Kitchen is the heart of every home. People spend most of their waking hours there to cook a meal. Family members, friends, and relatives have their informal meal. Also, you and others indulge in discussions over a cup of coffee or tea. Kitchen Lighting plays an important role in making your guests feel welcome. A well-lit kitchen is not an indulgence but a necessity these days. Today, there are options for lighting your kitchen to invite all guests to enjoy with you. Here are the 7 kitchen lighting tips to glam up a simple kitchen.
{ 1 } Layer Your Lights – Ceiling, Cabinets, And Island
Layering Of Lights Under Cabinets, Over Island, And Recessed In Ceilings By Kitchen Solvers
Layer lights are meant for lighting ambiance, task, and accent. Here three-layered lights have been utilized for the purpose. The ambiance lighting is from using lights attached to the ceiling. The illumination is warm and inviting providing adequate lighting for the entire kitchen. Observe there are no windows or other light sources. The task layer has lighting facilities under cabinets on countertops used for various reasons. These include preparing foods before and after cooking. These lights do not make you blind by shining directly on you. The third layer or accent light hangs from the ceiling over the island. These lights comprise of 3 silver colored lampshades. Accent light illuminates providing sufficient light on the island to enjoy an informal meal.
{ 2 } Select The Right Size Of Lights
Lights That Are Proportional To The Kitchen Design By Facings Of America, Inc
Space around and between lighting fixtures should be considered before selecting the right sized light. This is mostly on the kitchen island. It is recommended that you use an even number of large pendants over the kitchen island. Each should be 1/3 of the width of the surface below. Same for two fixtures each of these should have 1/3 width of the table. Experts advise you to hang mini/medium sized pendants. These should be 66″-72″ off the floor to the bottom of each fixture. Here, there are 3 pendants used in 3 holders hanging from the ceiling. The lamp shade is transparent glass held by a silver circular ring hanging with a chain from the ceiling. Another identical fixture is hanging adjacent to this. Both are above the kitchen island.
{ 3 } Consider Toekick Lights Under Cabinets
Toekick Light Under Cabinets And Island Counters For Illumination By Slightly Quirky Ltd.
You can install toe-kick lights under the cabinets from a wide range of LEDs offering several desirable options. However, it is essential to consider the shape, color temperature, and brightness of the kitchen. Toe kicks allow you to install LEDs in a confined space with extreme precision. The LEDs bulbs should not be over 2 inches between each other. LEDs’ color temperature is measured in Kelvin scale. Warm LEDs have lower Kelvin scale compared to cool and crisp LEDs. Lumens is the unit for measuring the brightness of LEDs. According to experts, it is best not to use bright LEDs since the concept is still new. Here, the kitchen has LEDs in the ceiling providing ambient light. Another source of light in the kitchen is the toe kick lights from under the cabinets.
{ 4 } Dimmers And Other Kitchen Lighting Controls
Set The Right Mood With Dimmers And Other Controls By The Kitchen Studio of Glen Ellyn
Fixtures use various technologies for voltage, low voltage magnetic, low voltage electronic, 0-10V LED, and fluorescent power supplies. All bulbs are neither dimmable nor are all dimmers capable of dimming all bulbs. Before purchasing, ensure the dimmer is most suitable for your needs of diming the load. Dimmers help in creating a warm atmosphere and lowers use of energy. Thereby, reduces the electric bills. Several light fixtures have integrated LED light sources. Before purchasing the product, you must check the compatibility of the fixtures dimmable. The designers most probably used a shaded lamp with a regular tungsten bulb. You can easily control the lights and dim or brighten them as needed.
{ 5 } Consider Height When Hanging Lights
You can use a pendant light with dimmer switch for illuminating for various purposes and moods. While selecting the task lighting, choose a pendant that does not provide you with harsh lighting. Above the kitchen island, it is best to select a cluster of pendant lights. The pendants should hang 12-20″ below an 8feet ceiling. For every additional foot of ceiling, add 3 inches. Hence, for a 9 feet ceiling, you need to hang 15-23″ below. The pendant height measured from the surface below the light should be at least 36″ clear above the tabletops and countertops. Here, there are three pendants lung using three cylindrical lamp shades providing light over the kitchen island. The distance between countertops and base of the cylindrical lamp shades is clearly over the required 36″. The designers carefully considered the height of the ceiling hanging lights from the kitchen island.
{ 6 } Highlight Key Features With Accent Lighting
Cabinet Lighting Highlight Key Features Of The Kitchen By Barbra Bright Design
A highly concentrated light focusing on a particular point of interest is accent lighting. Accent lighting adds style and drama to your home. You can display what you want and overshadow dull areas. Highlight key features with accent lighting enable people to show special artwork, painting or photograph. Also, people show importance to the bookcase, furniture, collections, and architectures. During Christmas and Halloween, people use accent lighting to highlight the architecture of home and backyard. Art galleries, museums, and historical buildings commonly use accent lights to put focus on pictures,etc. You can use wall lights for designing accent lighting. These are available in various sizes allowing you to highlight different art pieces. Here, highlight key features with accent lighting display the dishes stacked within the transparent cabinets.
{ 7 } Choose The Right Style For Uniform Look
Lights for the ambient ceiling are white good for all types of tasks and work environment. The lampshades hanging from the ceiling above the kitchen island is matching the wooden furniture. Modern color temperatures measured in Kelvin or K has been used here. The bottom end (1800 Kelvin/1800K) denotes for red-orange light of candle/match. Above 15000K light color is sky blue. White light is around 3500K. It is advisable to use white light in areas meant for reading and business. Kitchen, bathrooms, garage, and office can have white lights. While other rooms – living, dining, hallways, and bedrooms can have yellow or orange lights. Modern technologies allow you to change the color temperature using apps – concentrate, energize, relax and read. For example, while the children are doing homework, select ‘concentrate’ (4300K) and while they play, select ‘relax’ (2100K).
