pendants aren't too big. We hang them about midway between ceiling and island top. Hmmm, maybe slightly lower than that. That's a bit lower than the 36" you are currently planning.

{{!gwi}}

Thanks everyone for responding! I talked with my GC and I'm considering the Tech Lighting Freejack lights. It will allow me to get pendants without the bar - which I feared would shorten the hang and look odd w/ my 8 ft ceiling. My granite is being installed as I type and the appliances come on Thursday. I'll post pics later.

I appreciate all the feedback, because I feel like I can get pendants to work.

soigne, your schoolhouse light sounds great in your 'period-piece' kitchen.
lowspark, you have a lovely kitchen.
beatrix in canada, your kitchen was my inspiration for pendant lights.
kas81057, hugs to you. Hopefully, dh appreciates you and you both love the final product. I look forward to your pics when you're done.

reno_fan: I love your kitchen! What kind of cabinets do you have?? they are gorgeous! Thanks

Lowspark...I wasn't able to find your kitchen pictures....all I found were the 200 pics of Geneva (fun, though!)

I'd really love to see more pics of your kitchen!

TIA!

Thought I would update the thread I started when I was trying to figure out what type of light to get for above the island with an 8 foot ceiling. Well here are some pics.

We chose a pendant light we found (Juno onyx) at Design Expo. With our GC's help we got a flat ceiling mount/transformer (the one at the store was more conical) We wanted something with a low profile, because of the 8 ft ceiling. We love it. Thanks to all of you for your invaluable help.

Here are some close up pics of the lights.

Love your kitchen and especially your pendant lights. I also have 8' ceilings and will hopefully have pendant lights over my peninsula.

Barb

Great pendant choice jmfromil. I think they make your kitchen so much more "interesting" and I love how they pull "up" the color in the island counter! Beautiful kitchen! Congratulations! Jaymie

Patti,

Can you tell me where you got the pendants, the name/model, etc? They are very attractive and I like the idea of being able to adjust the height for certain tasks.

Thanks.

jmfromil,

Your finished kitchen is lovely. Thanks for coming back and letting us know what you decided. I always enjoy when the OP returns to say what they ended up doing---especially when pictures are included!

sail-away-
Here's a link to the store where I bought them. I live right near the store, so I went in & purchased them, but you can also purchase them online. The model I have is:
Besa Domi Adjustable Mini Pendant-Marble-1AX174352, but there are many different shapes & colors of shades available.

Here is a link that might be useful: Littman Bros.

great look! I love the choice you made.

Thanks for the info, Patti.