Pendant Lights

Kitchen Pendant Lights

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The spacious kitchen in this home is separated from the family room by a Corian-topped counter.

The counter is at an ideal height for bar stools. It can be used as a casual Bistro-style breakfast or snack area, but the lighting is limited in the kitchen and leaves the counter dark and unadorned.

We decided to install three pendant lights above the counter. We looked for quite some time for the ideal style in stores and online.

Track lighting was not selected so that the lights would look more as if they were built-in to the home.

To the left is the final result. The pendant lights make a dramatic difference in the appearance and the added illumination is quite functional.

At first, a more expensive set of three lights were chosen. Later they were exchanged for the ones that actually cost very little and yet fit better in the space. The lights are marketed in the United States by Effetre USA.

The three pendants are wired together and to a dimmer switch called Maestro by Lutron. The switch turns the lights on and off with a smooth off-to-dim transition effect.

To install the dimmer switch and hang the lights, I first referred to photographs I took of the kitchen at stud stage. The dimmer switch had to be easy to reach within the kitchen and from the opposite side of the counter. It also had to be near an existing electrical source to tap power.

The location I chose met all the criteria. From the stud-stage photos, I knew that there would not be an obstruction between the switch and the existing power outlet to the right of it.

The stud-stage photos also helped me to plan the placement of the lights so that I could mount the pan mounting boxes directly to studs.

I was able to link the lights together through the 4" diameter holes I drilled for the pan outlet boxes, but I had to drop new wire (Romex by Southwire Company) through the wall from the attic to reach the new switch.

There were only about three problems I ran into with this installation. The first is that the drill got away from me a little when boring one of the 4-inch holes in the ceiling for the pan mounting box. This was easily repaired, however, using Patch-N-Paint Lightweight Spackling by Custom Building Products.

The second problem was locating the point in the attic where I had to drill through the top of the wall. The attic is covered by blow-in insulation, so it is not as easy as it might sound. This solution for us amateur fix-it guys is to have patience and work it through. To make the job a little easier, I mounted the lights first so I could see where they were in the attic and navigate to the wall from that location. I also pointed a flashlight into the hole I made for the Maestro wall switch. Once, I drilled through the top of the wall in the attic, I could easily see I found the correct location by observing the bright light shining through the wall below.

The third problem was that I one of the tiny plastic screws that should be provided with the pendant lights was missing. Rather than return the fixture, I did some homework on the Internet and sent an email to the company that markets the lights in the United States. Within days, they sent me a small bag of replacement screws at no charge.

From start to finish, the project took this rookie handyman about two days to complete. As with most projects, it was more time consuming than it was difficult. Oh, by the way, I DID make sure that I turned off the power to the outlet before bridging a Romex connection to it.

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