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!!

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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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At Abella Home Staging & Redesign, we believe any home can be beautifully transformed. We believe in delivering a custom-made look, but without the custom-made price tag!! Call us and let's get started today!!

Revamping your Old Kitchen Cabinets

Revamping your old kitchen cabinets isn't as difficult as you may think. As a decorator and home stager, I get asked this question a lot, "What can I do to update my kitchen, without spending a lot of money?" There are a few solution that you can do to update your kitchen, without the heavy expense of remodeling.

The easiest and by far least expensive, is to paint them!

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Add beadboard to flat paneled door. Then paint it.

 

The Creative Crate

Remember these cabinets? Very trendy in the eighties, but so outdated now!! Using 2" wood strip, it completely changed the look of the cabinets!! Loved how they turned out.

Little Lessy

Don't want to spend money on beadboard? Use paintable beadboard wallpaper. Easier to cut, same great effect!!

Sand & Sisal

Use half-round decorative molding to achieve this look. Then paint it any color you want!!

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As you can see, there are many ways to update the look of your kitchen cabinets, without blowing the budget. Takes a little time, but the results are simply amazing!! And with all the money you just saved, you can splurge on the backsplash or counter, maybe even both!! For more information on these projects, check out Pinterest.

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