Kitchen Light Design Tips and Ideas

Your kitchen will probably form one of the core communal areas of your household, after the living room. Indeed it’s actually the custom among some families with particularly spacious kitchens to keep all domestic activities within that section of the house alone, with the lounge being strictly for entertaining guests. As such, ensuring that your kitchen is adequately illuminated by good quality kitchen lights is essential if you want to maintain a positive atmosphere for you, your guests and your family.

It is also essential if you want to keep things organised and tidy, given the amount of activity the kitchen can expect.

So what do you need to consider in kitchen lights? The first steps are to consider exactly what you intend your kitchen to provide for your family. What you usually do within a room should, of course, reflect in how you design the room around it. It also depends on whether you want guests to see the kitchen or not. If the kitchen also functions as a dining room where you will be expecting to have guests, it’s essential that the lighting is just as attractive as the rest of the kitchen.

So, what if your kitchen is strictly for cooking with very little activity besides? In that case you’ll want lighting that’s utilitarian and practical, offering you a very clear vision of what you’re doing. You can place a kitchen light in the dead centre of the room for maximum coverage, or maybe even include several lights installed on the bottom of overhead cabinets for additional illumination.

As there’s no real concern about aesthetics -- no one will be spending too much time in here -- you don’t have to worry about the tone of lighting. It can be as warm or stark as you please.

What about a kitchen that doubles as a family gathering area, or one where guests can expect to be entertained? In that case you need to be a little more thoughtful.

 Try to go with lighting that, while offering good illumination, also gives a warm and inviting feeling. Lower the watts of the light by a few units to give a more relaxed air, and scatter them around the room evenly. A particularly effective design is to have several wall-mounted lamps and a single ceiling light directly over the centre of the dining table or living area, which gives good coverage of light without being overwhelming.

As there are more going to be more shadows in this sort of kitchen, lighting needs to be more strategic and precise. Place kitchen lights directly over your main cooking stations, such as the cooker, the cutting board and any islands you may have. Light here can be a lot stronger than light in the dining and living sections -- because the lights are so focused they will not interfere too much with the overall ambience. Besides, you can always shut them off after the meal is cooked and served.

Consider installing lights directly in drawers and cabinets, which activate as they are opened. Lights under overhead cabinets and behind backsplashes are also a very good way of illuminating key areas unobtrusively.

For more information about kitchen lights, visit the website of Lighting Majestic, which can supply for a wide variety of lighting needs within the kitchen and other sections of the home. You can also contact them directly as well by calling 0800 4080049.