Kitchen Remodel Choosing Lighting
Kitchen island lights are a big statement maker! See what options I considered and why I chose what I did.
Yes, kitchen island lights are so important in kitchen design.
In an open concept home, choosing the kitchen lighting gets a lot more difficult.
Sharing my struggles and final plan for lighting.
It’s week 7 of the One Room Challenge and next week is the BIG REVEAL!
WEEK 1 | WEEK 2 | WEEK 3 | WEEK 4 | WEEK 5 | WEEK 6
Choosing Kitchen Lighting
There are SO many new lighting options on the market making it really hard to decide what to choose.
Last year I wrote a whole post about the Predicting 2020 Lighting Trends and Finishes
As a refresher, I re-read that post to get some ideas for my own kitchen 🙂
The trends that resonated with me the most were the silver leaf finishes and the light ethereal feel.
Shown here…
It felt like the perfect fit with the new backsplash tile that has a little silver and pearl shimmer to it.
Plus it has that “light ethereal feel” too!
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The main change I wanted to see was installing something that was more open in feel.
Having two large white pendant shades covered up some of the view into the kitchen.
Now that the cabinets are a crisp white the shades were going to be too much white on white.
One thing I did want to maintain is the large size diameter, since the kitchen island is 8′ x 5′.
The current pendant lights are 24″ in diameter, so I knew that was the largest I could go.
If you want to know how to decide the right size for your kitchen, read Demystifying Kitchen Island Pendant Light Size and Height.
They were an upgrade from the original 10″ pendants installed 10 years ago (shown below).
Then there is the trend of the boxy lantern lights and the all glass pendants.
But everyone has those don’t they?
Time to look for something different!
Open Concept Concerns
After hunting through 100’s of lighting options, the final decision was greatly influenced by the other lighting in the adjacent rooms.
Over time, I’ve developed a modern French Country style downstairs so I had to keep that in mind.
Guess what? After falling in love with lights for the kitchen, I ended up changing the light fixture in the family room!
The former lighting in the family room was too similar to what I had chosen for over the kitchen island.
Plus the family room lighting was looking outdated, with all of the other updates I made to the downstairs.
First, I’ll show you the new family room light (surprise!).
It’s oh so French and is finished in a beautiful gray wash that worked with all of the other colors in the space.
I also decided to slipcover the chairs in the sitting area, which splits the family room and kitchen (another surprise!).
The new fabric is SO much more interesting than just having off-white chairs.
Now the blues and beautiful warm tones are in the center of the room.
You’ll have to wait for the reveal to see the full view 🙂
Kitchen Pendant Lights
Now the Landree Pendants in Polished Nickel with Antique Silver Leaf are not a surprise if you’ve been following along this journey.
I’ve been sharing them since the beginning because they were a focal point of the kitchen facelift.
Plus they fit two of the major design trends for lighting this year AND they have a large footprint with an open design.
Another benefit is they look DIFFERENT than what I keep seeing on Instagram in kitchens.
Progress Lighting came to the rescue and donated the beautiful lights for this project!
They have been the most amazing brand partner to me and I am so grateful for their generosity.
Again you’ll have to wait for the final reveal to see them installed above the island.
They are a show stopper! Come back next week 🙂
One Room Challenge: Follow Along
Next week is our big reveal kick-off and there are going to be so many gorgeous rooms!
Please visit the One Room Challenge Blog to see all of the guest designer’s progress and the featured designers too!
Some of the rooms I am watching that you may want to too:
I’ll be sharing the One Room Challenge REVEAL next week via the blog and posting on social media too.
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Until next time…
Porch Daydreamer
Tracey