By Martin Hart on Wed 03 November 2021
Getting the lighting right in a kitchen is key to creating a warm, inviting space that you'll want to be in. If you fit a new kitchen, do it justice by combining different lighting styles to show the space off in the best light. Your kitchen lighting needs to work harder than many other rooms in a home, as it not only has to be practical and provide sufficient light for you to prepare and cook food, but it should also be welcoming without being too stark.
Today, we're going to look at all of the different types of lighting available for kitchens and where each type is best utilised.
Ambient home lighting is used to create a comfortable and even level of light in a room. It helps illuminate an entire space in a helpful but unintrusive way and can be used in addition to natural light from a window or skylight or to fill a space with light in the absence of natural light.
Ambient lighting in your kitchen starts on the ceiling, as the higher you place your lighting, the more space it can illuminate. A functional and discrete option for ambient lighting is LED ceiling lights. These are perfect for people who want the primary source of light in their kitchen to be unintrusive as they fit snugly into the ceiling whilst providing ample light to the space below. The number of recessed lights you need will depend on the size of your room, but a typical small to medium-sized kitchen usually requires 3 to 6 recessed lights arranged in a grid pattern for a neat alignment.
Dome-shaped flush mount or semi-flush mounted lights are also a viable alternative for those working on a tight budget or with a smaller, awkwardly shaped space where there isn't the opportunity for recessed lighting.
Once you've determined your ambient lighting, you can start to focus on specific areas of your kitchen that require more focused illumination. Whilst ambient lighting is essential; you'll quickly find shadows are cast across your work surfaces when you stand in front of them; the same goes for the overhang of above-counter cabinets. Task lighting seeks to eliminate these shadows and provide ample light in high-priority areas, islands and countertops.
There are a couple of different styles of task lighting – the first being track lights. These are linear strips of lights, usually suspended from the ceiling to illuminate an island or breakfast counter and are your chance to introduce statement lighting pieces to your kitchen through elegant and eye-catching designs. For a sleek, contemporary design, try a track light like the Eclipse 5 LED Pendant, or if you'd like something a little more industrial and rugged, why not consider the Gotham Lamp, which can be used to show off feature filament lightbulbs.
The other type of task lighting is under-counter lighting. It is primarily used to focus light onto your work surfaces and helps eliminate shadows cast on your countertops by the cabinets themselves. We have a range of LED cabinet lighting designed to fit discretely under your kitchen cabinets. If you have any awkward spaces that a rigid lightbulb won't reach, you can always opt for flexible LED strip lighting, which will allow you to run lighting around corners.
Accent lighting isn't necessarily there to serve a practical function but, rather, it serves as decoration and contributes to the room's ambiance. Accent lighting is great for adding a soft focus on key areas of the kitchen – but since there are no rules regarding where to place accent lighting as it entirely depends on your unique space, they're a very versatile option that can help complete a room.
A great example of accent lighting is wall sconces like our Gypsum Murcia or Gypsum Aragon. As the name suggests, wall sconces are mounted to the wall rather than suspended from the ceiling and will cast soft light on the wall they're affixed to, creating interesting and stylish pockets of light. A good place for a sconce is on the wall next to your breakfast counter – although they can be placed anywhere. A good tip is to turn all your kitchen lights on, survey the room, see if you notice any dimly lit areas or gloomy walls, and then brighten them up by installing a sconce.
Pendant lamps can also be used as accent lighting, particularly in spaces where it isn't plausible to install a large track lighting system. A single statement pendant lamp suspended over a table or breakfast bar can make for a wonderful focal point whilst also providing light for the countertop. Choose dimmable light switches so you can easily adjust the brightness of your pendant lighting. This means you can have low, cosy ambient light when you're trying to relax or brighter illumination when you're working on something and need to be able to see clearly.
So, which is the best type of lighting for your kitchen? The answer is all of them – used in tandem with one another to create a functional but stylish space. Start with your ambient ceiling lighting, followed by task lighting and, finally, your accent lighting. By the time you're finished, you'll have a well-lit kitchen with no unwanted shadows or gloomy corners.
We stock a wide range of LED lights here at Hart Wholesale, including everything you need to equip your kitchen with smart, practical light. If you would like any information about any of our lighting products, please give us a call on 01702 614044 or contact us today.