How High To Hang Kitchen Pendant Lights

There's never a dull moment when Carson Kressley and Thom Filicia are in the house!

The duo behind "Get a Room with Carson & Thom" stopped by our show to help a few in-studio audience members with their decorating and design dilemmas — and because the pair is always up for some fun, we put our own little *spin* on the traditional Q&A format with a game of virtual room roulette!

First up on the wheel? The kitchen!

Robyn, a studio audience member from New Jersey, has a kitchen-related question for Carson and Thom. She recently moved into a new house, and she wants to put pendant lights over her kitchen island — but she isn't sure of how far down they should hang. Here's what the space looks like now:

Robyn Cohn

So, what do Carson and Thom think?

As a general rule, pendant lights should hang between 30 and 36 inches from a countertop or island, according to Thom.

Your height and the height of your ceiling should be taken into consideration as well, he explains, because you want to be able to see across the counter without the light being in your way.

For a room that is less than 9 feet high (Robyn's kitchen is a standard height of about 8 feet), Thom suggests using a flush mount rather than a pendant light.

A flush mount is a fixture that sits close to the ceiling, which helps bring the eye up rather than down, making the ceiling appear higher.

Another option is a semi-flush mount, like Carson has in his own kitchen. Look how great these look!

Carson Kressley

In Robyn's case, "I would stay away from the actual pendant fixture," Thom says, "because I think it's going to hang too low."

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