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I agree. I'd put the lights over the cooking/work area. It seems more important to see what you're doing in the kitchen. The breakfast bar area should still get enough light.

Is there any way you could hang them right between the two?--it could help delineate the space more. If it's an either-or I would definitely pick the workspace though.

I'd say if it's possible, the best approach would be 4" can lights above the work area, and the pendants above the bar area as accent lighting. But if a second circuit and the can lights aren't possible, the lighting should be over the work area as task lighting.

I'm with LJ on this one.

It'd be well worth paying your electrician a small (in perspective) extra amount if necessary for a second circuit for the pendants. The look is really nice in addition to the good use of light, and will probably help if you ever sell your place.

One caveat on 4" can lights though.

You didn't say if this is new construction or a re-model.

I'm remodeling my living room to add can lights along one wall to highlight some drapes and above-the-fireplace art.

What I learned is that there are no 4" cans that are insulation rated in a "remodel housing".

So if the ceiling is insulated you either have to budget for the replacement of most of the sheetrock to use IC rated (insulation contact) rough-in cans, or use bigger cans - 5" and 6" cans both come in remodel housings for insulated ceilings.

My ceiling is both insulated and sloped, and I had to spend days looking for cans that would work. That's how I learned this trivia...not my idea of fun but hopefully it'll help you save some time.

To give you an idea of cost, the quote I got was for 4-6 hours of labor @ $90 an hour (Washington state). The ceiling and wall will need to have additional sheetrock patching (and re-painting) afterwards to repair the holes from snaking the wires if there is no attic access.

In my case I was forced to use 6" cans from www.lightinguniverse.com because those were the only ones I could find that had the right ratings - with trim, they cost just over $300 including tax and shipping for 4 units.

Making the total project somewhere around a grand.

So while pot-lights as Candice Olson likes to callm them are great, be sure to budget for them because they're not cheap - if you go with low voltage cans, expect to pay around $600 for the cans and trim.

Post a picture when you're done!

Not over the cooking area! I did it once and they got messy with grease and splashes which then reflected down in weird patterns and made the cooking area look marked. Not a good idea, better to install an extractor with a light fitted in.
From one who knows from bitter experience

Thanks all --

Carol, question poster, here. The comment provided by Di got me thinking about how low should pendant lighting be from work surfaces (or from bar area, which is a higher elevation?) Is there a standard hanging distance?

I would definitely put the lights over your work area...you need the light to see what you're cooking, not what you're eating. Good luck!

I have a very similar question that I would love to get some feedback on- I have the same layout as above and just installed recessed lights on each side of the stove. The stove is not completely centered on the island, though (thus, neither are the lights). Now I am looking to install 2 pendant lights above the breakfast bar- Would you suggest having them centered evenly above the breakfast bar, or lined up evenly with the recessed lights? I am not sure which way would look worse. Any thoughts would be much appreciated!

Buy one more pendant. Three always looks better than two. There's actually a design rule I read about this somewhere. I think it might be related to the "golden mean" but I'm not sure (the eye naturally breaks things up in thirds, and that's a huge part of good art composition).

Anyway if you look at professionally designed spaces, they always use three or more, and almost always odd numbers.

This is not a simple answer. It depends on what your general light is. For task lighting, it depends on your ceiling height, whether you are doing recessed or pendants and what your budget is.

Pendant height is dependent on ceiling height and size of the item, and always make sure that it's hung so that if you get up and down from a chair you dont hit your head on it.

Best case scenario: 2 3/4 low voltage recessed placed on either side of the work area. These should be placed over the counter ledge. The light will spread to cover the whole area.

You may or may not need to light the counter area, depending on whether general overhead is present.

There are no clear cut answers for lighting.
AbbeyK
www.AbbeyK.com
www.OnInteriorDesign.com