Lighting a sloping ceiling - how did you?

[Gentleness]

We'll have one in about a month, we hope, all being well with the builder...

It is the dining end of a kitchen, quite narrow at only 2.4m and 3m long. In that area there'll be double doors, a side window and maybe a velux too. The kitchen is white gloss, wood-look floor and fresh warm colours.

I love this rise&fall pendant - very lovely

but the builder would prefer to put in something like this strip of spots bit boringwhich is what we'll have in the kitchen part of the room.

I'm not sure if one 60W bulb will be enough in a pendant light... but we could have an extra lamp in there if need be. The lights will be on dimmer switches so the spots could still give soft atmosphere (I think).

What did you do or would you do?

Thanks for that but the builder and costs have already vetoed that idea...

I did want LEDs but am getting that with some under cupboard light instead - seems to be all compromise!

We have a long and narrow kitchen with open sloping ceiling. I went for the spots on wire track. Example www.thelightingsuperstore.co.uk/category.asp?catcode=83

LEDs dont provide enough light (wattage) - only suitable for background hence ok on cupboards. One pendant wont be enough, I would rec 2 or even three looks better as 3s look better with lower wattage on bulb. You have to watch out for blank spots ie when working at workstation the area doesnt get light. These shades dont spread the light very well so be careful when deciding.

The reason the builder rec those strips is because they provide good light.

Yeah - I think my dream of lovely retro pendant was a bit of castle in the air. Bacon why did you go for the wire track above a fixed strip?

We have an antique rise and fall plus spots.The pendant doesn't actually produce much light but does add atmosphere and looks nice above the table.The spotlights are essential for brightness but don't look nice!.Can you not go for spots that are as unobtrusive as possible ie.on a fine wire mount so are less noticable [ and choose longlasting ones].

Got this off a site which may be useful:
Firstly, measure the size of the room in square metres (e.g. 4m x 3m = 12 sq meters) and multiply this by 25 for incandescent, 15 for halogen, or 19 for energy saving bulbs. This will give you the total wattage needed to light your room.

This formula is just a guide, it is always wise to over-estimate by 10-15% and put your fittings on a dimmer (although this cannot be done on most energy saving bulbs).

aviatrix yes lumen is what I was trying to get out (blank mind this morning). LEDs as general lighting has only just come on the market as I was searching for them a couple of years ago and no one was offering standard lighting, max 50W which is adequate but the individual lights are expensive. In my living room i went for floucesant flush spots which are dimmable. But not sure if I like the light its quiet harsh. The bulbs are about £10 each but very efficient. The LED globe bulbs for an equilevant bayonet is a wopping £34 and they look huge (not yet compact). I would wait for the technology to make them smaller - like the compact floucesants.

Gentleness The wire system looks cool and you can move these lights around. I am actually going to replace the one Ive got to a better system www.lampslighting.co.uk/lighting/Interior-Display/Wire-Systems/. Because my home (which we dont live in as still renovating) is a mix of medievel and modern it sort of worked. I'm not sure but I think you can add more lights as our room is over 5m long and there isnt enough light coming from the 5 spots on there. You can mix and match and thought over the kitchen table I could have something more funky.