lumen . Did you know that the kitchen is one of the most important rooms in your home? It’s where you prepare food, entertain guests, and gather with family. In order to make this space work for you, it’s essential to have well-lit areas without being too bright. Here are 12 top kitchen lighting tips that will help light up your life!
Table of Contents
The kitchen is the most multi-tasking room in the home. Traditionally it had solely been a place to prepare food but increasingly it has become the very epicentre of the household as modern home design becomes more open plan. The lighting design needs to be flexible to accommodate a wide variety of functionality.
Certainly, food preparation areas need to be shadow free and bright but the space needs to make a seamless transition to a relaxing living space too. Lighting is the principle factor in this change of scene and a powerful tool when used well.
The best kitchen lighting design separates the lighting into layers and multiple circuits so you can optimise your control.
Make sure the working areas are very well lit on their own task lighting circuit. Here’s a few ideas:
Ambient lighting is the general light level built up by all the lit surfaces in the kitchen but you need to make sure that there is enough particularly if the room has poor natural daylighting.
Here’s a few ideas:
The form and shape of a kitchen is best shown at night from a variety of individually lit spaces. This accent lighting creates depth by using pockets of light and not lighting everywhere flattening the three dimensions of the space.
Some kitchen accent light ideas are:
Recessed LED downlighters (Can Lights) are a great way to introduce much needed higher levels of working illumination:
The volume created from high ceilings is visually powerful but more intimate spaces for dining and eating should be created. Try adding a group of pendants over a kitchen island or use table lighting particularly if the ceiling height is over 2.4m to define the more intimate eating areas. Create an accent light layer by considering the lower level of illumination to transform your space from more functional to ambient.
A lighting designer tip is to ensure the kitchen is not lit predominantly from one direction particularly from recessed ceiling downlighters.
The kitchen island is a prime spot for a bold lighting statement and create a real focal point to the room. Pendants are best grouped in three and make sure they are on their own circuit. This feature accent light will need the help of additional LED downlighters to create enough task lighting over the island counter top.
Kitchens become a scenery backdrop at night in open plan living areas. Use toe kick plinth lights on separate circuits to use the whole kitchen space itself as an accent light for the adjoining spaces. Plinth lighting is a useful night light or background illumination by giving low-level illumination across the floor that reflects up gently onto other surfaces.
Use lighting to create drama with contrast. When the light levels are lower it allows particular items of interest to be highlighted, so there are lights and darks. This can be done by hiding LED strip in alcoves or integrate homogenous lines of LED light into the ceiling. The miniaturisation of LED offers new opportunities to create stunning kitchen interiors.
Putting as many different types of light on their own circuits is a key to optimum control so these can be integrated into a sophisticated controls package or assigned simply to a manual on and off or dimmed when required. The more choice you create the more control you will have to create the right balance of light for every occasion.
Overall, remember the key to great lighting design is not to over light, as this will flatten the interior and make it appear bland. Make sure each chosen light fixture is doing a specific job – do not be tempted to just line up downlights to random throw light onto the floor. If it’s not doing a particular task – cut it from the scheme.
Check out the best kitchen lighting that we can recommend, with full buying guides and reviews.
, the owner of Orange Lighting qualified and worked as an interior designer in 1993 before specialising in lighting working on high profile projects based in London. Since starting Orange Lighting Ltd in 2003 he has been sharing his knowledge and unique teaching style mostly to his designer clients, offering practical real life advice born from running a busy consultancy and lighting supply business. Launching in 2020, his blog has evolved into Quick & Easy Lighting, curating some 25 years design experience into making the lighting choice and design process achievable and easy to understand for all.
A lighting pro guide to how many lumens is good for a flashlight, associating brightness categories with potential suitable applications for each type.
To determine how many lumens are good for a projector we explain key factors of ANSI lumen brightness, projection distance, image size, lighting, and colour.
Different LED light colors have a big impact on how we feel and on the spaces around us. Explaining the best LED light colors to use to create different moods.
Explaining Dim to Warm LED with a quick & easy buying guide for dim to warm lighting products for residential and commercial spaces.
Buying guide for the best floor lamps for bright light, chosen and explained focusing on where to use them for the brightest floor light solutions.
Guide tips and choices for the best lighting for vaulted ceilings to suit architectural constraints, deliver light where it’s needed to create beautiful spaces
Easily learning how to dim LED strip lights with 2 commonly used methods for smooth flicker free LED Strip dimming. Step by step guide on how to dim LED Strips
Knowing how to dim lights without a dimmer & how to dim LED lights without a dimmer, opens any lighting circuit up to be set to glare free comfortable lighting
Tips & Ideas for bathroom recessed lighting placement for best bathroom downlight positions, sizes with downlight spacing calculator and design layout examples
Learn how task lighting creates specific well lit areas of activity in the home, how to create it, where to place it, how to choose it with examples and tips.
Learn how accent lighting creates small areas of lit interest that when combined & balanced with other lighting layers will create a relaxing & inviting space.
Ambient lighting plays an important role in the successful general ambient light levels in a room. Learn how what it is and how to create it for yourself.
Explaining how to light a laundry room. How bright should a laundry room be? Here are our top utility/launry room lighting ideas!
Explaining how to choose entryway/foyer lighting. What are the best lights for a entryway? What are the best bulbs? Let us help you!
Lots of useful can light alternatives and recessed light alternatives, to bring out the best in your room without the need to recess lighting into your ceiling.
Want to find out how to light a basement stairwell? Here are some Basement Stairway Lighting Ideas that will inspire you to choose the right fixtures.
Wanna know how to brighten unfinished basement? There are many unfinished basement lighting ideas that you can use to create […]
How bright is 90 lumens? Learn where best to use this level in the home & outdoors, how much area it covers with example products & watts vs lumens guide.
How bright is 15 lumens? Learn where best to use this level in the home & outdoors, how much area it covers with example products & watts vs lumens guide.
How bright is 80 lumens? Learn where best to use this level in the home & outdoors, how much area it covers with example products & watts vs lumens guide.
How bright is 60 lumens? Learn where best to use this level in the home & outdoors, how much area it covers with example products & watts vs lumens guide.
How bright is 350 lumens? See our watts vs lumens guide with useful comparisons for uses in the home & descriptions for flashlight and other products.
How bright is 450 lumens? Understand brightness with our watts vs lumens guide & useful comparisons indoors, outdoors, for flashlights & other lighting products