In modern homes, kitchen interior design is given utmost importance. Cabinets, hardware, and kitchen countertops are all intricately designed so that the kitchen may turn out as one of the highlights of one’s home. But even with all these executed well, the kitchen will not be as effective as it should be without proper lighting. Lighting without a doubt plays a major role in the overall look of your kitchen.
Other than aesthetics, the kitchen is also considered as the workhouse of any home thus the need for efficient lighting. It may be challenging to choose the perfect lighting for cooking and dining given the wide array of choices available. Here are some ideas to help you plan your home kitchen lighting.
Layer Lighting
Layered lighting through the right combination of ambient, task, and accent lights is important to achieve a properly lit kitchen.
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Ambient Lighting
Besides natural light, ambient light is the main source of light in your kitchen. It is expected to be the first light you switch on when you enter your cooking space. The main goal is to use ambient light to illuminate your whole kitchen evenly including corners to avoid shadows.
For ambient lighting, flush mount ceiling lights should do the trick. It’s budget friendly and simple yet it gets the job done. It’s also a good idea to match the lighting fixture’s design to your cabinets or countertop.
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Hanging lamps can also be considered on your kitchen. However, make sure that the floor to ceiling clearance is more than enough to make it look natural and not forced.
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Track lights have also been a trendy alternative for general lighting in Singapore. Although it can also function as task lighting, there are track lights that have a wider beam angle that can distribute light around the space well. The best thing about it is that can spread light more evenly than a single fixture.
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Task Lighting
Since ambient lights are usually on the ceiling, it may not be able to light up all spaces after all particularly when someone’s on the kitchen. Shadows will be created hence dark spots are still present. This is where task lighting does its job. For areas where certain tasks are performed such as cooking, washing, and food preparation, task lights should be installed.
As previously mentioned, track lights serve many purpose but its main function is to provide task lighting. Install it a few feet away and parallel to your counter and focus its heads on the surface. This will provide enough light while you perform your chores.
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Under cabinet lights are also useful in illuminating dark spots; in this case, under the cabinets. LED strips or T5 lights are the most common under cabinet lighting used. Both provides well-distributed lighting all throughout the obscured part of the top cabinets. Puck lights have also been used since the late 90’s. However, it only provides light for particular zones. For better under cabinet lighting effect, avoid using counter top with too much sheen so as to reduce glare.
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For bigger kitchens with island, pendant lamps are highly recommended. Whether the island is for food preparation or dining, a linear pendant light over your kitchen island can provide proper illumination. In installing pendant lamps over kitchen islands, the rule is to have at least 80 centimeters between the counter top and the bottom of the pendant light.
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Accent Lighting
Accent lighting is the final touch for your kitchen’s layered lighting. Given that your kitchen is well lit through ambient and task lights, your accent lights are expected to make your area more aesthetically pleasing.
There is no particular rule when it comes to accent lighting for the kitchen. It’s more on choosing what looks good as long as it’s not too much. Lights along your cabinet’s toe-kick give diffused lighting and provides dramatic air to the space. This is the same concept as what cove ceiling lights offer. T5 lights and LED strips can again be used.
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Lights inside glass covered cabinets also provide accent lighting. Your expensive and decorative plates, wine glasses, other glass wares and alcohol collection can all be highlighted with this.
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Color Temperature
The color temperature varies on how big your kitchen is and if it is open or enclosed. Usually, a mix of warm white and day light among the layers of light are used. For example, a color temperature of 5700 Kelvin (daylight) is used for ambient lighting while 2,700K (warm-white) can be used for task and accent lighting. It can also be interchanged and will depend on your preference. The color of the walls may also be a factor.
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Consistent Theme
Having a consistent theme is also important in kitchen lighting. A light that matches the home’s architecture definitely makes more sense. You can’t just get an industrial type lamp if you have a contemporary theme for your kitchen. A fancy chandelier could also turn out disappointing when placed on a minimalistic set-up. It’s not about getting the best lighting fixture available. Instead, make sure it suits your kitchen’s interior design.
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Correct Lighting Fixture Sizes
With a small kitchen, it will not look good if you have a big lighting fixture. It will be too overwhelming. If the kitchen is large, it’s also not nice to have a single small lighting fixture. It will be lost in space. The right balance is what we want to achieve.
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Consider Natural Lighting
Enabling natural light to enter your kitchen can give extra warmth to the room and provide more lighting coverage together with artificial lighting. Provide combination blinds to allow light to enter while blocking the heat that the sun gives.
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Home kitchen lighting may be a challenging task but it can be rewarding once you see a favorable outcome. To be able to achieve this, follow our guide to choosing and planning your home kitchen lighting. You may still diversify and go with your preference but make sure to follow the principles and basic rules.
