Kitchen Lighting - For Mood And Purpose

As in other rooms in the home, good lighting is essential for a successful kitchen. Properly thought out kitchen lighting not only makes a kitchen a safer place to be, but a more eye-catching one too.

When considering kitchen lights; first think about the windows. If they’re south facing then you should be receiving more natural sunlight. So although the light fixtures will have more time off, you’ll still need enough to cope after sunset.

Next, check out your ceiling height. If high then you’ll need brighter lamps than if you’re ceiling is low (more airspace to fill with light).

Think about your kitchen’s color scheme. Kitchen cabinets, floor and wall coverings, countertops and everything else either reflect or absorb light. So if you have lighter colors (especially with shiny surfaces) you’ll need less light from lamps than if you’ve chosen darker colors.

Turning On The Lights

Recessed wall or ceiling lights, pendulum ceiling lights, adjustable spotlights and candelabras can all look attractive in the kitchen.

General (ambient) lighting will help to define the mood of the kitchen and add shape and structure to the dimensions of the room. Accent lighting can highlight favorite displays, and decorative lighting will add charm.

Whilst task lighting will need to be brighter and better directed to where you need it like the stove and countertop for example. But remember to shield your eyes from glare, and to not position fixtures badly to be caught out by shadows.

Halogen lamps are good for bright task lighting, but can overheat without proper shielding.

Incandescent bulbs can deal with all four needs, complement color and give off “warm tones” too, but are not that energy efficient.

Fluorescent lamps last much longer than incandescent bulbs do, but can give “colder” glaring light that is not comfortable. Though cloud lighting is more diffuse form of fluorescent and pleasing to the eye.