Kitchens need to live up to their brightness but by the same token; the lighting also needs to live up to the kitchen standards. Today, we have no dearth of choices when we talk about kitchen lighting. However, the embarrassment of riches at our disposal also requires us to be at our toes (judgment-wise).
After all, even the most lavish light setting can be an oddity in an existing kitchen ambience. Interacting daily with clients and improvising on their homes, I have developed my own set of kitchen lighting ideas.
While there is no such phrase as “the perfect kitchen lighting”, you can reach very close to perfection. Before using lights, prefigure the length of your ceiling, the placement of windows, the extent of natural light that comes in, the placement of the kitchen island, countertops among other things.
Assuming that there is no marked difference from the usual dimensions of kitchen, here are a few ideas you can follow.
Recessed lights
You must have seen those can lights which are placed in the hollows of a ceiling. They are called recessed lights. Once these lights are installed, they give an impression of highly concentrated spotlight beaming on you from the hole in the ceiling.
Recessed lighting is not flawless. It has to deal with issues of shadows, some of which are cast really awkwardly. If you have a lot of kitchen cabinetry and stuffs spread all across the kitchen, it may produce some really ‘glaring’ shadows.
It could also be a false starter in terms of heat dissipation. If you install incandescent bulbs in the ceiling holes, you may end up losing heat towards the attic (a case of high energy bills).
Track lighting
Unlike recessed lighting, track lighting does not require cutting any fissures or holes into the ceiling. You can just set them in a single line on the ceiling.
Instead of using individual light positions, you can use a continuous track device for it (so in case you have seen one of its images and feel that it might be cumbersome to install, think again).
Cable lighting
You can use really artful cable lighting. Think about this one- a human silhouette whose head is the lamp itself. These can also be used in tracks and may require pretty low voltage for their operation. They do not propose the problem of shadows at large.
Hanging pendants
At the risk of cluttering your kitchen, you can use the hanging pendant fixtures to create another artful source of illumination. These can be vertically adjusted for the reasons of height. It is self-evident that these can concentrate a lot better on any particular section of the kitchen.
Also, they create a light-dark-light compartmentalisation in the kitchen which appears very aesthetic.
Services of a professional home designer can be handy
If I say that a home behaves like the human body (assuming poetic liberty), then its kitchen is equivalent to the human heart- the warmth does really spread from here; light it with care.
A professional home designer can help create the perfect style statement for your kitchen. If you live in Sydney, why not contact me at MK Home Design. I will be glad to put up a mesmerising light show for you. The effect will not be lost on your visitors either.
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