Kitchen lighting – it’s so important!
Kitchen Lighting – It’s So Important!
Each area within your kitchen serves a different purpose, that’s why planning your lighting might seem like a bit of a challenge. You probably want your kitchen to feel warm and inviting as the central meeting place for your home, but at the same time you want it to be illuminated with strong, bright lighting for food preparation. Here’s our tips for getting your kitchen lighting right!
1. Don’t Leave It To The Last Minute
We suggest not leaving your kitchen lighting decisions to the last minute and underestimating the importance of the overall lighting design to your new kitchen space. If left to the last minute and you’ve left lighting out of your design this can cause a whole host of challenges when your kitchen gets to the build stage.
If you want to make the most of the natural light in your home, you may need to swap walls for glass or install the correct structures for certain lighting fixtures, which is why it’s so beneficial to have planned your lighting early in the design process.
2. Take Advantage of Natural Lighting
Making the most of the natural lighting in your home is always a good idea, plus it’s also a cost efficient solution to lighting your home. Help the sunlight really shine in your home with a skylight or by swapping out walls for glass to encourage as much natural light as possible to light up your kitchen! Don’t forget the sun moves though so you can’t rely on it all day long.
3. Illuminate Cooking & Preparation Areas With Task Lighting
When there’s a job to be done it’s important that you’ve got the right lighting to get it done easily. That’s where task lighting comes in. Casting a clean, bright light into your work spaces and illuminating the areas designated for preparing food, task lighting is a must.
Bright light throughout the whole kitchen can be a little overwhelming but task lighting can easily be limited to areas of the kitchen designated to prepping and cooking, leaving the other areas still feeling warm and inviting. We recommend installing task lighting over benchtops, your rangetop, cooktop and sinks, areas that require easy navigation and sufficient illumination.
4. Let There Be Ambient Lighting
Getting ambient lighting right is important, too harsh and your guests will feel like they’re in the spotlight but too light and you can’t get anything done. Ambient lighting is generally the main source of lighting in your kitchen so it’s important that it’s placement is planned out correctly. A pro tip is to cast ambient lighting as evenly as possible throughout the space. This can be achieved through chandeliers, pedant lights, recessed lighting and flush mounts.
Pendant lights are such a great option, they can really really transform a space. If you’re concerned about lights dangling down, don’t fret, we know the perfect height for any pendant lights. A general rule of thumb is to position your pendant lights leaving at least 77cm to 82cm between your countertops, islands or tables and the fixture’s lowest hanging point.
5. Create Visual Appeal With Accent Lighting
Often forgotten about, accent lighting can add so much character to your kitchen and emphasise special points of interest in your space. Use accent lighting to focus light directly on objects making them a focal point. Subtly is the key to getting your accent lighting right. Make people notice the object you’re lighting, not the way that it is being lit.
