If you want to create a beautiful, practical and airy kitchen that boosts your overall home design and adds value to your property, you might want to invest in some good lighting. Since the kitchen is quickly replacing the living room as the social center of the home, make sure to illuminate it properly to improve functionality and comfort of the space. If you don’t know where to start, here’s a detailed guide that will hopefully point you in the right direction.
All Systems Go
The most effective way to illuminate your kitchen (or any space) is to employ all four main layers at the same time. This involves task, ambient, accent and decorative lighting. These four layers will help you achieve a well-lit and warm environment that not only works well with your other design elements but also helps you achieve a practical workspace. Lighting up your kitchen like this will highlight its best features and turn it into the heart of your home.
Good Task Lighting
The first thing you should pay attention to is task lighting because it’s absolutely necessary if you want to actually prepare food in your kitchen. Good task lighting will illuminate all the work areas and help you avoid accidents and spills. However, if your task lighting isn’t properly placed, it will fill your kitchen with shadows which will significantly affect your efficiency. According to experts, the best spot for your kitchen task lighting is underneath the cabinets, over the kitchen island and anywhere else where you prepare food and read recipes. The pantry is another place where you need bright, concentrated lighting.
Handy Under-Cabinet lights
Under-cabinet lighting is the star of every kitchen since it provides you with focused task lighting that will make even the most complicated of recipes easier. The popular choice of many homeowners and interior designers are strip lights and linear bulbs. Another way you can provide good task lighting under the cabinets is a puck light system that contains a number of hockey-puck shaped halogen lights. Whichever under-cabinet light you choose it will certainly provide you with ample illumination.
Overhead Kitchen Lighting is important
Even though it’s often overlooked and neglected, the overhead lighting is very important in the kitchen. It will provide you with indirect lighting that creates a homey atmosphere. Overhead lighting also softens sharp lines of the kitchen cabinets and appliances and removes shadows from people’s faces. Once, the kitchen was a place reserved strictly for preparing food and washing the dishes. But today, the kitchen attracts all people from the youngest to the oldest members of the family, and it makes them feel welcome. That’s why good general lighting is so important since it creates a pleasant atmosphere perfect for snacking, sipping wine at the island and chats while waiting for the food to cook. The best general lighting usually includes flush-mounted ceiling fixtures, hanging pendants over the island and various track lighting.
Accent Lighting as the Cherry on top
Even though they are still quite a rare element of kitchen lighting, accent lights are becoming more and more popular as people invest more money in kitchen design and use it for entertaining and casual family gatherings. If you have a piece of artwork on your wall or a beautiful backsplash behind the sink, you might want to show it off with some accent lighting. Another way to illuminate your possessions is with lighting installed inside of the glass cabinets. This way, you can put your china on display without exposing it to dust and curious hands.
Pay Attention to the Aesthetics
When it comes to decorative lighting, you should choose fixtures of the right size and power. Usually, the bigger space the more important good chandeliers, pendants and other statement pieces have. Decorative lighting is usually the most expensive part of the kitchen lighting system, but it’s quite important if you care about aesthetics. And if you decide to invest in some eye-catching fixtures, make sure to use them. Don’t forget to light them up and properly maintain them down the road. If you notice any emergency issues with your kitchen lighting, don’t hesitate to call an experienced 24-hour electrician who will take care of the problem and even give you some additional lighting advice.
Create the Right Atmosphere
Once you finish setting up your lighting, make sure to install dimmers and switches that will help you create the desired atmosphere in your kitchen. Dimmers will allow you to coordinate lighting layers and easily adjust each level for the ultimate vibe.
Final Words
Now that you see just how important proper kitchen lighting is, make sure to set some money aside during your next renovation for stylish and useful lighting fixtures. They will make food prep much easier, improve the atmosphere in your kitchen and boost your property value.
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