Why is kitchen lighting so important?
Of course, a well-lit kitchen is essential for preparing food safely. However, there’s much more to kitchen lighting than simply ensuring you can see what you’re doing. A beautiful, layered lighting scheme can help establish a warm and cosy ambience, perfect for those wet winter days and evenings spent celebrating with friends. The modern kitchen is often the heart of the home. And as a backdrop to a variety of different activities, from doing homework to relaxing with a glass of wine, incorporating a versatile lighting scheme into your kitchen design is a great way to elevate your interior and get more from your space.
How do you plan the best kitchen lighting scheme?
To create an effective kitchen lighting scheme, you’ll need to ensure the areas where you need good visibility are brightly lit. You’ll also want the option to dim your lighting and achieve a cosy feel with multiple smaller pockets of light. Lighting can also emphasise your favourite kitchen features like an island, a shelving unit, or a seating area. We recommend planning your lighting scheme alongside your kitchen design to prevent missed opportunities and ensure the two work together.
What types of kitchen lighting should you consider?
Recessed downlights are one of the most popular types of kitchen lighting. They offer a sleek and unobtrusive solution to illuminating your whole room. Track lights/spotlights also make an excellent functional choice. However, just because your kitchen is, in many ways, a practical space, it doesn’t mean you can’t get creative with a range of other stylish lighting features. Eye-catching pendant lights make a great addition to any kitchen. You might also want to consider wall lights, under-cabinet lights, over-cabinet lights, plinth lights, handle trim lights, shelving lights, internal cabinet lights, freestanding lamps, or even a chandelier!
These lighting options fall into three functional categories; ambient lighting, task lighting, and accent lighting. Introducing a combination of all three types to your kitchen should leave you with a practical and versatile lighting scheme.
Ambient lighting- Ambient lighting should illuminate your whole room clearly, supplementing natural daylight. Downlights, spotlights, and some pendant lights are all types of ambient lighting.
Task lighting– Task lighting is designed to ensure you can see clearly to carry out a task such as chopping veg, reading a recipe, or finding ingredients. Under-cabinet lights, internal cabinet lights, wall lights and pendant lights can all serve this purpose. However, they can also double up as accent lighting.
Accent lighting– Accent lighting is all about adding to the look and feel of your space. With accent lighting, both the style of the light fitting itself and the light it casts can enhance your interior. Accent lights include pendant lights, chandeliers, wall lights, plinth lights, over-cabinet lights and more.
What temperature kitchen lighting should you choose?
When planning your kitchen lighting, you’ll need to decide what temperature bulbs to use. Most LED bulbs range from 2000k-3000k (warm white) and 3100k-4000k (cool white). Warmer lighting can accentuate earthy tones and natural wood finishes, creating a cosy feel. Whereas cooler, white bulbs will make blues, greens, greys, and whites pop, establishing a crisp, contemporary ambience. Bulbs rated around 3000k-3500k will give a fairly neutral finish.
Make sure you put your lights on different circuits.
Installing ambient/ceiling lights on one circuit and accent lights on another is key to ensuring your kitchen lighting offers the desired flexibility. This means you can turn each set of lights on/off depending on the mood you want to create. You may also want to consider opting for dimmable lighting.
Kitchen Lighting Ideas
Here are some beautiful and practical kitchen lighting ideas to help give you some inspiration…
Chic Black Pendant Lights
These sophisticated black pendant lights look simply stunning in this dramatic contemporary kitchen. They emphasise the island, drawing attention to the seating area while adding a stylish edge to the overall design. Pendant lights like this work well in even numbers.
Quirky Vintage Pendant Lights
Your chosen light fixtures can bring a whole new dimension to your design. These industrial-style vintage pendant lights put a cool modern twist on this classic shaker kitchen. They also help improve visibility around the sink and worktop.
Sleek Illuminated Cabinetry
A combination of cleverly positioned downlights and sleek handle recess lights beautifully accentuate the showstopping cabinetry in this stylish Hull kitchen. Situated just above the front of the units, the subtle downlights highlight their beautiful textural surface and flawless built-in finish. The elegant handle recess lights add to the streamlined architectural look.
Gorgeous Glowing Display Shelves
Gorgeous glowing integrated lighting makes the perfect addition to the stunning oak shelving niches in the kitchen below. The warm lighting really enhances the luxurious natural wood finish, creating a bold and characterful contrast against the minimal white cabinetry. The stylish gold pendant and shelving lights introduce a wonderful warmth and elegance to this pared-back interior.
Flood Your Kitchen With Natural Light
When it comes to creating a bright, airy, and inviting atmosphere, you can’t beat natural light. If you have the option, it’s well worth considering increasing the amount of natural light entering your space. You can do this by installing large glass doors, roof lights, or bigger windows.
As well as ensuring your kitchen is practical to use, a carefully considered lighting scheme can completely transform the look and feel of your space. Your choice of light fittings offer the potential to emphasise your favourite features, set a sophisticated ambience, and reflect your personality. If you would like more advice on creating a stylish and versatile lighting scheme, our knowledgeable designers would be happy to help. You can call us on 01422 747 980 or email [email protected].