The kitchen is considered as an essential area of every household. It is the place where we prepare and cook our dishes, store our food, and organize our next meals. With a lot of tasks that we do in the kitchen, it is reasonable to have a well-lit and ventilated kitchen. Thinking and planning on how to have the ideal kitchen lighting should not be difficult as it seems. With this guide, you would be able to determine the basic kitchen lighting that you could incorporate if you’re thinking of renovating your kitchen. 

Know the Three Types of Kitchen Lighting

Determining the types of lighting for your kitchen is important as it can bring life and warmth to your kitchen. It will also be convenient for you as you multi-task on your kitchen duties. Ambiance, task, and accent lighting are the three types of kitchen lighting that you should know and incorporate in every area of your kitchen. 

Ambiance Kitchen Lighting

An ambiance kitchen lighting would serve as the primary light source for your kitchen. Checking your kitchen areas where the lights are facing and noting the number of windows can affect the whole kitchen ambiance. Ceilings should be your priority when you want to exhibit an excellent kitchen ambiance lighting. The general rule with this lighting type is the higher and brighter the lights you placed on the ceiling, the better to illuminate your kitchen. 

Kitchen Task Lighting

Having a kitchen task lighting means illuminating the other areas of your kitchen that ambiance lighting can’t reach. This kind of kitchen lighting is best placed in the cabinetry and work surfaces as it would receive enough light. Adding task lighting would be convenient for you as you can quickly sort out your meal plans, read recipes, and find ingredients on the shelves. 

Kitchen Accent Lighting

Accent lighting is where you can be creative with putting lights in the kitchen. Some significant areas to include accent lighting are in the eat-in-kitchen, above the kitchen sink, or over the table. Having a kitchen accent lighting would put more emphasis on your desired specific areas of the room. It also adds effects on the overall brightness of the kitchen. Common kitchen accent lights are:

• Recessed – placed on open shelves and glass cabinet
• Overcabinet – placed between the ceiling and cabinet
• Toekick lights – situated on the pathways of the kitchen

Considering Your Floor Plan

Your kitchen floor plan should be taken into consideration as you think and plot out your kitchen lights. Depending on the size of it, you’d be able to decide how much ambiance or task lighting would be applicable to your kitchen. Your kitchen lights must be grand and general if you have open floor plans as your kitchen is not separated from the other areas of the house, such as a living room or dining room. Since nothing is dividing your kitchen from the other parts of your home, setting up the kitchen lights should blend well with the different areas of your house. You can go for something bold that would look good with chandeliers or pendants that illuminates your entire kitchen area. 

On the other hand, if you have separate areas for your kitchen and other rooms, having smaller kitchen lights would be a great choice. It may be challenging to design and place it as it would require a lot of light sources in the room, but focusing your ambiance light in one area should be the top priority. Decorative lightings would only follow right after the main light source is established in the kitchen. 

Controlling the Lights

The success of establishing a well-lit kitchen comes with having control over the lights. Choosing the right fixtures could guarantee that your kitchen would be lighted or dimmed according to your preference. You might consider planning the light controls along with redesigning or rewiring your kitchen. This would ensure that the fixtures would be controlled from one entry point to another. You could also find WIFI systems if you want to sync multiple controls without putting much effort into wiring them.  

Kitchen lighting is essential as it could provide convenience, style, and personality to your kitchen. This guide hopefully served as your first step when you start to update or construct your kitchen. It would be also a great opportunity to fully maximize the utility of the busiest area of your home.