An average American home dedicates 5% of the total energy budget to lighting. A well-lit house significantly boosts your home’s ambiance. But often, homeowners get it wrong when it comes to design and positioning of the lights.
Your kitchen is among the areas within your home that quickly portrays a sense of dullness if not well lit. A pendant light can help you deal with this concern. But for most Americans, establishing a suitable position to hang the pendant light is a real challenge.
Are you wondering how to hang a pendant light in your kitchen? Well, determining the best spot for your pendant light can significantly transform your kitchen’s mood. Read on to learn more on how to hang your pendant light.
How to Hang a Pendant Light
A kitchen is a sacred place for most families. Here is where the bulk of the time is spent, and sumptuous meals are prepared. So setting the right mood is critical.
But how can you ensure that the pendant light(s) is set in the best possible way?
1. Location Is Everything
Location is at the heart of it all when deciding on how to hang a pendant light. The actual positioning of the pendant depends on where you need the illumination the most in the kitchen. For most homeowners, the breakfast bar or the tables need illumination the most.
Depending on such specifications, you may decide to either customize the hanging of the pendant or centralize it. The position of the hanging pendant light must also focus on the areas within the kitchen that are the darkest. Sometimes a centralized pendant light may not provide adequate lighting to all areas within the kitchen.
It would help if you were more observant to ensure that you establish the right positioning for the pendant lights. Depending on the size of the island, you may install one central light, then customize the others depending on those unique dynamics.
2. Spacing
Before deciding on where to place the pendant light, you need to consider the aspect of spacing. The first question ought to be the number of pendant lights you intend to have in your kitchen. If you’re lighting a short island, let’s say in the range of 6′ to 7′ wide, then two pendants would do.
It would be best if you placed the pendants at least 30″ apart. The equidistant should be well-considered from the center to ensure that the lighting is well distributed. To be sure, ensure that the widest part of the pendant is about 30′ from the islands’ center.
The general rule of thumb when it comes to spacing is that you should measure the width of the island first. Then less 12′ to identify the maximum width that a pendant light should hang. Ensure that you can at least have 6′ on each edge of the counter vis-à-vis the broadest part of the pendant.
But if you’re considering an island with a large surface area, more than two pendants would do. Ensure that you place one pendant right at the center of the island. You can then use this pendant to align the rest based on a 30” gap with at least 6” from the edge of the island.
For multiple pendants, you may consider having them 24″ apart by using one central pendant at the center to guide you. You may then space the other pendants depending on the ratio of the diameter vis-à-vis the width of the island.
3. When Setting up Pendant Light Consider the Hanging Length
There’s more to a pendant light than just the positioning. It would help if you also considered the hanging length to ensure maximum lighting. Generally, pendants ought to hang at about 12-20 inches below an 8-foot ceiling. 8 –foot ceilings make the average height in most homes.
But depending on the unique height considerations in your kitchen, this hanging length may be more or less. It would be best if you considered each additional foot of ceiling by adding 3 inches to ensure maximum lighting. For instance, if your roof is 9-foot from the ground, your first pendant light should be centered and hanging at 15-23 inches above.
You need to consider around 30-to-36 inches above all the other objects such as tables and countertops in the kitchen. If your pendant’s main objective is task lighting, then you need to be very specific about the height. You may need to consider dimmers and switches that help you adjust the extent of light in the kitchen, depending on the length of the hanging pendant.
4. Consider the Size of the Pendant Light
Before deciding on how and where to hang the pendant light, you should consider the size of the pendant. Pendant lights come with varying globe sizes. You need to consider the positioning of the pendant light in line with factors such as the globe size.
If you intend to light up a compact countertop, you can have a shorter hanging length with a small-sized pendant bulb. But if you have such small-globes, and you need to light a large surface area on the island, you may need to pay attention to the spacing to ensure maximum lighting.
However, if you have large-globe pendant lights, they may work well for general lighting. You can consider bigger pendant lights for center lighting, then utilize smaller pendant lights for corners or particular areas. Pendant lights truly have a unique role in the kitchen.
5. Other Factors to Consider
Before concluding on the specific positioning of the pendant light in your kitchen, you need to consider other factors. For instance, is there any other form of lighting in the room? If your kitchen has an intermediate source of light, then it means that the pendant lights are not the primary source of light.
In such cases, you may place the pendant light in numerous other locations depending on your preferences. Further, if you are planning to set up the pendant light for task lighting, then you may need to determine the focal point of your specific task.
Lighting Changes Everything in Your Kitchen
You may have the best setting in your kitchen, yet end up with a rather dull room. The secret is in finding the right balance for your kitchen’s lighting needs. So before settling on that perfect spot, consider these tips on how to hang a pendant light, and you won’t be disappointed.
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