Pendant Lighting

Pendant lighting is trending these day. It serves dual purpose, offering light in a much needed area, and changing the design look of the space. Pendant lights come in all sort of colors, finishes, styles, and lengths.

As an Interior Decorator, I often get asked these two questions; how many will I need? And how big should they be? Good questions!! As with anything in design, there are guidelines. 

How big requires a little bit of math:
Generally speaking you want 12"-16" from the end of the island. Most common is 12". Lets say you have a kitchen island that is 120" and you want 4 lights. With 4 pendants, you will have 5 open spaces, one on each end, and 3 in the middle (one between each pendant). Using 12" x 5 (open spaces) = 60".  Subtract that from 120" and you are left with 60". Divide 60" by the number of pendants (4 pendants) and you are left with 15". This will be the diameter for you fixture. Can you figure out what the diameter would be if you were using 3 pendants? (Hint 24")

How many?
The Rule of 3. In the design world, odd numbers seem to work the best. That being said, rules are made to be broken. In the example I gave above, I use 4 pendants. Why? Because the island is very long, and can handle 4 pendants. Just keep this in mind, if you're going with less, use slightly larger pendants. If you're using more, use slightly smaller pendants. Above all, scale matters!!

deceits.com

myaustinelite.com

Last but not lest, what height should I hang my pendants? They should hang 36" to 48" from the top of the counter. Be considerate of sight lines. You don't want the pendant to obstruct anyone views, nor do you want them to hit their heads!!

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Granite or Quartz? Not Sure?

Granite Vs Quartz: Which is better? We all know that granite has been all the rage for kitchens and bathrooms for some time now. But I see quartz gaining momentum and even surpassing granite. As a Interior Decorator as well as a Home Stager, I try to keep current of what's hots and what's not. And lately, I've notice a trend towards quartz. And with good reason, here why:

1. There is no need to seal quartz, you do have to seal granite (unless engineered) every year.
2. Quartz is less porous then granite, making it more resisted to bacteria.
3. Quartz, although a natural stone, it is mixed with polymers resin, making it the best of both worlds, manmade and natural.
4. Granite, unless engineered gives off gasses called radon, which has been linked to lung cancer.
5. Granite has veins which can crack or chip. Quartz does not.
6. Quartz comes in many different colors.
7. Nothing beats the look of granite natural patterns.

According to the countertop industry trends, there has been a shift from granite to quartz. As a matter of fact, quartz has seen of growth of 13% as oppose to granite 5%. More and more designers and architects are choosing quartz over granite.

So what is quartz? Quartz is a silicone dioxide and forms individual crystals, patterns and colors. Quartz is then manufactured with a mixture of 93% quartz and 7% pigments and resin. The ratio can be change, the lower the quartz material, the lower the price and quality.

Falls of the Ohio State Park

Granite for all its beauty, has flaws. Engineer granite has the flaws engineered out, just like quartz.  Quartz seems to be the better choice, unless it's engineered granite. In which case, they became equal.

National Park service

Which ever you chose, you can't really go wrong. It's just a matter of preference.

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