The kitchen is the beating heart of our home; it’s where we make meals, and everyone congregates to chat while cooking. Thus, installing sound types of kitchen lighting is vital. To achieve the required light in your kitchen, you should incorporate different brightnesses and shades through multiple lighting fixtures.
With so many options for kitchen lighting, it can be hard to choose which is suitable for your home. This article provides an overview of different types of kitchen lighting fixtures to help you make a decision.
Types of Kitchen Lighting
Kitchen with bright light
Though each plays a critical role in all aspects of lighting, it is beneficial to understand how each one works before making a decision.
Ambient Lighting
Most light in a room comes from ambient light. It distributes even lighting over and makes your kitchen bright. It is the general light that doesn’t require any assistance from other lighting sources. You can enhance ambient lighting with chandeliers, floor and table lamps, and led lighting.
Accent Lighting
These are the best for showing off your favorite corners of your kitchen. Apart from that, accent lighting makes your kitchen look big. You can choose to place an accent light anywhere around your kitchen. Remember, these types of lighting will also act similarly to the task or ambient lighting.
Task Lighting
Kitchen with task lighting
Task lighting gives enough light in areas you need the most to complement ambient lighting. Use under-cabinet lighting for the cabinets or desk lamps for working spaces. They are the best type of task lighting. They will give your kitchen more light, especially when performing everyday tasks.
Mood Lighting
It brings out the right mood and tone in updated kitchen lighting. You can use mood lighting in between the ceiling and cabinets. Additionally, you can use recessed lighting around that area, which will work perfectly.
Decorative Lighting
Not only does your kitchen lighting need to be functional, but it should also be stylish. Outdated or ugly light fixtures can make your entire kitchen look bad, even if they provide good illumination. You can get extra light by adding some decorative elements like string lights or lanterns.
Potential Kitchen Lighting Ideas
Kitchen with different lighting options
When choosing modern kitchen lighting ideas, it is good to install quality lighting. When you combine unique ideas, your kitchen spells uniqueness and brings harmony.
Here are some ideas we can try with our kitchens.
Multi Mixing Up Fixtures
You will notice that every kitchen corner needs different lighting. For instance, if it is a dark corner, it will require task lighting to make it functional. So, you will need to have mixing fixtures to bring out that unique look.
However, when mixing up, don’t forget to stick with the theme of your house, according to Design Director Tom Holy. He notes that everything should have harmony and be visually appealing.
Utilize Lighting to Highlight Texture and Add Depth.
You can opt to choose light fixtures that are close to the natural lighting sources around your kitchen. These are fantastic because they bring out texture and add depth. That makes your kitchen look more lively, mainly when you illuminate them.
Use Materials Good at Reflecting Light
Play around with materials that reflect light around your kitchen. These will help the light bounce and reflect enough light. You can be creative and use glass cabinet doors or use reflective materials in your glass kitchen lighting features. Make sure you utilize natural and artificial light for that fantastic look.
Incorporate Oversized Lighting
Kitchen with oversized lighting
Oversized lighting gives your kitchen that unique touch. You can install the lights from the ceiling and let them sit over your island. The essential factor is ensuring they sit nicely and are high to avoid interfering with your kitchen activities.
Match Your Lighting Fixtures to Your Furniture.
Consider fitting lighting fixtures that rhyme with the furniture in your kitchen. These can be shapes, thicknesses, patterns, or colors. The finishes can also be the same to give your kitchen that sophisticated feel.
Key Lighting Areas
The critical lighting areas for your kitchen include the following;
Ceiling
You can use ambient lighting for your ceiling. Recessed downlights are suitable for ambient lighting. You can choose to have the lights in the middle in a straight line over the counters to ensure there is even light distribution. Combine this with dimmers to bring out fantastic lighting options.
Over Kitchen Island
You can use task or ambient light to achieve good lighting over the island. The type of island determines what lighting option to adapt. If your island is for performing a task, you can consider having hanging lights. If it is the ambient hangout, use mini pendants.
Undercabinet Lighting
Kitchen with under-cabinet lighting
The ideal lighting for undercabinet lights is accents and tasks. The most common use lighting on these is strip lights and puck lights. The strip lights are suitable for the cabinet interior. You can also use LED Strips. The puck lights are excellent for illuminating light on the countertops. They are round and oval and form a pool of light.
Methods for Choosing the Best Lighting for Your Kitchen
Before settling on the best lighting, base your selection on your practical needs, design constraints, and style preferences. These will help you make the right choice.
Access your Kitchen Lighting Needs
How often you stay in your kitchen should guide this step. If you are a person who cooks and spends much in your kitchen, then you need to incorporate your taste and preferences. You can choose dim to bright lighting depending on how you love it.
If you have a dining space in your kitchen, go for multiple lighting. That is great since it helps create the right atmosphere no matter what activity you do in the kitchen.
Consider Style Preferences
Consider the finishes, floors, and furniture in your kitchen when looking for lighting options. Let the lighting go along with what you love.
Kitchen with different lighting styles
Design Constraints
You may want stylish lighting options, but the kitchen design limits you to a specific style.
For instance, it will be hard to stick to your style and preferences if you have the following.
- The kitchen ceiling height – you can have tall or low ceilings, which will determine whether you can use pendants or chandeliers.
- The size of the kitchen – consider how many lighting options you can have in your kitchen. If the kitchen space is small, then you will have some limitations.
- Aesthetic of the kitchen – this will determine how you can do lighting to your kitchen. For instance, lighting will differ if you have dark or bright cabinets or walls.
- Natural light – the kitchen lighting will entirely rely on the direction from which the natural light comes into the kitchen. In this case, most of the determinant factors are the windows’ size and the directions they face. That means you will do lighting according to these factors.
Summary
Kitchen lighting is essential for every home, and you should learn how to change kitchen lights. A good kitchen lighting design allows you to be creative and add your personality. With different designs and ideas, learn the basics so you know what to choose.
