My Kitchen Reno Lighting Picks + Favorite Island Pendants!

We’re about halfway through our kitchen remodel, having wrapped up most of the not-so-fun stuff (demo, electrical re-wiring, drywall work, etc.) and starting to put it all back together! Our cabinets were installed last week, and the templating for our countertops was done. Before long, we’ll be tiling, installing appliances, and adding shelving and lighting.

Our new kitchen will have a very different layout than it did previously, so I needed to create an entirely new lighting plan. We’ll have a pair of sconces over the open shelving flanking our range, a pair of sconces over our coffee bar, a chandelier/pendant over our kitchen table, and a pair of kitchen island pendants. I considered several different styles of kitchen island pendants before deciding on mine, so decided to share my favorites I found in my search to help those of you who are on the hunt for new kitchen lighting too! (post includes commissionable links; for more information, see my full disclosure statement {here})

Saucer Shaped Pendants

I’ll start with my favorite saucer shaped pendants, which are a very on-trend style of kitchen island pendant lighting. They have a more modern, streamlined feel, as you can see in this kitchen with {these steel shade pendants} with brass downrods:

and in this beautiful kitchen with {these similar opal finish shade pendants}:

Obviously, choosing the right lightbulbs for this type of pendant is key to pulling off the look! Any of these pendants would be beautiful additions to a kitchen:

Source Links: 1. Matte white pendant | 2. Transitional style pendant | 3. Farmhouse metal pole pendant | 4. Matte white disc pendant | 5. Gold disc pendant | 6. Budget-friendly disc pendant | 7. Glass disc pendant | 8. Opal glass shade disc pendant | 9. Knurled brass disc pendant |

Cone Shaped Pendants

Cone shaped pendants have been popular for kitchen island lighting for quite some time, but now we’re seeing them in a wider range of sizes. While larger cone shaped pendants such as {these black linen pendants} with a drum design are still a beautiful option,

smaller cone pendants like {these leather wrapped cone pendants} are trending:

These are some of my favorites I found in my search:

Source Links: 1. 20″ U-shaped hook pendant (also available in 12″ {here}) | 2. Punched outline cone pendant | 3. Classic cone pendant | 4. Rope wrapped pendant | 5. Rod style cone pendant | 6. Glass cone pendant | 7. Milk glass cone pendant | 8. Black cord cone pendant (also available in 24″ size {here})

Woven Pendants

Our kitchen will have a coastal style, so I dove deep into all of the woven pendant options for kitchen island lighting. There are some beauties! {These scalloped edge woven pendants} would be perfect in a kitchen with lower ceilings because they take up very little visual space:

These are other favorites I found in my search:

Source Links: 1. Woven bell pendant | 2. Scalloped rattan pendant | 3. Shallow scalloped rattan pendant | 4. Woven cone pendant | 5. Woven funnel shaped pendant | 6. Dome shaped pendant | 7. Woven cone pendant with brass accents | 8. Shallow cone pendant with aged brass accents | 9. Round rattan pendant | 10. Curved bell woven pendant | 11. Scalloped edge bowl-shaped pendant

Lantern Pendants

And last but not least, let’s talk lantern pendants! When we remodeled the kitchen in our last home, I chose a pair of {these lantern pendants} in the small size for above our island. They’re classics that work well with a wide variety of styles:

These lantern pendants also caught my eye:

Source Links: 1. Lantern pendant in our last kitchen | 2. Boxy rattan lantern pendant | 3. Rattan wrapped lantern pendant | 4. White and gold lantern pendant | 5. Basic lantern pendant | 6. Curvy lantern pendant | 7. Wood spindle lantern pendant | 8. Curved top lantern pendant

Our Kitchen Lighting

So what kitchen lighting did I decide on? Since this isn’t our forever home, my decision-making was definitely influenced by my budget. Many of my favorite lights are $$$ and I don’t think I’d get my money out of them with resale. So I’m reusing one of the two kitchen pendants I already had and I chose budget-friendly finds for most of the rest.

As a reminder of the lighting we had in our kitchen before remodeling, over our kitchen island was {this pendant} with a linen shade and brass accents. It was the perfect size for our square-ish island but would be a bit too wide for my new longer, narrower island so it won’t be making a reappearance in our new kitchen:

Over our kitchen table, we had {this large rattan pendant} that I love, but since we’ll now have two pendants over our kitchen island, I wanted to mix things up and add a chandelier here instead. Having something a little wider will also better fill the visual space of this nook:

The rest of our kitchen lighting includes {this pair of brass sconces with matte white shades} (a great budget-friendly find!) for over the open shelves flanking our kitchen range, and a pair of {these brass + rattan sconces with white taper shades} for over our coffee bar. While they vary in style, they all have matte white, brass, and/or rattan materials that tie the look together:

Stay tuned for more kitchen reno pics! Once we get the countertops installed, it will start coming together quickly. We are SO ready to have that space back!

Thanks as always for stopping by! If you’re got a kitchen remodel in your future, other posts you might want to check out include my favorite kitchen remodel ideas and the kitchen remodel before and after from our previous home. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

XO,